a NEW journey has begun

I am making myself sit down today and purge all that is in my heart and head from the past ... well, I guess today would make it one week. And I am going to use bullet points to purposely make my brain think more concisely (knowing my tendency towards verboseness), although concise may still be a bit lengthy. Here goes:

1. On November 16 we got some good financial news. My first response was a big Thank You to God because all good things come from Him. My next thought was this "knowing in my knower" that He had just provided for a need we didn't know was coming. I even verbalized this to Anthony. That's the truth. I just knew there was another purpose for [this] and I was completely okay with that. God was providing. That's all that mattered.
2. Last Monday (November 30) I sat down to do a little financial figuring because Anthony's benefits re-enrollment for 2011 was upon us. Three hours later, after figuring in the rising cost of benefits, I had a pretty good snapshot of how 2011 would play out for us on paydays. And then...
3. Anthony came home with news that some things were changing at his company and a couple of those changes would affect us financially. One of those changes was a more-than-likely removal of a monthly expense reimbursement. That "knowing" in point #1 now made sense. Okay. God had arranged for provision before we even knew we needed it. I'm THANKFUL! And then...
4. Anthony shared that payroll was changing. The company was moving from a bi-monthly to bi-weekly pay schedule effective January; from 24 to 26 paychecks annually. Hmmm. That means two extra paychecks a year but less money in each check. And with the way Fridays run in 2011, we won't see that extra check until the end of July. So...
5. All this means that, come January, our monthly income will be reduced from what we currently live on today. Not the way I had thought it would all flesh out, but I wasn't nervous; I just couldn't put my finger on any kind of plan that would help this make sense. Interesting. And yet...
6. When I shared all of this with Coli, there was an excitement and a tangible sense of peace about it all. Having our financial picture change - for what seems the worse - in just a little under a month meant that however it all worked out we couldn't take any of the credit for it. God is not surprised (the one Christian cliche' I actually do love and use). And there were two thoughts that stood out in my heart...
7. With this move from Keller to NRH (and from a house to an apartment) came a theme to a current journey we're walking: SIMPLIFY. In my blog Closure on Moving, I wrote about God's confirmation in 1 Kings 17 and what I discovered about the Brook Cherith. Cherith (in Hebrew) means to cut away or cut off. Well, maybe this payroll change is another step on that journey of learning how to live with less; of learning how to cut even deeper. And then...
8. God could very well be priming us to watch Him work; he could be putting us in such a place of dependency that in order to really make this work, He will have to come through in another way. Anthony's paychecks, the very thing we work our budget around, are not going to provide in the same way we have grown used to. Okay. Yet still...
9. It could not just be (A) Cutting back, or (B) God providing and getting all the glory, but it could be (C) A combination of both. What if we'll not only learn how to live differently [again] but also watch God provide in ways that we wouldn't even think to ask or imagine? And then...
10. Sunday morning's message happens and God speaks like crazy! 

And here is where I break this blog up for the purpose of time, length and an easy to archive format.