Dear broke college student

I remember a conversation I had with a friend last summer. She told me that she was tired of living on the line. She was tired of rationing every single penny she spent. That was the difference between having $2 ramen noodles for dinner and having a nice meal- even if it was home cooked with very few ingredients.

Last night a few friends and I had a good laugh about our not-so-glory days. One friend showed us bar soap she had got from the dollar store because she was too broke to go and shop in another place. All three of us had a good laugh about that.

Another friend shared another story about when her housing with her mother was terminated, and they had to live in an uncompleted building. And when she had to use the toilet, she had to use newspapers in the pit latrine. 

That too, was funny. Well, not really. But we were in a safe laugh-at-my-pain space.

Finally, another friend told us about her course registration woes- emailing professors and hopping from class to class because there was a hold on her student account. We also recounted a story our church pastor had told us about his days as a broke college student.

He would send his checks to the bank through the postal system, hoping that when they eventually arrived at the bank, some money would have been deposited into his account. When there was no money, he would tell the bank that there was an error, and that he was waiting to get confirmation from his parents back home. 

We had a good laugh about this, too.

There was fellowship and love in that room, which is why we each felt vulnerable enough to share unpleasant circumstances from our past. We each had experienced God’s love and kindness and we could laugh over things that really were not funny.

I just had a conversation with a friend, who was telling me about her financial burdens, taking care of her parents and two siblings-by-adjunct.

She told me that at this moment, she had $5 in her bank account. That, too made me laugh really hard because I remembered once when I had only $7 in my bank account and I basically hibernated at home to avoid any cost. I could not even afford to go outside and stand in the sunlight, so that I would get hungry but too broke to eat. 

We shared a generous laugh over that as well.

Don’t worry about me, I’m not at $7 broke anymore, but I do know that I am not at the financial abundance that I pray for. And I know that I will get there- to a place where money literally is an afterthought. When I no longer have to budget for anything because I know that I have an all sufficient God. Not even in the spiritual “I believe Jesus will do it” sort of way, but in the “I know that God will provide” sort of way. Because my bank account will be proof of that sufficiency.

Whenever I’m worried, I think about people in the bible who have come from nothing and made something out of their lives. I think about the God who never forsakes His children.

You may not even resonate with this post, but I want you to know that no matter what your need is- it may not be financial- God will do it for you!

Heck, you may be at a very happy place and recently come to your breakthrough. But for future hard times, remember that God will be with you. 

I want you to know that God has you in the palm of His hands. He has you as the first and last thought on His mind. Every.Single.Moment.

Hold on, hang in there. Have a good laugh and it will be alright.