If there has one thing that marriage has taught me in these 6 short months, it is to trust – both in God and in my husband. I have always been a very self-sufficient , independent person. While, I most certainly haven't given up my ability to take care of myself completely (though, I do make Buck tuck me in every night. Guilty), I have had to learn how to depend on Buck for things, to trust his opinion, and I most certainly have had to trust in the Lord more.
One of the biggest areas of our marriage which requires a lot of trust is in regards to finances. Because we started off with us both in school, and our income is pretty measly right now, we are pretty tight on money. To help keep things under control, I manage all of our day-to-day finances. I create our budget, make sure all of our bills are paid, keep track of our spending, and coupon like a crazy lady. This definitely takes trust on Buck's end because he depends on me to know where our money is going, and to be sure that we have enough to pay rent each month.
The beautiful thing is that, despite our low income and high cost of living, we are doing really well. Not a day goes by that I don't marvel at the Lord and His provisions. When we entered marriage, and for a few short months before, I was paying two rents because of a mishap and we had $0 in savings. Initially, I was super anxious about how we would get by with no money and so many expenses, but every single month, we have made it.
Whenever people come to our home and comment on how cozy it is, or the furniture, it is my favorite thing to share with them how the Lord has provided for us. Not in a bragging way, but in the way that says "Hey, our God is awesome!" Honestly, every single piece of furniture in our living/dining area was completely free. When I moved into our apartment I didn't have a couch, so I contacted a family that I nannied for to ask if they knew anyone who was looking to sell old furniture (hello families with kids old enough n o t to ruin new furniture) and to my surprise, they offered me their complete living room set that was occupying their basement. I'm talking a couch, loveseat, 2 coffee tables, and a buffet table that are so nice we will move them to
our basement someday. We later snagged a tiny, vintage dining table that belonged to Buck's great grandmother, a trunk-turned-coffee-table I found on the side of the road, and a beautiful bookshelf handcrafted by Buck's brother-in-law, which almost found its way to the trash; all of which make our home so cozy and remind us daily to trust in the Lord and His provisions.
In the short months we have been married, we have learned how to manage our finances together and make decisions that will benefit us in the future. Thanks to generous wedding gifts, and extremely tight budgeting, we have been able to pay off over $4000 in debt,
and put money into savings. This is the part where I had to learn how to trust Buck when it comes to money. See, combine the fact that I grew up very poor and thus, have become pretty stingy, then add in even a tiny amount of savings and I want to hold onto it for dear life. Knowing this, you can about imagine my reaction when I came home one day and Buck says to me, "I found a way to make $1000 really quick, but we need to invest $2000 first." I think I just stared at him, speechless. Seeing my reaction he quickly affirmed me that he was only "30% considering it." Only to end up making the deal 4 days later. My sweet, sweet husband is a Craigslist
junky genius, and before I could really panic about it, we purchased $2000 (nearly all of our savings) worth of hockey gear, which Buck planned to resell in order to make more (because it was worth a lot more, it's a long story). When I saw the money leave our account, a small part of me died before I prayed that the Lord would provide here too. And He did! Not a dime was lost and we were able to make extra money on top of it.
Thanks to the summer months and Buck being able to work full time and his business is booming, we have been saving even more money than usual. S o this is where the new car part of this post comes in – and more trust. We both drive really old beaters for cars. Buck's car recently hit 225K miles and spent time in the shop, twice in one week, and my car, well, I don't really need to say more aside from the fact that we bought it in an alley at 9:30 pm last year. Over the weekend Buck brought up the idea of buying a newer/better car while our current cars at least have
some value. It made sense to me, we might as well sell one of our cars before we have to send it to the junk yard, but I didn't think about it much because I didn't want to have to
spend money on a new car that wasn't a
need.
Leave it to my rockstar husband who makes even the craziest ideas a reality, and two days later we have a new car. It is nothing fancy, actually, it's the same car and year that Buck already has, only a model better with half the miles. I am still a bit anxious over the purchase, but I trust that after we are able to sell my car, I will feel much better about the deal. My husband on the other hand, is so thrilled that I have a "safe" car to drive and he has been giddy since last night. I didn't even know he was concerned about my safety in my current whip, bless his heart.
So I guess, the point with this obnoxiously long blog post is just that marriage has taught me a lot. Some lessons have been easy, others hard, even painful. But regardless of the lesson, I enjoy the growth; growth as an individual, growth in marriage, and growth in my relationship with God. I am so incredibly thankful for these past 6 months and I am looking forward to future lessons more than ever.
Always,
Alicia
What lessons has marriage taught you? or How has your relationship with Christ been challenged lately?
