IT’S SPRING BREAK BABY! 😉 Honestly that is what has consumed my day for the most part. I’ve been hustling to get out the Hopeful Hearts Newsletter, get my kids packed for the cruise my parents are taking them on (that we weren’t invited to attend) and eventually find a way to get myself packed for a little jaunt with my hubby to Vegas (because we have NO KIDS AT HOME and we weren’t invited to go on a cruise so we figured we’d treat ourselves.)
Germany here, Vegas there….you’d think we were rolling in the green stuff. No, that is not the case, however we have busted our booties all year long to live within a very strict budget to get ourselves completely debt free (except for our home). Thanks be to God for my husband who works hard to provide because not only does he provide for us as a family but what he does lended me to start Hopeful Hearts, not receive a paycheck of any sort because everything I bring in with speaking and the book royalties goes right back into fund the non-profit ourselves as I work to get it off the ground.
Spoiled rotten, I know it. 🙂 How did I ever deserve such a man?? Well, it hasn’t always been easy and I believe we’ve paid our dues along the way. Once REDEEMED comes out you’ll know. 😉 Now the catch is staying in this zone of being financially independent. What I love is that this was a fervent prayer of mine about 18 months ago when we were struggling because of past medical bills, etc and I cried out to God “Please, we have enough to worry about with all of our medical issues…can’t you help us find a way to be good stewards and free from this stress?”
God didn’t open up the sky and throw down money. The lesson has been difficult, at times it hurt, and I wanted to rebel. But He opened our eyes to others who could help and brought us to a place of learning how to do this TOGETHER on the same page with the same goal. I cried out and He responded but we had to do the work.
The work won’t stop. The key is to keep on a budget and not conform back to ‘wanting’ vs. ‘needing’.
On another note, amidst the crazy today I managed some therapy time with Joseph Stanton who looked amazing. If you recall, Joseph is the young man who had just ended his sophomore year of high school and suffered a tragic head injury in a long-board accident outside of his home. It was touch and go for the longest time but he pulled through…however, he is minimal in his abilities. It has been almost four years since the accident. I haven’t been able to help in awhile because of scheduling conflicts. We did standing therapy where we stood him while one person was behind holding him up and then two of us stood either side of him planting our feet against him and holding his arms. We would sway and get his legs and hip moving to keep his muscles from atrophy. While we ‘danced’ we all talked about the upcoming Papal election and how wonderful it would be if we could manage an American Pope. 😉
Mixing working with Joseph and becoming ‘financially free’ truly put everything into perspective. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how much debt you might be in, tragedy doesn’t discriminate and what means more than all the money in the world is having our faith with family and friends to support us along the way. Yes, yes it feels good to see the hard work pay off and it is a comfort to know that Neal and I can enjoy life NOW when we realize that we don’t have the leniency of mobility in our future.
Enjoy your spring break if you get to have one…if you don’t then create one and bring a little bit of the fun with you wherever you need to be.
Blessings
Shannon