Memory Monday

We Finished!
The past few months Isaiah and I have been taking the financial peace course by Dave Ramsey and today we graduated! I'm really excited, I've been excited through the whole thing, but now all that lies in our way is time and time will tell how much sunk in or not. I'm really excited because the last baby step he has is Build Wealth and GIVE. I love giving when I can. I hate it when I'm broke and see a need that I can't fill or can't buy my friends their lunch or even a coffee to be a blessing to them- I HATE it.

One of the first times I wanted to be a giver was back in 2008 when our youth group was going on a missions trip to Mexico. We had so many fund raisers, car washes to selling See's candy outside of Wal-Mart in January (Burr!).
It was spring and we weren't leaving until August but i still didn't have enough. So I was working in the lawn service for my Dad and he told me if I did a pine needle raking job by myself (which would take all day) he would give me the whole profit not just the hourly wage.

Now this was a tough job, the customer had flower beds, rock beds, a play area with a sand box, a cement patio with several pieces of furniture on it, and all of it was covered in 4 or 5 inches of pine needles.
My Dad wasn't kidding he dropped me off early, took my brother lawn mowing with him all day, and picked me up late when they were done. But I was earning money for this missions trip and I was going to do a great job with a good attitude. Around noon the owner was home on her lunch break "Are you doing this all by yourself?!"
"Yes, my Dad is letting me keep all the money for a missions trip if I do it all by myself." I explained
"Oh, well let me give you some lunch."
I had packed some sandwiches but she refused not to feed me herself and made me.....I can't remember but it was something delicious.
So we had lunch together and chatted about everything. I found out she was a Christian, she had two kids, her husband was a cardiologist and she was a RN and a very friendly one but had to get back to work and so did I.
After lunch I went back to work feeling good and happy to work for such a nice lady. The hours went by fast and soon my Dad was back and we pulled the tarps onto the trailer. He went to go get the check and the lady came out with a the check and then an envelope....for me!!!
As we drove away I opened it up and in it was a card, she wrote that she was proud of the way I had worked today and that she used to work with her Dad on a farm and that hard work ethic made her into the woman she was today. She wrote that she would pray for me while I was on the missions trip and out fell $300! And that was on top of what I made from my Dad!
I was so happy I cried. How wonderful that someone could do that? Later I sent her a thank you with pictures from the missions trip. She got to take part I a blessing by allowing God to use her. I''m sure God would have provided another way if she hadn't been willing. But she was and I am so glad.
Not only did I get to go to Mexico but I got to see God work through His people in this lady. After that I thought to myself, I want to be that person, I want to be on the giving end and I want God to use me to bless others.

Oh, I almost forgot.....Isaiah (my husband) and I became good friends on that trip-