Unexpected Income???

I finally have Sundays off and have been able to go to church. I’d been hearing about a dynamic local ministry and decided to give it a try. It’s based on science of the mind and I like it very much. They frequently bandy about words and phrases like “abundance and prosperity” and “unexpected income.” What ARE they going on about? I thought. I was intensely in survival mode and feeling as poor as a church mouse.

The second service that I attended, the minister talked about a pledge that you could sign out in the lobby. You would agree to tithe 10% of any unexpected income that came your way over the next 30 days. Unexpected Income, oh that’ll be the day ... no point signing that. I couldn’t even afford the $50 needed to sign up for a church luncheon that was coming up in November.

Well, fast forward to the very next service one short week later. I not only had 3 sources of unexpected income create incredible “abundance and prosperity” in my life during that time, but could well afford the $50 luncheon in November! I hadn’t signed up for the pledge but was only too happy to double my contribution to the collection basket as it came my way!

I’d won a thousand dollars playing Bingo on Friday night (I’d been going for years without winning a thing,) my daughter’s father sent her some money to help her out during the slow season (a rare enough occurrence to warrant mentioning here) and heck, I’d even won a couple of bucks on my lottery ticket! How do you win $2 on one of these things, I asked the clerk at the convenience store? I have no idea he replied. He’d never heard of such a thing. Abundance and Prosperity, indeed!

Abundance Beyond Belief ...

I just got paid! How did I take advantage of this amazing windfall? Well, let's see. I added the $900 to the $300 I already had in my account. The $300 was already allotted for the rest of the rent. I called the car company and made a $311 payment over the phone (note to self: don't do that again - there is an $8 charge, check could have been mailed just as easily.) I went to AAA and made $115 car insurance payment. $166 will be automatically withdrawn in two days by the cable company for phone, internet and TV service. I had to put $100 in daughter J's account to cover overdraft fees (grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Note to self ... kill J.)

I took out $140 in cash; using $40 of it to buy gas for the Saturn (a trip to La Quinta and then to Beaumont that same day ate up half the gas.) I mailed my two ebay sale items for $10, bought groceries to the tune of $45 (saving $5 by using coupons.) Gave my daughter $20 to put in the Kia's tank. I met a new friend for lunch $10, bought yogurt for $5, dumped loose change into my coin jar and cannot account for $10. Hmmmmm ... tips? Where did it go? So now I have $60 in my account which has to be left there as a cushion to absorb unexpected bank fees.

Oh well, easy come, easy go. We are supposed to be getting a couple hundred from our border next week and J gets paid on Friday. Good thing because we still have to pay my Verizon cell phone bill ($77) and $400 for the electric bill by October 1st. (Note to self: don't kill J after all, her income is badly needed.)