Yesterday I went with my mother-in-law to the store and we stopped to pick up Chinese food for the family for lunch. There was a homeless man out front with all his worldly possessions packed in trash bags by his side. I began thinking about how stressed I have been about my family's financial situation in the coming year.
My husband is quitting work so he can concentrate on school and finish with focused learning in 2 years, rather than working 12 hour night shifts and only being able to take a couple of classes per semester which would last 5 long years. We are rolling his 401(k) into an IRA and withdrawing the maximum allowable without penalties based on our student status but I have no idea how much we'll be living on. We have other income, such as my disability payments that Metlife always seem to be ready to terminate at any moment. But I digress.
The important thing is that my worry stems more from losing the lifestyle I'm accustomed to. I will still have a roof over my head, a paid-off car that's only 3 years old and in very good repair. I still have a loving husband and 2 beautiful children that will have clean clothes and hot meals when we need them. In about 2 years when my husband finishes school, we will have the cushy income of an engineer. The man on the sidewalk had no such assurances. He didn't know where he would sleep or what or when his next meal will be. Seeing his great need helped me to settle in and be more at peace with the decision we have made. I wish I could have told him to be at peace with his situation, but all we could do is buy him a meal for which he was so very grateful. I pray I can remember to be equally grateful for my daily blessings from God. I am reminded of Proverbs 22:2 - Rich and poor men have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.
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