First Year of Marriage

Mama PC

The first year we were married went very quickly. We stayed very busy working our jobs and at the church doing music. I was a secretary and co-director of a large child care center there at the church. John taught junior high classes at the private school. We both made approximately $1000 month - together... and were able to pay the rent and utilities along with buying approximately $50 worth of groceries for two weeks' time. Rent at that time for a 2 bedroom apartment was about $450/month. My car payment was $177/month for a '79 Honda Civic. This was in 1981.

We had a few more bills, but only a few. I do remember one of the first times we went shopping on a Saturday morning, that I wanted to stop at the Dairy Queen and get a coke...but John questioned me about it...saying we couldn't expect to stop and get a coke every time we went to the store... well, this was a tradition my mom and I had...so, we ended up a bit at odds about it. I think it was a bigger thing to me than to him. So, early on, I learned or chose to worry about spending too much...cause I was sensitive to John's tight-wadded-tendencies... We had enough money to pay our bills... but not much more... we never could save anything... so, he felt stressed that some day we may need more. Plus, it's wise to have an emergency fund. We did not have insurance at the time, but thankfully, after a few months, were able to get health insurance, but, of course, that added to the expenses. I'm babbling on...

Over the years, we had silent struggles about finances. I would want to spend. He would not want to spend... even though if I told him we needed something, he would go right out and buy the best! It was like HE was battling about it inside his own mind. He grew up in poverty. I grew up with everything I ever needed...just not extravagant. He grew up eating only popcorn for supper because that's all they had..and his family had to move because the bills weren't paid and they were evicted. He took on a great deal of responsibility as a young child, knowing that there was not enough in the home... and carried the worry with him into adult life. Thankfully he is now free of it... and walks in liberty!

I was thinking today of little Johnny Crouse, 5th grader, who had a PAPER ROUTE in Lubbock, Texas - back in 1960!!! He got up each morning early and rolled and wrapped papers and delivered them from a bicycle!!! He got the award of Paper Boy of the Year for that Newspaper, he said. So cute. You shouldda seen him. I'll have to find a pic of him... He was tiny! Short, little, black thick glasses. Blonde hair, parted on the side. High-waisted pants, not jeans. (He never wore a pair of jeans til after we were married and he was 30 years old in 1981!)

Anyway, today I started to review his past, and our past in regard to financial matters, and realized that it's a miracle we have come to the place of healing that we're in now as a couple. And as individuals.

This topic could go on and on... but, just know, that God is big enough to take care of the financial issues...as you give them to Him... and as you surrender your expectations (positive or negative) to Him... and allow Him to guide and provide.

Ok - more another time... and forgive the haphazardness of this post...