In need of prayer

[sugarssweetpea]

Please pray as we are in some pretty heavy financial issues. We could possibly lose everything. I know that it is all due to poor stewardship. We keep going through the same issues over and over & every time, the consequences get harder and harder to overcome. We are praying together & really working on changing our spending habits. Thinking before we spend. Praying before we spend. We are fighting a lot of sickness in our household. Two boys with strep throat & swollen tonsils, a husband with a broken ankle & I have had a sinus infection for 5 1/2 weeks. We have incurred hospital & doctor bills on top of the stuff that we already cannot pay. Nothing is going right with my husband's business. Even the weather. He is still having to work long hours b/c the employees he has cannot do the job right without him there. My husband & I are both struggling a little bit with depression. I have a tooth that now needs to be pulled due to decay getting in under the filling & not having the money to fix it & now there is another one that is on the same road. My ezcema will not go away no matter what I try. It just keeps getting worse & I have it on my ankles, elbows, knees & all over my hands. I know that things could be a lot worse, and I am thankful for what we do have & most of all for how much God loves us. I know that God will provide for us and any lessons are lessons we need to learn & just pray that we can learn them & learn them quickly & not fall back & have to learn them again. God's life lessons are NOT easier the second time (or third or fourth) like a test in school. It is harder & I really do not think I can handle anymore right now. Please pray. Thank you.

[cmc]

I will pray for you and your family. Here's a link for some help with handling your financial problems.
http://www.crown.org/

[best]

Originally Posted by sugarssweetpea

It is harder & I really do not think I can handle anymore right now. Please pray. Thank you.

My Yoke is easy....

Lean on God all the more when struggles come your way and you will find that He carries the burdens for us.
As for bills and such... Make a list of what is important and do what you can with what the Lord provides. Do you tithe?
Put your trust in the Lord.

Prayers are with you.

[dave47]

Will put you in my prayers,you are having a very hard time.

[Hope]

The Lord will meet all your needs. Trust in him.

I'm sorry you and your family are going through so much. I will be praying for you!

[sugarssweetpea]

We were able to get enough money together to pay the mortgage today, but now cannot make payroll. Yes, Best, we do tithe. First & foremost. Anyway, the financial situation is due to poor stewardship in the past. Living high on the hog so to speak. Buying too much when we did have the money, eating out too much, wasting stuff, counting on jobs before they came in. Thank you all for your prayers. I am still pretty nervous & anxious (trying not to be cause I know that is a sin too.)

[best]

Originally Posted by sugarssweetpea

Yes, Best, we do tithe....Thank you all for your prayers. I am still pretty nervous & anxious

With the same faith and trust that you tithe with...trust that the Lord will guide you through to better stewardship.

[NOMOMERLOTMAMMA]

Hello,

I just happened across your post. I'm assuming that since you tithe you belong to a church? Does that church have a fund for folks who might need to borrow some money for hardships? The church that I previously attended had such a fund, and it was confidential and any member could make use of it if they had too.

Just a thought. Just try to hand it up and all will be ok.

Karen

[sugarssweetpea]

The church does have a benevolent fund. I have heard that they will do a review of the situation & sometimes it takes up to 60-90 days for them to make a decision. I have not found out for myself as of yet. I am considering looking into it.

I lost my temper once again this morning. I read devotional books every morning, afternoon & night with my family. My children have me read some of their bibles along with mine. I got mad at them b/c they kept talking & doing other things while I was trying to read. I told them they pissed me off & threw both my book & theirs across the room. THAT was really being a great witness of how to read & love God's word. I sometimes just cannot stand the fact that I cannot control them. I have such issues with that & do not know how to let it go. I can teach in the preschool & accept all of the other children for who they are. Exactly who they are. Why can I not do it with mine. I get to a point where I really do not like who they are b/c they are not doing things as I am doing. It really brings a strain on the whole unconditional love thing. Sure I love them, but there are times when I really do not like them. Maybe they remind me too much of myself. I do not know how to let them go & be themselves. How to let them make their own choices & actions. I always want to control them & what they do. It is terrible. I think that is where a lot of my anger comes from. Trying to control someone else. It makes them angry, me angry & all of us miserable. Please pray for me on that as well. Please pray that God would help me to see them and accept them as they are. Please help me to stop trying to change them. To let them be who God made them to be. Please pray that I would stop sucking at everything I do.

