The first year of our marriage we were completely broke even though we were both working. My husband was even holding down 2 jobs! Most of our money went to college expenses; we were both full-time students. I know we aren’t the only ones with memories of scraping by as newly weds. Remember those days?
Eating out was a huge deal. If we spent more than $5 a person it was a total splurge that we would end up feeling guilty about. When we made the purchase of our ONLY piece furniture, a queen size mattress, my husband had to quickly walk out of the store because he thought he was going to throw up. Luckily, we became the recipients of other’s charity for the rest of our furniture. Why did I ever get rid of the orange and green office chairs we used for our dining room table then rolled into the living room to watch TV? I’m sure they’d be totally in now; well, maybe if ugly is what is “in.”
At least we only had ourselves to take care of. Though, I’ve never seen my husband turn so pale than the day I told him I thought I might be pregnant. A baby costs a lot more than a mattress and you can’t return it. We had only been married a couple of months. We weren’t trying to have a baby and it would have been extremely hard. I still got a little irritated with how he celebrated when I told him it was a false alarm. You would have thought he won the lottery.
It did open my eyes to the burden and responsibility my husband fully accepted in providing for his family. He knew that if I was pregnant I would be quitting my job 9 months later to be a stay at home mom. It wasn’t even up for discussion. We both felt that once we had children it was important that I was the one at home caring for them.
After graduation we moved to Vegas for Shawn’s first real job out of college. I was bummed because the income was not at all what we had hoped for but we were still excited to be on with the next stage of our lives. The rent in Las Vegas was very high. It would be less expensive to buy something and pay a small mortgage. We could afford a 950 sq ft condo but I would have to continue working until Shawn got a promotion or found a better job.
We lived frugally so we could put something away in savings though I did replace my beautiful office chairs with a sofa set I found for $25. Yes, it also looked like I spent $25 on the set but it was more comfy than office chairs. With how tight things were we always managed and I’m so grateful we didn’t skip paying our tithing. We could have saved a nice chunk of our income but my husband never considered pocketing what was the Lord’s. Thank goodness, because we needed the promised blessings of paying tithing more than ever.
It was time to start a family and I was so excited to be a mom that I completely put my blinders on when it came to whether we could actually afford it or not. We knew we shouldn’t wait for the perfect financial situation to start a family. My peace came from knowing that when you do what the Lord asks, the promise is that everything will end up for your good. We had been taught that and seen it in small ways in our inexperienced lives. Now was the real test, so we did our best to trust.
Seven months into our move and new job I discovered I was pregnant. No pale faces this time. We were both elated to be parents. I continued to work through the pregnancy and we saved as much as we could to pay for future expenses.
As I neared my due date I looked forward to giving my two weeks notice and jumping feet first into motherhood. Don’t get me wrong, I did have a very rewarding job. I worked for a Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer; a non-profit that supported families in navigating a devastating diagnosis. Part of my job was to plan huge holiday events for all the families of children that were affected by cancer. They asked if I would like to continue planning the parties from home after I had my baby. Since I would only have to work an hour or so a day in the weeks leading up to a holiday I decided it was a perfect arrangement. It would only give us a tiny extra income, but in our situation every penny made a difference.
We did some budgeting, made some guesses, and planned our finances generally. I think had we sat down and added EVERYTHING up like “responsible” adults and saw the reality of our financial situation, we would have seen that it would be impossible for me to stop working.
Was there any point though? We knew what we were supposed to do and we were doing it. Shawn was working hard for promotions and constantly looking for a better job situation so we just had to hope in that.
Our sweet Audrey arrived June 27, 2000.
Shawn got a small promotion and I got a bonus which was a needed blessing in paying the medical bills. We also had our savings if needed. But, what would we do when the account was empty?
One month later I was at home visiting my mom when I got one of the happiest phone calls from my husband. He had just gotten back from the 3rd interview for his dream job and they gave him an offer! I could hear the gratitude and relief in his voice. We needed and had prayed for this blessing. We were humbled by the miracle it was.
His new income was just enough to replace my income and put us back in a comfortable spot financially. What brought tears to my eyes was Shawn’s announcement that, as of that week, there was nothing left in our savings. I had no idea we were using that money to make ends meet. The timing couldn’t have been better.
The Lord knew exactly what we needed and when we needed it. When we prayerfully started our family we had no idea how everything would work out. When it took me longer than expected to get pregnant I didn’t realize how EVEN THAT fit into the Lord’s timing. BUT, the Lord knew. He didn’t lay everything out for me to see from the beginning but I’m grateful it doesn’t work that way. We would have never learned such an important lesson in trust.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. ~Malachi 3:10
What about you? Have you ever experienced a miracle after doing what you knew you should and trusting that things would work out? Have you ever seen the blessings of paying a tithe? Share your story here!
