Paid in Full !!!! :)

PAID IN FULL

What a phrase. No. I am not totally out of debt yet. But I just got through paying a round of bills, and I got to pay off one of my credit cards. I still have three more with balances to go, but this one is special. I have been a card member since 1996, my freshman year in college. I do not even want to go back and see how long I have had a balance on this card. To think of the hundreds of hours worked and thousands of dollars wasted in interest paid on this card... it is insane!

If I can give any advice at all to everyone, it is to stay out of credit card debt. It is a trap. A very profitable trap made by our culture to anyone and everyone. It is just way too easy to fall into it.

It is so much more rewarding to just do what the Bible says. Stay out of debt. Do not be a servant to the lender. We have that choice. Funny how servants aren't usually thought of having choices. But we do. We can serve the lender, or we can serve God.

Thoughts

I am up late at my office… waiting.


Lots of computers, but nothing to watch at the moment. Something broke down on the rig, so we have some down time. We are still on call, but we really do not have any idea on how long this could take. We will see.

Current thoughts… time, money, the Bible.

Time: So much and so little at the same time. There are so many ideas running through my head. So many things I want to do, to read, to study. And yet, I find myself watching TV, sleeping, daydreaming. What is that all about?

Money: I just saw a documentary on the top 1% of American families financially, and the inequality found in our country. It is kind of frustrating that despite the fact of the inequality found in America, America is the richest country in the world, and compared to the rest of the world, there is even more inequality. Incredible inequality. Even minimum wage is far more and easier to make per hour, than MANY places in the world making less than that per DAY!

The Bible: If the Bible truly is our guidebook as Christians, why is it so hard to put into everyday practice? Why is it so hard for me to put into practice? I know what it says, and I know what God has told me to do, but why is it so easy to get distracted and frustrated?

If you cannot tell there is a little bit of frustration coming through. But that is OK. It helps to get all this out of my head.

On another note: Here is what I saw in Clinton yesterday.

A tornado hit here last week. We are working about 20 miles south of Clinton. A sober reminder to pray for safety, regardless of where one lives or works. God is still very good. Much more than I will ever deserve.

Blessed Beyond Measure

It's a girl! Yes, my brother just had his first child. Chloe Beth entered this world yesterday at 4:44 PM. I unfortunately was at the time in Arkansas. But I was extremely blessed to be able to see her today. She is beautiful.

Chloe was unexpectedly early, but just as my mom called to tell me the news, my coordinator called and asked me to take some equipment to the shop in Houston, 15 minutes from the hospital! Absolutely incredible. I get paid to come and see my newest niece!

And adding blessing to blessing, as I drove through a rainstorm to pick up the equipment from a rig in Oklahoma, it didn't rain for the 15 minutes we were breaking it down out in the cold night. Then, 10 minutes down the road it starts to pour again. Something so simple, but a blessing nonetheless.

It just amazes me how good God is. I really do not understand it. I don't deserve it. In fact, deserve the opposite. But His grace really is amazing.

Here is something I have gained through this. And really something that I have been struggling with for a little while. I really can trust God with everything. Something I know in my head, but have yet to put it fully into practice. I can take Him at His word when he says "Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." "Those who love me keep my commandments." "All things work together for good to those who love God and and are called according to His purpose."

Something just clicked as I got back on the road, in the rain. I should have gotten it by now as I have seen over and over and over in my life how good He is. But seeing something so huge as a perfectly working out this road trip, contrasted with something small as a window of no rain, got my attention. I can trust Him with not just my finances, or my weekends, or my friends, but with everything. From something as small as my diet, to an issue as important as my future spouse. He is so good to me.