[cmc]

The best thing I ever did to learn how to relate to my children properly was to attend Alanon. That program is intended for loved ones of alcoholics but I found it helpful for alot more. Speaking as a former prek teacher myself with a degree in Early Childhood Education, I needed to learn how to be a better, healthier parent.

You have a wonderful opportunity to change things for yourself and your family while they are still young. I wish I had found Alanon when my kids were at the ages yours are. Of course, at that time an idea like that would sound absurd to me.

Nevertheless....pretty much all the 'symptoms' in my life originated in my codependency and when I began to take action about it, things changed. I'm still a work in progress, but I do see results and that's encouraging. You can change too.

I'll pray for you to begin to take some positive steps forward as God guides you into His will for your life.

[sugarssweetpea]

Thanks cmc. I have heard the term codependent a lot, but am not really sure what it is. Could you enlighten me please.

We got another check in the mail today. The bank has a hold on it until the issuing bank can clear it (hopefully Monday), but God is good. Please pray for wisdom on knowing which bills to pay with it & how much to keep in the account for future material costs as my husband gets more work. Praise God.

My 4 yr old got bitten in two places on his thigh & on his bottom by the neighbors goose this afternoon. I just wrote not long ago about having to get outside more & I try and my son gets bit. The people next door have had two geese, a goat & a bunch of kittens & puppies that have been coming over to our house all the time. One dog is on a rope, but it is a mean dog so hopefully it does not ever get loose. They have gotten rid of all of the kittens & puppies and are down to only one goose. I am assuming they ate the other one or something. Maybe sold it, I don't know. Anyway every time we try to go outside, there has been an animal of some sort coming over & scaring my children. Today, I tried to chase the goose away, but it kept coming back. I was watching it, so it would not come by the kids. I never thought it would attack without being attacked. I know they are mean, but how much of a threat can a 4 yr old boy be. He talked to it & it ran after him & bit him. Needless to say, my children did not want to be outside anymore. I called animal control & they informed me that geese do not have rabies, so they do not do anything for bites. I tell you what, that goose is lucky to still have it's life. I grabbed it by it's neck & took it across to the neighbors house & nobody was home (that had to be quite a funny site to see me standing there holding it by the neck banging on the door), then I did not know what to do with it, so I gave it to my husband who took it & threw it back into it's yard. Once again, that goose is lucky to have it's life. My son is pretty traumatized by it (the goose stands at least as tall as him) and he is sore from where it bit him, so please pray for him both mentally & physically.
Thanks.

[shockozulu]

Originally Posted by sugarssweetpea

We got another check in the mail today. The bank has a hold on it until the issuing bank can clear it (hopefully Monday), but God is good. Please pray for wisdom on knowing which bills to pay with it & how much to keep in the account for future material costs as my husband gets more work. Praise God.

I am praying that the Lord will give you wisdom on your choices regarding distributing the money.

:praying

[cmc]

Sugars,
If you go over to the Friends & Family Section there are stickys with the information on codependency. There are resources and references about it in all the forum of that section of SR.
I hope it helps.

[rayofsunshine]

Adding my prayers SSP. I had the same anger & control issues with my children when I was stressed. Reading the book CO-dependent No More by Melody Beatty really enlighted me and was so helpful. You can check it out at the local library or find at most bookstores or online. Praying for my children nightly helps too.

[sugarssweetpea]

Another check came in today. Not for the full amount owed, but it is better than nothing. That company seems to be in the same shape we are in. I also babysat for a friend of mine's child yesterday & she gave me a $25 gift card to Wal Mart. Helped to get some stuff I needed. God continues to be good as I know He is. My husband & I are steadfastly praying & changing our spending habits, spending to honor God. My husband has even prayed for us to glorify God in everything we do including cleaning out our bodies (temples to the Holy Spirit) & not spend the money on any more junk food. WOW. It is amazing to me how God is working in every area of our lives. That is one area that you all know that I am struggling with. Now we have actually linked the two (we have always known they go hand in hand, but really did not want to give up the junk, you know) and have been praying about them.

