What a Week!

Last week was crazy here in this household.  Now that I'm over everything, I guess it's a good time to vent.   I try to keep things positive on here but sometimes, you just gotta let it all hang out!  Besides, I love looking back on times when I was down and thinking..."My goodness, that wasn't so bad" or seeing what all it taught me.  So here goes.  I promise, there are lots of positive things at the end!

It started off last week when we got a phone call from a lady we used to go to for massages.  We don't go anymore because we decided there are better ways to spend our money.  Not that we don't love massages, but when it comes to choosing between that and paying your cell phone bill, the choice is obvious.  Ok, it's not quite that bad, but still!  So she called to tell me she found a check that she forgot to deposit.  The check was 2 years old.  I don't really remember what I said on the phone.  My brain was scrambling trying to figure out where we could get $150.00.  When I told Brad about it and told him that I don't think we should have to issue her another check, since we already did write a check, and just because of her poor book keeping and business, why should we have to pay it now.  Alot has happened in those 2 years.  The check was written in the midst of wedding and house renovation bills.  Brad balances his checkbook to the T, but somehow with everything we didn't discover the missing check.  When we went to combine our accounts and went back over the past few months, everything was in (or so we thought) so we started over.  Clean slate.   So Brad called her and told her that we feel like we do not need to pay it since we did our part.  Brad said she was upset on the phone but....then....a few days later we got a certified letter in the mail with the old check and a mean letter calling my husband all kinds of things like "dishonest, immoral, and questioning his motives".  Oh, and she also said that "you should have contaced me several months or so after you noticed the check was never cashed and try to make it right".  I'm still trying to figure out why we were responsible in this?  But you call my husband those things when he is anything but that and you will see a different side of me!  Brad took it all in stride and we had actually thought about it and thought that maybe we should pay it, but when we got the letter it made it soooo much harder.  We are going to pay it, but Brad says we're not going to pay it till my heart connects with my head.  God's starting to do just that!  I told Brad I feel like one of those kids who is obeying on the outside but not on the inside! 

Then....on top of that we've been having storms.  Big, bad, windy, scary storms.  I am not a fan of storms.  In one of those storms a tree fell on Brad's truck while it was parked at the shop.  It's a "beater" truck (not very nice) so we don't have collision insurance or whatever insurance we are supposed to have that covers a tree falling.   So that will take some money to fix it up.

On top of all that we have been having very warm weather and guess what...our air conditioner gave out.  They fixed it temporarily but if it breaks again we will have to buy a new system.  It's very old so "he" (the A.C. guy) suggested replacing it before it gives out.  Brad and I both love being cold and in the winter time we keep our thermostat at 65 and 60 at night.  People complain when they come to our house that it is cold and we try and warm things up when people are coming but we like it cold.  Plus it saves money.  There are reasons why our electric bill was only 65.00 last month!  I know lots of people go without A.C. so I guess we could too!

Then one last thing, are you ready.  Seriously how much can we take God?! 
So last week we had Bible School.  On the last night Brad lost his cell phone.  We looked EVERYWHERE and people helped us search but with it being dark and his phone being on SILENT, the phone was nowhere to be found.  I decided to go right after work the next day and look for it in the daylight.  I prayed the whole way there asking God to help me find this phone.  Sure enough, I walked RIGHT UP TO IT!  Thank you GOD, you know that I so needed to know you cared!  The phone was face down in a puddle of water.  I could turn it on when I got home but the face of the phone was all wet and had condensation all over it.

We stuck it in a dish of rice for a few days and now it works fine.  WHEEEW.  What a relief!  That's one less bill we will have to pay.

Sooo, God is teaching me (us) all kinds of things.  Thankfulness for one....thankful for good jobs when so many people are without, thankful for some money in savings (guess this stuff would count as emergencys), thankful for each other and thankful for the little God happenings in life that let us know he really does care!

Ok, that's all.  I think I'm done venting now!  Thanks for listening! : )