Sometimes I thank God for Unanswered Prayers! Merry Christmas

First, I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and holiday season.  And while Christmas is THE time to be with family, this year I won't be.  I'm not complaining, not one single bit.  But my family really comes together every other year, and this is the off year.  I could have gotten together with some family for sure, but it just seemed like this year, being in my home was going to be a good thing.  For one, I'm working tonight at the Virginia Theater where I'm one of the event managers.  The 1st. Presbyterian Church has a service there tonight and I will be one of the "hosts."  I'm happy I can help someone else take the night off and enjoy.  And after that my own church has 5 services, three tonight and two tomorrow.  I'm going to volunteer at two at least and maybe 3 or 4.  One of the downsides of always "going away" for Christmas is that I miss the services with my church family.  There are many there I love dearly and I'm just happy I can share this special time with them.  Tomorrow I have dinner plans with another special family in town and I know that will be fun as well.

So, this has been an amazing past 30 days for me.  I refinanced my house and credit card debt, thanks largely to the full time status I enjoy at work.  All in all I moved from over 6.75+ in interest alone to 3.5% interest.  Most importantly, the payments are 1/3 of what I was paying just last month.  Freeing up that cash allowed me to buy a new car.  I know, I should just save some money for a change, but truth be told, I have nursed my old car for 3 years longer than it should have run.  I got 195,000 from the Mountaineer in 14 years.  I drove it to Maine, and Texas, and Louisiana, and Georgia and many states in between.  It was a wonderful car, but it needed to retire!

In it's' place I got a new...yes new, Ford Fusion.  I had planned to buy used, but again, the offers for a new car are so good it's hard to pass up.  100,000/7 year warranty, 0% interest and no money down.  Oh, and free oil changes and tire rotation for 3 years.  That's amazing.  Just shows how the auto industry has to work hard to make deals.  I love the car and I'm know that my dad is smiling in heaven as I'll continue to drive a Ford for several more years.

I got a paycheck yesterday, and don't have any bills to pay.  I don't remember the last time that happened.  I'll have mortgage payments and car payments again next month, but for now...I'll just enjoy having money in my bank account.

So, this year will end on an up note and I'll thank God for answering my prayers.  There were a few unanswered ones in the past few years, but I see now that was just a lesson in patience God was teaching me .  Reminds me of one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs:

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Merry Christmas everyone.