Overdraft Insurance

As Claire McGarry balances her checkbook, she recognizes the need for Overdraft Insurance in both her financial and spiritual life.

I’m old-school and haven’t moved to online banking yet. There wasn’t a need before. I was always one of those people who balanced her checkbook to the penny.

The busier my life gets, however, the less attentive I’ve become. Now, I just keep a running tally of expenses and don’t add them up until I sit down to pay my bills once a month. There have been quite a few months when I’ve been shocked to find I’m in the red! It’s a good think I have overdraft insurance on my account.

It seems I’ve been taking the same approach with my personal life. I agree to take on more with work, volunteering, and fun—and don’t add up all the time I’ve committed away. When I end up in the negative, depleted and cranky, I cut out the things that don’t cry for my attention.

When I wonder where the balance in my life has gone, I realize one of the things I cut out is my time with God. He’s the great mathematician Who can take the grace I get during my twenty minutes with Him and multiply it so I have all the strength, patience, and joy I need for the day.

I need to remember that God is my overdraft insurance—keeping me out of the red when I include Him in my days. Rather than subtracting Him from the equation when life gets busy, I need to add more of Him to get me through.