The Law of the Tax Return

It is called the Law of the Tax Return People!  It should have been included in the Bible Dictionary right between "Law of Moses" and "Lawyer,"  however it is not.  Someday I will make a new Bible Dictionary, entitled  "Joe's Meanings and Metaphors."  It will have much personal significance, and there will probably be a select group of people on the earth that understand EVERYTHING in it, and the rest of the world will be left to wonder......

Because I am now at this very moment experiencing the Law of the Tax Return, I thought it would be useful for my children if I got it down on paper (web page) so that they would know what it is when it happens to them. 

Right after Jared and I moved to Overton, we had lofty plans.  I believe at the time it included a beautiful landscaped yard.  So we planned and the best plan that we could come up with was to use our tax return to complete the yard.  Several days before the tax return landed in our bank account, our white van broke down, and needed significant repairs.  Shockingly enough, the repairs would cost around the same amount as our tax return, leaving NOTHING for the yard fund.

In despair I called my dad.  "Dad, I am so frustrated!  Our van broke down and now we have to use the money from our tax return to pay for the repairs....We were going to use it to finish our yard!" 

"Kathern, that is how it happens.  The Lord always provides you with JUST ENOUGH!"

"But dad!  Doesn't the Lord want me to have a nice yard?"    

"Kathern, the Lord wants you to have enough!  Are you grateful that you have enough to pay off the van?"

"Yes." 

"Well then, I guess we could look at it that way, it often happens this way, it is called 'The Law of the Tax Return."

The yard eventually (and when I say eventually I mean 2 years) was completed with a lot of hard work, sweat, and more sweat!

It goes like this.  You find some extra money that you really were not planning on.  As soon as the dollar amount adds up, you get these crazy dreams in your head about new carpet, a couch that doesn't sag in the middle, or dare I say...Disneyland.  And then all of a sudden, the unexpected money is swallowed up in a big black hole of car repairs, new water heaters, or dare I say,$996 in dental bills. 

Perhaps the Lord knew about the big black hole sooner than I did.  Perhaps it is really a very large blessing in disguise!