He gives and takes away...

Unfortunately, not a lot of time to blog right now, too many tasks yet to check off.

I am currently diving into "Become a Woman of Simplicity" Bible study, guide written by Cynthia Heald, and it got me moving today.  One of the things that Jon and I have been wanting to do since we started Financial Peace was to sell our Saturn Outlook.  It is my grocery-getter, future-soccer/baseball/basketball/football/golf-mom-vehicle, and at first I was totally opposed.  Then, as we completed Dave's lessons, I realized how silly it was to be attached to something so material, when there is something out there much more affordable (we should have paid cash in the first place) and just as reliable, with probably as much space.

But, we have delayed.  And delayed.  And delayed.  Always with a good excuse.  We keep saying "this weekend it goes on Craigslist", and, the weekends, they come.  And they go.

Well today, as I was studying it hit me that I totally trust that the Lord will provide my needs.  But, instead of finding joy in Him and His promises to give us the desires of our hearts, I think I may have been finding joy in posessions.  So, I got super fired up to get moving with the sale of the Outlook.  Matthew took a GREAT nap, and I proceeded to clean out all of the clutter and vaccuum up all of the dust and dirt and get it ready to go.  As I was vaccumming I was hearing the song "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord", more specifically the lyric that says

He gives and takes away, he gives and takes away, 

my heart will choose to say, 

"Lord, Blessed be your name!"

Now, I'm not talking about the loss of a loved one or any other real tragedy that occurs when I say this, but I thought, maybe the things that He is taking away are things He never gave to us in the first place.  It was not His will for us to take on debt to purchase a vehicle.  And by no means did He yank this from our grasp, but he is tugging at our heart strings...  

I am struck today by verses from Matthew 6:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, 

and where thieves break in and steal. 

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:19-21,33