Dialogue about Dollars and Deity

This month was the first month that I have experienced since I was about, oh, sixteen, where I had zero dollars in my checking account.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  You should’ve heard the big sucking sound when I logged on to check my balance on the internet banking site.  It was like the air left the room.  How could this have happened?

Well, the two mortgages we are currently paying, with no rental income, is a big part of it.  Hubs and I work a lot but apparently, it doesn’t always cover the bills.  We are in the process of moving my father-in-law out of his home and into our condo, so he will be our renter.  But before he will pay us rent, his condo must sell.  It is a constant test of patience for Hubs and I because there is never enough time to get everyone living where they are supposed to live and work to earn enough money to pay the mortgages.

But this month, when I saw the Available Balance:  $0.00, I was stunned.  Almost panicky.  Most of my bills get drafted automatically from my account and at the first of the month.  I get paid on the last day of the month, so there is always money for the bills.  This month was just going to be tight on anything extra.  If we ran out of milk, we would be out of milk until payday!  Yogurt is a luxury until payday!

Normally, I would have freaked out and stressed about what to do to fill the void left in my bank account.  Hubs is the opposite: he thinks freak outs are unproductive and has the completely opposite relationship with money than I do.  There was a sense of calm that settled over me after I realized he was right: freaking out about the zeroes in the bank account accomplished diddly squat.

At my morning coffee quiet time the next day, I was reading Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance and it coincided with what my universe was dealing with: money.  She iterated something that stuck and I’d like to share it with you.  If you have a dollar on you, take it out and look at it.  (I always smell it but that’s an old habit to break!)  If you look at the dollar, you’ll notice something that will give you great peace, especially if that’s the only dollar you’ve got!  Four words: In God We Trust.

There it was.  My saving grace.  I didn’t need to worry, God had it all taken care of.  Matthew 6:24 tells us we cannot serve both God and money.  I choose God.  It made me realize why Jesus always said that the poor and the meek and the low of society were the ones who would get into heaven, where the rich and pompous would have issues.  When you got nothin’, you realize you got God and baby, that is a LOT!

In the meantime, I borrowed a few bucks from Hubs to cover any unexpected withdrawals and I am content again, until payday.