Thoughtful Thursday: Can it Get Any Harder

To a group on Facebook, I wrote:

"It's nice to have good family relationships when the fan on our furnace dies leaving you with no a/c the same day the wii quits working, one week after the van breaks down while you are 5 months into unemployment and counting and you just want to yell UNCLE. And then your teenage daughters get home from school, seek you out and tell you every detail of their day. Family makes life bearable. I love my teenagers!!!!!!"

Needless to say, life has been rough. On Wednesday, the fan to the furnace died leaving us with no air conditioning. On Thursday, we got the van to the Ford dealership so their electric specialist can begin to diagnose the problem. He will not be able to get to it before Tuesday. Our minivan has not had air conditioning since 2010.

On Friday, it hit 90 degrees inside our house and close to 100 degrees outside. It doesn't look like it will be cooling down any time soon. We have no cool basement to retreat to, hardly any fans, and our bedrooms are all on the second story. We can't even begin the process of repairing the furnace until we know what damage the car will be to the credit card we know we have no way of paying off for who knows how long.

This is the time of year where both of our cars have to be inspected and registered. We already put $500 on a credit card to get tires for the van so that it would pass inspection. Not too long after that a rock hit the windshield on the van leaving a big spidery chip. That will have to be replaced. I have no idea what it will be for the minivan yet. 

As I have been driving our kids back and forth to school, hearing the news on the radio has been tough. Broadcasters are always spouting off the statistics of unemployment and food stamp usage. They'll either talk about how it is getting better or how this is the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. And then I think, well, we are those statistics, and while this might not be considered a Great Depression for the world, it is our own personal great depression. 

The kids are seeing the soccer games being played at the park and say they wish we weren't so poor so that they could play soccer too. I have had to email all the teachers that require fees and tell them our situation and ask them to be patient as we get all the forms necessary to apply for fee-free school. And then there are the secretaries at the school that give my kids a hard time when they turn in the forms or the teacher that mockingly states as she walks through the office, "I want my fees free too," as I'm asking the secretary if a fee free program even exists.

I do want to say, "Uncle!" I wish I could just get a good high paying job and things would be great. I wish John had gotten a job months ago before our money ran out. I wish finances weren't tough before this and we had $40,000 saved and no debt. But that has not been our reality. 

Our reality has been thus:

We have never taken big vacations or bought new fancy furniture, houses, boats, or cars. We haven't bought clothes that weren't just necessary. I do not have a closet full of shoes. We don't have a huge movie collection, nice dishes or anything. The worst we have done is gone on dates instead of putting that money into savings. John prepared well with plenty of education and training to be able to support his family and have his wife stay home with his children. He thought about that as he chose a career and schooling. The reality is this is our trial. This will make us stronger if we endure it well. 

Our blessings are not financial. Our blessings are our 9 amazing children, our good health, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.