It’s all about the money, money, money…
Or is it?
Truly, it is about faith and God. Money is just a stepping stone. But the truth is we all need money in order to function in our world.
Let me tell you about the time I didn’t have any.
I am going to be real with you about my financial situation because there is just no other way to tell you my story. So buckle up buttercup.
When I got accepted into the World Race, I had about $400 to my name. This is because I had just paid for a summer class which took the $2,000 I had saved up from working.
That summer class was a crazy happening and a crazy story in itself, so please let me follow this rabbit trail for just a moment…
After not being accepted into medical school, I was lost. After many months, I began looking at nursing school. In order to qualify for nursing school, I had to take the one medical class I never took during my undergrad, Anatomy and Physiology 1 & 2.
In order to get both classes done before the World Race, I had to sign up for the first class during the summer. By the time I checked it out, the class was full. I contacted my advisor who had helped me survive my undergrad to see if she could help, but there was nothing she could do.
A week before the summer class started, I was on a solo 15 mile hike on the Ice Age Trail having a good quiet time with God. My advisor called me (yes, my advisor and I talk on the phone. I know you now wish your advisor in college had been that cool) and told me a spot had opened up in the class but I should sign up for it immediately! Thank God for smart phones am I right?
I stopped dead in my tracks on the trail and signed up for the course. Since the class started in only a week, there was not enough time to take out a loan. But God knew I had just enough money to make it and still have a bit leftover.
But anyway….
Having only $400 and needing another $2,000 for the second anatomy & physiology class in the fall, and having to raise $17,000….might be a good time to start freaking out.
Thankfully, God gave me peace. I knew that if He wanted all of this to happen, He would have to provide. I literally started school and fundraising with nothing.
Today was another miracle from God and amazing proof of His faithfulness.
For my Anatomy & Physiology 2 class that goes during the fall semester (just started today), I was able to take out a personal loan for the $2,000 that I needed. I had to take out the loan since I still only had about $400 to my name.
How was I going to pay this money back before I left for the race? This loan had to be paid back quickly because they only gave me one year to pay it back in full. All the money I had coming in was obviously going toward my fundraising. I was making some money at work but not enough to pay this loan back fast enough. I also still am paying off a small loan leftover from my undergrad. And that small loan also had me worried. How could I continue making monthly payments on it when I wouldn’t have an income for 11 months?
God is faithful and keeps promises.
Today, I went to pay off my credit card and noticed $2,000 sitting in my bank account. I thought this was from me transferring my loan money to that account. But it wasn’t because that money had already been taken and paid to school. I thought maybe it was the t-shirt money I had put in my account before writing a check to put in my fundraising fund. But that check had already been cashed. I scrolled and scrolled through my account and literally could not figure out where the $2,000 had come from. But it is exactly what I need to pay off my loan for this semester…
I was blown away that God had provided me with this money. It was such a huge burden lifted off of my shoulders.
And then my other loan….
I had no idea how I could make large monthly payments with no income for 11 months and no deferment option available to me. When I called the loan company, the man I talked to pointed out that I was going to be in school till December, so the six-month grace period after school would then come into effect. Wait what??
I had no idea that my loans got re-graced once you go back to school within your original grace period. I was blown away. Another burden lifted right off my shoulders.
And as for fundraising, I have $2,000 over the amount of my $5,000 deadline that is coming up. I still need another $10,000, but for the moment I can breathe because I met my deadline. I guess there is just something about me, God, and $2,000….
So if I had never been rejected from med school, I never would have signed up for the World Race or considered nursing. If I had never considered nursing school, then I never would have taken the A&P classes at school. And if I had never taken the classes, then my loan payments would still be due.
So here I sit with my loan paid off, my other loan in grace, my fundraising at $7,134, and about $400 in my bank account again. What do you think God will do next? I can’t wait to find out.
