#10 Grateful for His provision

This will be the first full year that I’ve been the main income for our family. I’ll admit that I don’t like the emotions, feelings and pressures that come along with the gig. I have a new respect for those who are the sole or main income for their family. When Ryan quit his job to become a full time student I was very nervous, especially because we had a seven month old. When I look back I think God prepared a path for us and this transition.

Here are some of the ways I’ve seen him work.

God gave me the opportunity to not only stay on full time at Siemens for an additional nine months after my internship ended in 2008 but I also was able to work a lot of overtime which helped us save money for this period Ryan would be a student.

I also got my dream job at Accudyne in 2009 with a great salary, benefits and profit sharing i.e. more savings.

Eight of my twelve weeks of maternity leave were unpaid. Good practice in budgeting while technically being employed and yet not getting paid.

I was able to exclusively breastfeed Tino for six months and through his first year which saved us a lot of money on formula.

When Ryan went back to work after I had my c-section his boss had cut him back to part time. Although we weren’t happy about this at the time I think it helped again slowly prepare us to budget even more. Plus it allowed Ryan to be home more to help me, new mom, with a colicky Tino.

Sadly our first choice of childcare for Tino for when I returned to work didn’t pan out and we ended up putting him in his current daycare which was significantly less cost and closer to home. This saved us money on childcare and gas.

Ryan and I met a wonderful couple named Carl and Jade who are the owners of TrinTac where we took our concealed carry class. As we became closer friends an opportunity arose for Ryan to work for TrinTac and they hired him on as part of their staff. He’s now teaching classes and answering their phones. Its evening and weekend work and answering the phones is done on his own time at his convenience which is great with him being a student. Although, it’s not a full time income it’s been probably the biggest blessing thus far.

Finally, this year has been most challenging as it’s been the slowest year my company has ever had. Of the 52 weeks this year I will have gotten less than 40 hours for half of those weeks. We also are not getting profit sharing this year. And our health insurance costs rose. I did get a raise but it was smaller than usual but certainly better than nothing and I’m thankful.

On top of that we’ve had some major unexpected expenses. Ryan had a lot of dental work done this year. We said farewell to our two pugs this year but not before dropping a large sum of money on each only to find out there wasn’t anything more we could do. Ryan’s tuition, books and lab fees were also much higher than we ever anticipated.

I think what I’m trying to say is that it’s been a stressful journey but God has provided every step of the way. We’ve worked hard and, although I don’t believe in what is referred to as the prosperity gospel, I believe God has rewarded us for our hard work. The reward is we’ve never had a single problem paying our bills. We’ve always had a roof over our heads, heat, clothes on our backs and food in our stomachs. We never had to ask anyone for financial help. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not easy. We budget and we don’t get out much. But, through it all, we’ve stayed afloat and I believe it’s all because of God. Today, I’m grateful for his provision.