Seven Years of Plenty

I'm sure some of you have experienced this before: all your prayers are answered…at the same time…and you're not ready. Well if you haven't had that happen yet, let me tell you it'll give you some serious emotional whiplash. Terminal illness, job loss, new business opportunities, a clean bill of health, a postponed wedding, oh and CoVID . Do I have you scratching your head now? Are you thinking, how are these things related and what do they have to do with blog title?

Let's take a step back, way back, I mean to the Book of Genesis back. If you're not familiar with the phrase "seven years of plenty", it comes from the story of Joseph in Genesis 41. Now Joseph's life was definitely full of drama, but at this point in his story he's doing his thing interpreting dreams from jail (side note: do your thing no matter what situation you're in), and word gets back to Pharaoh who's got some things that are really messing with his sleep. Long story short, Joseph interprets a series of Pharaoh's dreams like no one else can, and the one that's his get out of jail card is this seven years of plenty, seven years of famine interpretation. Basically he tells Pharaoh, hey man, things look good for you now and they're going to stay like that for about another seven years. But then you better be ready, because it's going to be matched by seven years of famine.

Sounds like something you want to tell the guy who holds your life in his hands right? Well

Joseph isn't just a Bad News Betty, because he tells Pharaoh, while it's all good, put aside a

portion of your gains and when the famine comes, yeah it'll be hard but you and your people will come through it.

Well after enjoying plenty for the past 7 years, August came in and said " hey ma'am, it's time for the famine." And of course nobody wants to enter into the era of famine, but surprisingly the initial shock of it wasn't so bad. And I mean, it could've been really bad, because in the matter of one week I found out my future mother-in-law's cancer had taken a turn for the worst, I'd been laid off from my job with only two-weeks' notice, and my fiancé and I decided to officially postpone our wedding (which was only going to be the two of us at this point, because you know, CoVID).

7. In 7 days, 7 years' worth of comfortable living and planning for the future came to a

screeching halt. And with each new day of bad news, I prayed to maintain my peace and sanity. It wasn't always automatic, and it was definitely not without tears or anger or way too many Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. But every morning, I woke with a new hope and a sense of

gratitude for God allowing me such a long runway to be a good steward of my resources - both relational and financial.

Here are a few practical things I did to prepare during the season of plenty:

1. With every financial gain, give an offering - whatever that looks like for you, whether it's

to a church or a charitable organization or just a friend or family member in need

2. Live below your means. Assess what your true needs are, then put half of the remaining

amount in savings and use the other half for leisure activities.

3. Any time you get unexpected money (bonus, holidays or birthdays, etc.,) give to God

first, then divide the remaining amount with half going into savings and the other half to

be used for your leisure.

4. Nurture your relationships - friends, family, colleagues. Send a random nice text

message, a Christmas card, Cashapp $5 to someone for a latte or whatever.

5. Free yourself of as much debt as you can.

6. Prioritize your health - mental, physical, spiritual and emotional

7. Pray, pray, pray, pray - it's the one way I know I can get off whatever is on my chest, and

it will always be heard.

This story is just at the climax. I don't know how it ends, and for the first time in my life I'm ok with living in a season of uncertainty, because like Joseph advised I put aside a portion of my gains for such a time as this.