chriskan

Gloom, doom, recession, downturns - it all seems bad in the news everyday.  Although, as Christians, we need to look beyond all this and ask God where we stand in the midst of the current economic times.  Psalm 112:6 states "Even in the midst of darkness, light dawns for the righteous" [pp].  So, we need not worry or fear, but I feel this is always a time to take stock, seek God and surrender every area of our life to Him to guide us through the "storm".

In early 2008 we decided to sell our family home, which at the time was worth over 750k AUD.  A lot of people thought we were mad.  Sure, we were living the dream, cars, big house, home theatre etc.  But, amidst all that, I almost lost everything when I was fighting leukemia.  We came to the sudden realisation that even though we had "success" by the worlds standards, we were miserable.  What was the end to all this?  The house would eventually be paid off and then what?  What difference had we made in this world?  How much time would we have spent with our kids at the end of it?  And, what legacy, and value system we were leaving for our kids for their own future, and the generations to come?

At that point we surrendered the whole burden to God, and He gave us the grace to go through it.  It was amazing, in hindsight, that without any regret, we gave up all the trappings, and felt such a freedom and enthusiasm for life that I cannot explain such peace in any words.  God had answered our prayers for a new start, a new foundation to build our family on, HIS WAY.

In January of this year we decided to move our family to Sri Lanka for a few years, mainly to be closer to my wife's family, but we also find that we get to spend quality time with the kids as well, and there is extra help with the housework etc.

What I love about Dave's book is that it's very do-able, it just takes discipline.  I'm only 32, and I would much rather establish this discipline into my family now, and hopefully the generations to come, rather than when it's too late!

I'm only upto chapter 4 in the book, but so far, it's really encouraged me to get started with LIFE, and excited about not getting into debt that binds us.  One of the scriptures in the book, which really sums up God's view on debt:

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Prov. 22:7

We continue to see God's favour over and over again nowadays.  This week has seen God answer prayers for several areas we've been praying for. 

My health continues to be a concern, in particular my left eye.  I've been having some laser treatment to clean up some new blood vessel growth, which is bad, as they leak blood.  There were some complications this week after the laser, where there was some swelling on the retina.    Thank God it's reduced, and now I can focus again beyond about 6ft.  I've been at home all week, hoping to get back to work next week.