Financial balance

"Say it isn't so..."
© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.
Watercolor & Colored Pencils

So I was working on my PC Saturday and noticed I had 2 cursors on the screen instead of one.  As a programmer, I knew this was a bad sign.  Things would come up and then disappear, it took 3 clicks to close software.  My hard drive was maxed out quite a lot.  Then it happened.  The fatal blue screen appeared on my monitor shouting,  "Error!"  I rebooted and the machine came back.  But I've seen this before.  Soon the whole PC dies and everything inside.  I feared the worst, 153 gigabytes of photos could be wiped away.  It could be the Mother Board, the brains.   I took it to my PC repairman to run a diagnostic on the hardware. 

I was hoping I was wrong all Saturday.  My husband thought it was the perfect time to upgrade to a Mac.  I had to agree.  I can wipe out a PC pretty quickly with my software.  And, PC's just don't last as long as Macs.  But I was still hoping I was wrong.  Sunday I got the call.  I was right.  Don't you just hate being right at the wrong time?  The good news is I caught it before it wiped out my photos.  My husband picked out a new Mac for me- she's a beauty and will be strong enough to endure my hours and Adobe Creative Suite. It's an iMac and much nicer than I would've chosen for myself.  I can work on illustrating and writing a children's book.  It will be an excellent tool.

I used to see racks of servers when I worked in computing.  Now I'll have my own little rack of hard drives.  So, we stepped out in faith to order it.  All night I kept thinking, "What did I do!!?"

Then today, we received a small inheritance from my Mom's estate.  It was plenty to cover my new system and then some.  Sometimes it's wise to buy quality, avoiding the risk of losing your work.  You can spend more on replacing lower quality than just getting a good machine in the beginning. 

I remember so many times, when I put myself through college, Mom would say, "I sure wish I could help you out."  I felt so bad for her.  I helped her out as much as I could with my college work money.  Today, I looked up and whispered, "Thanks Mama.  This is the best system I've ever had.  You sure helped me out."

Sooo... I'm using a drawing I did on paper (instead of Corel Painter) for this post.  Lord willing I'll be setting up my new system tomorrow.  Soon I'll be working like a pro.   I'll try and keep posting but it may take a few days to learn the Mac.  Hoping to be back to normal by Wednesday.  I'm working on my laptop tonight but didn't want anyone to worry or wonder.

I'm really becoming a freelancer.  Go figure...

These verses from Proverbs 23 seem to fit my situation pretty well.  Thanks be to God for His perfect timing, our needs being met again, and for pointing out my PC's trouble before it was fatal and I lost everything.

Proverbs 23

These verses describe 2 extremes to me.  Either putting our whole being into work to earn money, or being too caught up in saving money.  Both lead to poor relationships with others and especially the Lord.  I want to be grateful for His gifts financially, enjoy and save.  I don't want to let work take over my life.  Even if it's something I love.  Jesus first, family second, work third.
⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
   do not trust your own cleverness.
⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
   for they will surely sprout wings
   and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

 ⁶ Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
   do not crave his delicacies;
⁷ for he is the kind of person
   who is always thinking about the cost.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
   but his heart is not with you.

Pray with me that I'll conquer the Mac and be back soon writing and drawing on it.  I need to work on paper more too. God bless!
Karen

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19