I also want to thank all of you again for your prayers & ask that you continue praying. I love how God continues to give just a little bit at a time to see how we are going to use it. He is such a good teacher.

[angelgirl]

Hey sugar,,

I will add you to my prayers. Sorry I am coming into this a bit late, but the prayers will go out anyway. I totally understand your financial issues, as I have some of the same problems. This is some of what I wrote about in my post, i just didn't say all that was going on, but I know better, and yet, I seem to do things anyway, like spend on say for example (fastfood) when I don't have the $$ for (fastfood)..
Yet I have real trouble controlling this.. I get myself into a jam with time, and it's just the easiest thing to do, and next thing I know I am in trouble. Eating out is a huge cost, and it is a big problem for us in this house. Financial problems cause alot of fighting in my marriage, I don't know about yours?? I believe it does in many marriages.

I have been in recovery for a while, yet I don't seem to be doing well where this is concerned. I feel stuck on some issues, and not doing real well.. I didn't and I don't mean to make this about me, but I really wanted you to know that I understand where you are coming from finacially, we may not have exactly the same issues, but I understand deep finacial problems. I will pray for you.

Ya know, I do think that cmc is right about Alanon. I know my councelor has told me before to go check out a meeting. I have other reasons that I could use it, but I know it is beneficial for these reasons as well. You might consider checking into a meeting? Anything that can help us through..

My prayers are with you and your family..
Lots of love,
Becky

[RJS]

Hi,
If you focus on meeting your responsibilities to the best of your ability in every day, it will add up. Just not overnight. I struggled with my old habits from my drifting days terribly and suffered for it. In the end, the answers where both under my nose and within my means already available to me.
First, I discovered I simply had to work hard, and with a good attitude. This maybe applies to your husband. Coming into recovery, I still nursed for a while an old wild-eyed idea if I just 'got it right' and figured something out, God would wave a magic wand, dump money out of heaven, and cure all that ailed me. Nope, He gave me opportunities. I had to drag my carcass outta bed in the morning and go availe myself of them. Every day, consistently. The day is made for working, plenty about that in the Old and New Testaments. I had to let go alot of SELF-PITY, LAZINESS and -PRIDE- to see this though. I've had jobs from the top down in the roofing industry and here I was doing the work myself like a peon, was how it went. I wanted something for nothing.

Second, You have to give it away to keep it. No, not giving most your check to the church basket to somehow magically recieve ten times over, That's simply not true. You give to your church to help support it's -needs-. That's your motive. You help out people around you to meet needs within your means. That's tithing. Give of yourself to your church or your group or the people around you. That's also tithing, just your time instead of money, and it's good and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord.

And the most powerful example of this principle in my life came one day when I really saw it clear in action, with my debts and responsibilities.

From the most pressing demands, outwards, just giving it all away. First, rent and immediate bills, voluntary child support to two seperate families, then the old debts caught up with me.
I spend it as fast as I can and the result over the past couple years has been astounding since I learned that secret. When I pull it outta my pocket, and peel my greedy fingers off of it, and give it straight over to whatever the situation is, I get to go MAKE MORE!!! What a discovery!!!
Even if all I have is 5 bucks in my pocket, after pulling out from the credit bureau and making a hundred dollar payment on old debts, the feeling of relief is worth it. I have a place to live, my immediate bills are paid, there's food in the fridge, and my needs are met and God will provide for tommorrow.

I also learned to meet many of my needs with my God-given abilities instead of money. My place looks like a million bucks, I find old furniture and put the time and effort into refurbishing and refinishing it. When I have extra, as far as buying 'stuff' goes, I apply it in decending order towards what will benefit me in the long term, like power tools and work clothes.(I wear 'em out quick)
So, with these principles and the time with them under my belt, I could spend a couple weeks probably with no income and not only would it not be the end of the world, and my life would still be fairly full.

My sponsor remarked once, he said, "You know, in hindsight, God provided for all my needs and many of my wants throughout my life. But it was still never enough for me."

Attitude first.

[sugarssweetpea]

My three children & I will e heading up on the 20th. Please pray for travel mercies & for God to prepare our hearts to witness to my family.
Thank you. Thanks to God for providing a way for us to go.