Hi friends!
So it’s winter in Rochester. We had out first big snow dump a few weeks ago, and it was bad (By which I mean: somehow the plows just weren’t ready and I was slippy sliding all over the place on my way home from work).
And then there was an small ice storm this past Sunday, so there was more slippy slippy going on, and yesterday the whole city of Rochester was covered in a thin sheet of black ice. Like I-slid-around-every-corner-and-up-to-every-stoplight kinda slippy slidey. Not as bad as that first storm couple of weeks ago, but still unnerving.
I’m usually have a very rough time with anxiety when I have to drive in the snow and the ice; when I was 21, I spun out on I-81 in similar weather and smacked my car into a snowbank. So I usually spend all winter driving around almost hyper ventilating, white-knuckling my steering wheel, nearly crying, and trying to convince my heart to stay in my chest instead of beating right out of there onto my dashboard. I get knots all up in my back from the stress of winter driving. I genuinely think every time my car slides a little bit, “This is it. It’s curtains for me.”
But I haven’t this winter, and let me tell you why.
That first storm was real bad, and I’m not gonna lie: I was scared. I was having the anxiety like I described above the whole ride home from work. I slid and fish-tailed at every stoplight and round every corner. The worst was when everyone was creeping down the middle of the highway (couldn’t see any lines), and the car in front of me hit their brakes, so naturally I applied mine as well. And didn’t stop. I kept sliding forward. So I just slid into the other lane and around the other car and kept going. Crisis averted. I sent up all my prayers to God like “Please let me get home safe. Please.”
And immediately, I felt a peace. My hands stopped shaking. I knew I was getting home. My faith was solid as a rock that I was getting home safely; nothing was going to change that. So I started going 60.
Just kidding! That would have been incredibly dumb. I kept driving slowly with both hands on the wheel and praying. This is how I drove Sunday in the ice, and yesterday on the black ice. And how I’m going to drive again today because it is snowing and gross outside again.
And His peace has not left me. I have never felt so at ease driving in the snow because I am fully convinced that the Lord is going to get me home safe and sound. My life and His peace are a gift.
But so often we take things that God gives us lightly and just do whatever we want with them. I mean, He gave it to ME right? So I can do whatever I want with it, obviously.
Which brings me to this idea of stewardship. God said He’d get me home safely, so my life is in His hands. That doesn’t mean I get to throw stewardship out the window and be reckless with my life just because He covers me. Stewardship is taking care of things trusted to you. My life, my car, have been trusted to me. So I have to steward them well. Preferably by not driving like the title of my next film is “Fast and Furious: Rochester Snowdrift.”
I consider myself a good steward in certain areas (some areas need some more work :P). Particularly with finances. I am a good steward with the money God provides for me.
I track all my purchases and stick to a budget. I leave room in that budget for generous giving and for savings. I buy groceries and don’t eat out much. The majority of my clothes is second hand from a FREE pile. I have enough to pay my bills, tithe, take care of my dog, and even have my own Netflix account (livin’ the dream). I am a good steward with my money.
I’m not writing this blog to brag about my spending habits. I want you to understand that even though I steward my money well, I am not going to be able to pay for World Race America on my own. Support raising is super hard y’all. I hate asking people for money, and if I could just pay for this mission’s trip out of my own pocket, I would do it. But I can’t. It’s just not enough.
And yet, I have peace. The same peace that I find in snowstorms and on icy roads I find in His ability to provide. I set a certain amount in my budget to give to different missionaries every month, and I thought to myself “Well… Maybe I can just give that money to myself. I’m going on a missions trip, so it checks out.” And I so clearly felt the Lord say “No. That money is still supposed to go to others.”
I find that He is faithful with what He gives us. He gave me my car, so He’s going to protect it (and me!) on the roads. He gave me this mission to bring the love of Jesus to the USA, so He’s going to provide the funds.
And there are things He’s given you too, and He is going to provide for all of those areas. He is faithful in your finances, in your relationships, and in your lives. God is faithful in everything. He is over everything, He is behind and before everything, He is just so so faithful y’all. That doesn’t mean we all don’t still stress about every little thing; I mean, I sure do anyway. But our stress doesn’t make Him less faithful, and that brings me so much peace. His peace is in every storm, and He always provides.
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