Debts, Financial crisis, and Prayers

yup... when you have a Financial Crisis which leads to piles of Debts after Debts, Happiness seems to go right out the door.
Yes you have the rare occasional fun-filled outing with friends, Laughter with your kids, Going out to a Great Movie / dinner, Minor Shopping with credit card installments, etc etc, but deep down inside, You worry, You fear, You're not happy, almost all the time.

First,
it's good that you're able to get out and find moments of happiness.... don't shut everyone out altogether, get out every once in a while, Have fun, you need it.

Second,
Keep your mind focused and clear and Start doing what you can, Do it now, Keep trying, Do your best.
Ask for help from friends and families if you must.
and Pray !
When you pray, Have Faith in God, Be Patient.

Here's my story :

Debts... yup
It's been 7 years now
Imagine living in debts for 7 years.
It's like being frozen in time for 7 years, at least for me.
Somehow, between paying bank interests and daily expenses, we manage.
We have incomes but expenses are slightly bigger, still, we manage.
We're happy, but we worry deep down.

But it's good in a way.
I learn that some people are not stingy, they just need to save.
Hey..... Restaurants are okay, but Expensive Restaurants ?, we'd feel guilty if we did go there, it'll only add to our credit cards debt.
Overseas vacations ? what vacation ?
But we stick together, we're good, we have what we need.

then recently,
one of the banks threatened to auction one of our properties. If that bank did go on and auction that property, the price's is probably only third of the normal price.
So we panicked.
Deadlines are approaching, it was kinda chaotic.
We needed to get a loan, fast.
We needed to sell that property before the bank auctioned it, fast.
and Fast didn't happen fast.
panic panic panic
1 day something would seems promising, the next day it was nothing
1 day another thing is looking good, the next day it was canceled
it goes on and on and on and on
It's been a roller coaster ride these past few months

We prayed daily, we never prayed so much before.
We grew stronger as a family.
We learn that we need to be patient and trust Him.
We keep on trying our best to find a solution.

and After a few months, at the very last minute, at Christmas
It was a perfect timing that just happened suddenly.
we got a loan
we got an offer on the property
everything is looking up now, pretty soon, we're debt free.

How did that happen to take place perfectly in time ?
We've been praying for months with no answers, but at the exact last minute, help came.
Isn't it amazing ? I say it's a miracle. our Christmas miracle. :)

So what do we learn ?
- We learn to be patient for God to answer our prayers.
- We learn that prayer is power
- We learn that there's always hope and to always have faith in God.
- We learn to trust Him, even when we still worry and have doubts, we have to choose to trust Him.
In our situation, it was a rollercoaster ride, so when we had a "green light" from the bank, a positive sign, we worried still, we doubted the chances, we had "what if's" questions. We shouldn't have worried, we should've stayed calm and have faith in God, because we are in God's hands.
- We learn that God's timing is perfect,
Perfect because, If we weren't "threatened" by the bank that they were gonna auction our property, we wouldn't rush things and take immediate necessary actions. It may seem like a "punishment" in the beginning. "Why now?" "This is gonna end bad" etc, We initially got all panicky and scared, but we got closer to God, because we learn to do our best and ask for His help because He is the only one that can perform miracles, at exactly the last minute, our prayers was answered. Perfect !
- We learn that miracles do happen

btw, when I was a kid, My mum and I was once stranded in an airport with no money to buy airline tickets, a total stranger offered to lend us money, she actually asked what was wrong and offered to lend money.
An Angel ? :)

Other than that ? What do we learn ?
- We learn to treat others with respect, no matter what.
My parents always taught me to treat other people with respect and never to make enemies, They were right, we may need their help in times of trouble.
(Although in this case, those people didn't actually help us, but it's a good point)
- We learn that even someone unexpected (such as the janitor or a food vendor) can be or link you to a potential helper
- We learn to stay humble.
People can be rude when they're ON TOP and they'd feel superior when we need their help and they'd treat us like dirt. We hope that we would never turn into them, ever.
- We learn to always help others when they need our help, just as how relieved we feel when others are willing to help us.
- We learn to never get bank loans ever again, lol

So there's my story.
If you're still in debt or you're still having any problem whatsoever.
Don't lose hope, Keep praying, Keep doing your best and believe that what ever the outcome is, God will give you the best solution according to Him and His perfect timing.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!
God Bless :)

Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. - Mat 21:22
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding - Proverbs 3:5-6
God's timing is perfect , never early, never late, and His plans are what's best for you

Worry worry worry

We all feel worried from time to time, and for most of us, we can't control our feeling worried.
So How do you control it ? How do you stop worrying ?

I myself worry too much, I think.
I worry on the littlest things.
One time, I was in Milan, Italy (study purposes) and I wanted to renew my permesso di soggiorno (permit of stay, you need to have this permit to stay in that country, so even if your visa is expired, you can still legally stay there.)
If you've been to Italy, you know how crazy the bureaucracy is.
It was hard the first time I obtained my first permesso di soggiorno, there was a long line , we all had to wait in line hours before the office opens, the bathroom was extremely dirty-unusable, we had to wait for hours and hours and hours to wait for our turn, the officers were unfriendly, plus my Italian was at a beginners level. It was really a horrible day.
So to renew the permesso, all I have to do is go to the nearest appointed police station *if I'm not mistaken, it's been a few years, I forgot*
I got all my papers ready, but I was so worried about going there, I pictured different situations in my head, what to say, what to ask, I was worried that they were going to be mean to me, I was worried there were gonna be a long line, I was worried that I needed to pee but there was no decent toilet, I was worried on the bus on the way there, I was worried as I entered the building.
But it turned out, there was no line at all, the officer was nice, He checked all my papers, and simply told me to come back in 2 weeks time to get my new permesso di soggiorno.
So I was worried for nothing !!! If I had known, I wouldn't have worried so much. I would just relax.
But the thing is, I didn't know so I worried so much.

For most of the situations in our lives, we won't know what will happen in the future, whether it will turn out bad or good.
We all need to live in the NOW.
So in my case, I was worried for nothing, everything turned out fine. but I spent days, hours, worrying and making myself feel miserable.

My feeling worried didn't help anything in anyway.
If I felt worried and things turned out bad, my worry is not going to make things worse or better.
If I didn't feel worried, and things turned out find, it's not going to make things worse or better either.
So I choose not to feel worried, because it is useless.
Worrying is totally pointless.
I'd rather relax myself and hope for the best result that may happen from doing the best that I could possibly can.

So next time, in whatever things I do in my life, I'm just gonna make sure all the preparations is done well, everything is ready, I'm gonna do my best and I'm not gonna worry, I'm just going to relax and hope that everything will work out fine.
I will try that and hope for the best.

And I also know this, in the simplest situation or even at the worst extreme situation, We should leave it all to Him.
In whatever situation, do your best, and everything else depends on Him.
Some things are out of our control no matter what we do, so instead of worrying, just do your best, then let worry go, have total faith.
Sounds simple ?
well, It is that simple.

So let it go.
The outcome may surprise you :)
But whatever the result is, believe that there's a reason for everything, and you don't have to know the reason, but just believe that it's the best for you right now.
so Trust Him and you'll feel so much better :D