My wife Stacey and I sat down last night for a, “Budget Committee Meeting.” Together, we are taking a class taught by financial expert Dave Ramsey (via video) that’s designed to help people improve the way they handle their personal finances. Sitting down to plan your monthly budget is referred to as a, “Budget Committee Meeting.”

I must confess, our budget meeting was less than cordial, there were moments of high stress and a few backhanded, non-edifying remarks (sorry Stacey). The goal of the budget committee meeting is to plan out where every penny of your monthly income will end up. Money can be saved, spent, given, or invested, as long as it’s accounted for. The point is that you must know where your money ends up. Believe it or not, Stacey and I had different ideas on where our money should go, thus, stress and disagreements ensued.

As we planned (and did our best to be kind to one another) we were repeatedly challenged with the same dilemma. The question was: Are we going to live by fear or Faith? Simply looking at our income and expenses side by side may have led us to an unfortunate answer. But before long we started to remind one another that we serve a God who always provides for us. We consistently chose to act in Faith as opposed to shrinking back in fear.

Soon tensions relaxed and after apologies were made (again, sorry Stacey) we were able to get some perspective and realize how blessed we are. We have a wonderful house, two healthy, happy girls, and I have a great job that allows Stacey to stay home. God’s hand of provision and favor rests on us; because of that, we choose to live by Faith, not by fear.