© Danna Shirley
The finances . . .
I was
neither a spendthrift nor extravagant. I did not squander Ron’s paycheck. I
would cringe, however, when he would ask for the balance in our checkbook. A
lengthy conversation would follow with me defending every purchase I made and every
dollar I spent. Ron couldn’t understand where all the money was going.
What was
so ironic to me is I felt that he was the culprit doing all the
frivolous spending. On what, you might ask? Well, he worked hard all week and
insisted that he needed a night out to unwind so every Friday was date
night.
I know
some wives would be delirious over a date night but after a year or so of
watching our checkbook balance dwindle paying for a sitter, a meal, popcorn and
a movie every week, it was not special to me anymore. I remember praying, “Oh,
God, please release me from this checkbook. P-l-e-a-s-e!”
I just knew if Ron asked me one more time for the balance, I was going to throw
it at him!
Well, the
day finally arrived, but instead of throwing the checkbook at him, he had the
audacity to ask me to give it up—he would
pay the bills from now on and give me an allowance!
“WHAT!!!”
I protested! “An AL-LOW-ANCE!” I could hardly find the words—I was being cut off from the checkbook!
After twenty minutes or so of heated conflict resolution, God spoke to me in
that still, small voice as only He can, “Isn’t
this what you prayed for? Why are you upset?”
With
these words ringing in my spirit I calmly smiled and sat back amused. Yes, this
was exactly what I had prayed for, to be released from having to defend myself
over the finances.
Unfortunately,
Ron’s idea of an allowance wasn’t at all the amount that I needed to run the
household. He was only considering food in the budget while I knew our needs
stretched far beyond that. So I asked him to go with me to shop for food and to Wal-Mart for the other incidentals.
I made sure that his wants and needs were included on my list.
Of
course, on these particular trips, I needed simply everything . . . milk, bread, flour, sugar, tea, coffee,
cereal, meat, fruit, vegetables, etc., etc. and at Wal-Mart I needed simply everything . . . shampoo, deodorant, razor
blades, shaving cream, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc., etc. I wanted this
shopping trip to give him a genuine, factual education of just how much was
needed to run a household.
With all
the input now available, Ron sat down with calculator in hand to work miracles
with the checkbook. After handling the finances for only one month, he
announced that date night was being cancelled until further notice. We couldn’t
afford it!
Eventually
the kids grew up, Ron got raises and I went to work, the bills got paid and we
had some breathing room with our expenses. Friday night out was reinstated and
date night became very special to us!
What a
wonderful blessing it would be to have date night once again. It is lonely
eating by myself and even worse to be in a dark theater and watch couples
sitting together all around me.
LIFE TO CONSIDER . . .
It is my
desire to have a happy marriage and live with a contented husband. My
marriage is for life; therefore I will consider . . .
Am I
doing all I can to be a good steward of our household finances?
Do we sit
down together as a couple and discuss our monthly income and
expenditures?
How can I
help to improve our financial situation?
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