After 6 Years......

After 6 years we finally paid off our Ford Expedition!I don't tell you to brag but to say alot of the time we had this SUV we didn't deserve to have it because we couldn't afford it when we bought it!After having it we learned that on our appt for a loan for it!One of the workers that got the loan had said I had a job on the application!I didn't have a job because I was about to have our first child in a month!This car has been a burden for 6 years and I actually went against my dads wise advice when he told me not to buy things on loans or credit . I learned because every month for 6 years we were faced with a pmt of $407.26 and $156.00 for full coverage insurance for it as well.For some this may not be alot but for us it was. We also decided to buy a house at the age of 21 for $350,000!then after we bought our house with a adjustable rate we had got to a morage payment of $2,200.00 that had went up to $3,500.00 within close to 2years of owning it. Tony and I never seen each other because he worked 3 to 4 days over time (he worked a 4 on 4 off schedule)So lets just say his wife and 2 children at the time never seen him!We had put the house up for sale 3 times and sold it during a short sell after losing our SUV to Repo due to not paying them there payments we were so behind on everything and I would have to say by Gods mercy Tony's mom had came into some money and payed $ 1,700.00 to get our car out of repo and put $800.00 worth of tires on our car as well!We opened credit cards to pay for Christmas gifts for our family that we ended up paying double for in the end because of interest. We were trying to live the American dream!We didn't think we had to work up for the things we wanted or thought we needed!I bought a Kirby vacuum and a alarm system for the house that we could not afford either.
My husband Came to God through our struggles of owning a home and a nice car and all the rest we couldn't afford.My husband realized his family was suffering from not having him around because of all the working he was doing to keep our " THINGS"he realized he had no control and God did. I can honestly say the Lord knew what we would be faced with in a couple of months when we would have Lillie.My husband and I knew we couldn't afford our home we lived in and that we needed to find a home we could afford!so we rented a 2 bedroom 1 bath home for $850.00 a month.Then after 3 months of living there we moved right next door to the house we were renting! its was a 3 bedroom 2 bath at $1.154.60.With having Lillie one of the things God has taught us is being wise and not careless with the money he has allowed Tony to work for!He taught us by not having alot of money for extra things because Lilllie had so many doctor appts we were afraid to spend anything because we might need it for gas, co-pays ,ext. I cant explain his Grace and Mercy in showing us what we did wrong by allowing us to struggle and then to take us back through and teach us through having self control in our spending by having no control with medical bills and the fact it was with something/someone such as our daughter that means so much to us that we had no choice but to be wise with what we spent because she came first and her health.God's plans for our family has always been perfect for us!I thank God he allowed us to sell our house and I thank God he allowed us to get our car back because we didn't deserve it! I thank God He helped us make it through our house selling and what was a huge lesson from God it was!Tony and us both have learned that 'THINGS" fade away and that it doesn't matter what we have!what matters is if our God is being glorified in our lives and the way we are living each day!What matters is if we are feeding our hearts,soul, and minds with Gods word daily!What matters is that our only idol is God! Iam not saying I don't ever still struggle with idols because little things can become my idol over God at times it can be me cleaning or my computer but its still a idol that at times can take my time away from Christ.For the most part Money and things have not been a priority to the point of wanting things all the time. we would like to have nice things but only if we can afford to have them!At the time we were so concerned on having things that pleased us that our hearts were not pleasing God in our hearts. I thank God that this Ford Expedition is paid off in full and that we can start paying medical bills off and other bills and at the same time being able to do fun things together as a family!For the first time in 3 or 4 years this summer we were able to enjoy going to Lake Shasta for 4 days and we were able to go to my dad and moms property for the 4Th of July!We have not been able to go for a while because we couldn't afford to do go on small vacations!So we are so happy to know that what we went through was not just in vain but a well learned lesson that God took us through and it took 6 years to really truly learn and change :) Come on God bring on the next lesson of heart changing lol !! never a dull moment serving a King:)

" Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it's deceitful desires".
Ephesians 4:22