My husband and I have many financial goals, the biggest one is to pay off one of our mortgage. We started working on our goals after the wedding and honeymoon is over. We tidied up our finances that went through the roof because of the two events. We now have monthly budget for income, expenses, and giving.
Our financial journey started well in 2023. Three months after the wedding, I was blessed with a new job that pays more money. A month later, I put up my old house for lease and we got tenant pretty much straight away. We also managed to discipline ourselves to not go over budget each month. All these things matter because we seem to be on track, heading closer to our financial goal.
Then 2024 came. New year, new challenge(s). Ada beberapa hal terjadi yang membuat kami yang tadinya sudah sepuluh langkah di depan menjadi mundur lagi lima langkah. Bertubi-tubi kami diuji di bulan Maret, April, dan Mei. Papa mertua saya meninggal di Indonesia, saya jatuh sakit, dan ada masalah besar di keluarga saya. We were shaken physically, spiritually, mentally, and financially.
Expenses kami di bulan-bulan itu bagaikan air mengalir yang tiada pernah berhenti. Medical bill for when I was sick, our airfare ticket to Indonesia which is 5x more expensive than usual, and the biggest one is hospital and funeral cost for my father in law. On top of everything, my family also needs help financially, yang jujur saya sempat berat hati untuk membantu.
I really struggle to give. Yang ada di pikiran saya saat itu: What I have, I have worked for and earned. All this was my hard work. I don’t really want to share it. Saya terus berkeras hati sampai Tuhan menegur saya lewat suatu ayat. Deuteronomy 8:17-18 says “you may say to yourself: my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But *remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
We all want to own things for they make us feel good, powerful, and meaningful. But the truth is we are owners of nothing, God is the owner of everything. We are His stewards. A steward is defined as a person charged with the responsibility of managing another person’s assets that have been entrusted to his or her care. All we have: our health, our time, our abilities, our family, our money, are gifts from God. Our main task is to be a good steward of what God has entrusted us.
I thank God for this reminder and only by His grace, saya yang tadinya struggle to give, dimampukan untuk bisa memberi. Mungkin tadinya saya takut akan kekurangan kalau memberi, takut kalau financial goal yang tadinya sudah di depan mata menjadi jauh. But I am reminded once again that my Father is always at His work, He doesn’t take a break from being my provider. Keluarga kecil saya dan suami terus diberikan kecukupan sampai hari ini dan perlahan kami bisa kembali on track untuk mencapai goal kami. Praise the Lord.
God Bless, (AS)
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