Counting the Cost

It had been a difficult week following Bernie’s surgery. Getting pills into that little Shih Tzu mouth had been a formidable task. Between Mary and Robin they managed to pry open his mouth just enough to shove pills mixed with food between his clamped jaws. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get everything through the thin slit and much of the canned food was mashed into his beard. What a mess! Mid week they tackled him between them and washed his face with the kitchen hose.
Despite this, however, Bernie was doing pretty good eating many luxurious foods he never normally got just to get him to eat. On top of this little trial Mary and Robin had to take the youngest cat, their newer kitten, Smokey, in to get fixed. Abigail, the vet’s assistant smiled as Mary paid the bill. She said weakly, “I guess this is nothing to what you paid last week, eh? She was referring to Bernie’s bill that brought death to their savings.” Mary said little as she had been grateful that these nice people had been merciful. The vet had given them a 10% off because as owners of a large family of animals they had given them “group rates”. Mary knew this was a direct answer to Robin and her prayers that morning on the way into work. It might not seem like much but to the two of them $18 was a life saver.
Now it might occur to some of you who are not animal lovers that this may seem a big waste of money. However, to all of you who have pets and know how much like your children they become it will make all the sense in the world. So for the rest of you please don’t judge them too harshly!
During this period, Robin had phoned the bank and asked their financial advisor to transfer to their visa much of his savings. Mary found this very sad because it had taken the better part of two years to save this money. Thanks to their church and a course they took called “Financial Freedom” Mary and Robin, who never even had a savings account all their marital life, now managed to both have one. After paying this huge debt which included other assorted, accumulated charges Robin’s saving account was down to zero. However, Robin was just glad they had money to pay the debt. Mary was grateful too but saw how quickly money can disappear.
The result of this left Mary and Robin realizing one thing: buying the cottage was almost out of the question. They had reduced the price of their house and it wasn’t selling. They realized if they still went through with buying the cottage they would have little left over after closing costs to pay for any of the thousands of repairs on the little place.
It dawned on Mary that perhaps they would have to forget the idea. However, as God often does he whispered another suggestion through one of Mary’s friends. This person’s relative was trying to sell their home in Windsor. Apparently, the house was perfect for Mary and the friend could see Mary in it. The way the house was described interested Mary only a little. It was the price that excited her to no end. Following the conversation with her friend Mary went on line to the MLS listings and saw the modest but nice brick home. It was located not far from Ottawa Street which had a cute shopping district and a Market to buy all your meats and vegetables.
It had been a while since Mary looked at houses in the Windsor district but saw how cheap the homes had become since the automobile plants let so many employees go. There were houses, albeit in need of much repair, for as little as $39,000!
Mary grew excited at the prospect of purchasing a home that would be cheaper to maintain then theirs and closer to Robin’s work so he could take the bus on days Mary didn’t feel up to driving him or had other plans. As well, they would have money left over from the sale of their house to bring down their large line of credit and paint or do whatever the house needed.
However, the more Mary thought about it the more she realized she wanted to be in God’s will and not run off ahead of God. When she had initially brought up the idea of buying in Windsor to Robin it was a big turnaround in his thoughts. However, after a day at work and one of the pastors telling Robin it sounded like a “wise” decision Robin was on board. However, Robin and Mary prayed that if it was God’s will for them to buy in Windsor then in the next couple of days they would see the interest in their house pick up.
Mary sat relieved in her prayer closet that day where lately she had been more often than not. She so desired to be in God’s will. She had been struggling to hear God and follow His will. Sure enough she did and from two different sources. She had been inspired to continue to persevere in prayer and to” break through the situation” by her supplications.
Mary had done more than her share of that crying out to God and asking for mercy this week! Now here she sat, at peace, waiting for God to show them if this latest move met His approval or if it was just one of their own ideas. Mary was grateful to God and would wait. As she did though she felt the need to be prepared and look at a few more MLS listings to see what was out there.
She sat forward in her chair and began looking on the screen of her computer. There were many houses under $80k to look at. She had her choice! The thought came to her as she perused the site that perhaps God had used the situation and the increased debt of Bernie’s operation for their good. Mary knew that all things worked together for good for those who trusted God. Perhaps things had happened to force Mary and Robin to look more seriously at the direction they were going and if it was on board with God’s plan for their lives. If so it had achieved this end. Mary was grateful. Even though the door to the cottage had closed for now another door had opened.
It all seemed at the right timing, as well, for just this past weekend Mary had gone to the Windsor Jail for a three hour training session as a volunteer. It would be a lot closer for Mary to visit it if she lived in Windsor. However, Mary would wait on God to see what happened there. She didn’t want to run ahead of God but take one step at a time.
“Dear Lord,” Mary prayed, “thank you, that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Thank you for speaking into our hearts even through the financial debt. Let us hear your voice today through all that happens. Help us to be prepared to either stay here if that is your desire or to move on. Just show us what your will is, Lord, and we will follow.
Mary’s prayer was interrupted by a knock on the door. She left her meditations and responded to the second set of rapid knocks. It was Carolyn, her friend. Carolyn handed her a plastic bag. Looking down at the bag in her hand, Mary asked, “What’s this? “
“It’s just a roast beef. Remember, I told you they were on sale”, responded her friend.
“How much do I owe you” asked Mary?
Carolyn replied by giving Mary a big hug adding as she did, “You owe me nothing. You have been so good to me.”
Mary was about to cry and had to do all she could not to and so was grateful when Carolyn indicated she had a repair man coming to her place and had to run. After Mary closed the door, though, she looked down at the parcel feeling both humbled and happy. God had been doing a lot of that recently. However, she was eternal grateful because they had little in the house to eat. Thank God tomorrow was payday. Funny thing was that earlier she had looked in the freezer with Robin and they had decided to have a greasy fry of potatoes and some fish for dinner. It wasn’t healthy but it was something.
She had shared her concern with God about dinner but realized tomorrow was payday and they would eat a little better after grocery shopping. As a result, seeing the roast just filled Mary’s heart up with gratefulness not only to Carolyn but to the God who read her heart and supplied a need.
Mary rushed to the kitchen to get the slower cooker out and start a pot roast. As she did she caught the tail end of a radio show. The host was talking about counting the cost before building a house! How awesome and right on time that was! Mary realized that she and Robin’s dream of having a cottage might have to wait. The cost was more than they could afford now. However, the little houses in Windsor that were far cheaper were definitely more feasible for them to obtain.
As Mary cut up potatoes and carrots to add to her dinner she smiled to herself as she waited to hear from God. She and Robin had decided that they would have to see some movement on the sale of this house as a sign that God was moving them in the direction of Windsor. Mary realized she needed to focus on her prayer more and press into God.
With that in mind and after preparing her roast, Mary put on her running shoes and went for a walk. As she travelled the neighbourhood she listened to and sang along with the Christian praise music she played. She was excited and not because of having made a decision to move to Windsor if God saw fit. No, she was more animated by the thoughts of being more intimate with her Lord. Smiling to herself, Mary sang the song playing on her IPod, first to herself, and then out loud. Oh, she felt good and the day had only started.
And just think: God had only given her a pot roast. But it was not the size of the gift but the thoughtfulness of the Giver and the love and intimacy He showed in sending it Mary’s way!