by Hope
Last week, I was able pay one month’s mortgage payment, leaving me one month behind still and another payment due in just over 10 days. I do not have enough ongoing work to feel “safe.” And frankly, the holidays being here makes finding work that much harder. I’ve been through this before.
I waver between hope and worry. But am working daily to cast all my cares to God and trust his care and protection:
“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” Luke 12:24
I begin to wander do I keep trying to scrape things together and make it work and hope for the best? Or do I get proactive and begin working toward putting the house on the market and figuring out what’s next then?
Of course, the holidays looming does not help with the stress level.
I keep choosing gratitude and joy. I keep clinging to knowing that God has a plan and purpose in all this.
When I was speaking to my dad this week he said, “God sometimes lets things get bad, and then he lets them get worse.” That was not comforting at all. But at the same time, I get several messages weekly from people telling me how much my posts (doing a month of gratitude on Instagram) are inspiring them and helping them walk through a dark time in their own lives.
My plan at this point is to table the concerns through the holidays. Keep doing what I’m doing. Since I should be able to catch up with bills by January, I can revisit the tough calls then and step into 2024 with options.
Is this what you would do? Other advice?
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
