LOOK, it's a post!! :)

quick update on where I've been lately:  a few weeks ago I hurt my back.  One herniated disc and one torn disc have kept me from sitting at the computer long enough to post anything substantial.  Sitting is the most painful position as of late, which stinks...especially since the only computer we have is a desktop.

BUT, I began steroid injections earlier this week, along with SUPER FUN physical therapy (ha), and I can now sit here for at least 10 minutes at a time! :)

Which means I have to type really, really fast... ;)

...or keep the post rather short...

I like the first option. :)

So there's where I've been.  Things have obviously changed quite a bit since my last post, but I'm not gonna catch you up.  Life is life... the good, the bad, the things you just gotta let go of....

BUT I do want to share a bit about our finances (since I tend to whine about them a lot on here).

Yesterday was July 1st.  Every month I attempt to read a Proverbs a day, corresponding with the day (to help me remember both the date and where I left off).  I've been doing this on and off for about 2 years, and I don't think I've made it through an entire month without missing one (or a few).  That's okay...

But I've been doing rather well at keeping up with it the past week or two, so I was excited to get a 'fresh start' yesterday.

Just a side note... it is impossible to read Proverbs and not learn at least one thing from a chapter.

The first few chapters are about wisdom and knowledge.  Seeking it, asking for it, what happens if you don't... Those kinds of things...

Without anything specific in mind, I asked God to give me wisdom for yesterday.  To help me obtain and use His wisdom and knowledge in whatever way I needed it (which technically could cover everything...).

I barely finished my prayer time when He placed in my head the struggle with our finances, the fact that we haven't been keeping and running our written budget in almost a year, and the fact that since it was July 1st, it was the perfect day to set the budget back into place and be determined to follow it.

YAY.  or not...

We are very ignorant when it comes to finances (obviously).  We couldn't even make a budget as of two years ago because we were that clueless!  After receiving financial counseling for a few months back then, we had a written budget.  The year and a few months that we followed the budget was some of the better financial months for us.  No, we didn't end up with more free money (in fact, every month the spreadsheet kept telling us we didn't make enough to cover the bills!).  But somehow we were never behind on bills, never worrying over money, never going in the hole and paying overdraft fees to the bank.

So why did we stop?  Laziness.  Pride.  Busyness.  I don't know exactly, but I'm sure one or all of those played a part.

The past few months kept getting worse (despite a small increase in our income because of my Tastefully Simple business).  Yesterday, God flat out told me that if I would ask for His wisdom with our finances, He would give it to us.

So, I painstakingly set our budget back up (which took a few hours due to having to get up every few minutes).

Let me tell ya, by the time I had completed the budget for July, I did NOT feel any wiser... :P

I had to leave for a while, which was great timing, then went back to pay some bills and see how the budget was actually going to work.

In the middle of 'which do we need to pay first so it's not late' and 'who charges the least amount for a late fee because it will be late' conversations with myself, a light bulb turned on.

I was writing out numbers in crayon (because my pens seem to always disappear, but a crayon can always be found), when I stopped and had an epiphany that only He could give us.  I just sat there, staring at the hodgepodge of forest green numbers.  I was totally blown away...

This is actually going to work.

If I just changed a few things around (which I NEVER would have done before), then we could finally have our first successful financial month in almost a year.

Wow.

I woke up this morning actually excited about our budget and 'working' it this month!  I'm hoping to report back in August to let you know how July went! :)

I don't know why I'm so amazed that He gave me the wisdom I needed when I asked for it.  How little faith I actually have...

^{Proverbs 1:5} let the wise listen and add to their learning, 
   and let the discerning get guidance—