Dear Drawing Near community, I have a confession to make. I hate budgets. Not in the same way I dislike licorice or avocados (I know that many of you are obsessed with avocados- sorry), but in a different way; a more intense way. I am not proud to tell you this, but I hate budgets. When I was a little girl, I used to put my money in envelopes. One for my allowance, one for church offering, and one for my dog. That lasted a week.

My husband is partly retiring the end of July, and he made me go to a budget meeting pertaining to his retirement. Embarrassed to say, I asked the finance professional if I could have a separate account for my nails and other beautification needs. My husband with his wit, said: You need a separate budget for that stuff?  I like you natural”. Well for me that IS natural like hair color and nail polish and maybe even throw in a facial. They all (there were two consultants and one husband) looked at me with disdain. That is when my husband coined the phrase:

GIRL MEETS BUDGET

Now I am in a conundrum. I want to honor my husband by submitting to this budget, but my flesh cries out, NO. So this brings me to the point of my blog today.

We all have our stuff; our achilles heel, our weak places. Finances has never been my strong suit, but I do try. However I have a life partner in my husband (literally life as we met at 15) and he has a gift of organization, goal setting and etc. Finances are just a small part of his abilities to keep life in balance and order. I on the other hand, have other gifts and I recognize that rather than fighting his gift I need to appreciate it and he needs to do the same for me. I love beauty, writing and speech, and helping people anywhere, anytime. He is frustrated when I meet someone and I end up learning their life story. But we both have learned (often the hard way) to appreciate each other’s gifts.

The body of Christ is a prime example where we must intentionally acknowledge each other’s gifts, and work together as a whole body.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit… (I Corinthians 12) 

Paul, speaking of the body of Christ, describes a physical body in comparison to the spiritual body of Christ:

But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts but one body. ( Corinthians 12:18-19)

Friends, think about the people God has placed around you and begin to appreciate their variety of gifts.  We need one another! Maybe one of you can help me with a budget?!! Any takers?

With great appreciation for the diversity of gifts God has given us, my hope is that we will embrace who we are, and ask others to come alongside us where we lack. God designed it this way. Guess I talked myself into a budget!