I am going to be really transparent in this post because God is so so good.
I have always, for as long as I can remember, wanted to go to university. When I was in grade 12 I was faced with the fact that I might not have been able to afford to go to university. My family was classed as a middle to low income family, which translates into my family not being able to afford to live and help pay for university for me. Which is totally fine, I respect my degree more because I have had to work to pay for it. In grade 12 I did not know if I would qualify for student loans so it was a fear that I wouldn't be able to go to University.
So low and behold in grade twelve I worked my but off at school and got a number of scholarships and bursaries to help pay for school. I also qualified for student loans. So thus began my four years of university.
The entire four years I was consistently worrying about money, and where the next amount would come from. Over and over again God provided money exactly when I needed it, whether it was through bursaries, gifts, a job, and even more money than expected from student loans. over and over again I was humbled by the grace of God and his provision.
As I entered the second half of my senior year I began to worry about paying back the student loan now that I had a degree to work with. I was worrying about getting a job, and making enough money to live and pay back my student loans. I have been praying since grade 12 about this time. Praying for wisdom, provision, and grace.
Since graduation in May I Have been blessed with an amazing job (in the middle of no where) with benefits and it is a full time permeant position. The fact that I have a nursing job is awesome but the fact that it is permanent full time is even better. Not only did God provide me a job but he made it a permanent one. AMAZING.
So I moved to this town and moved into my apartment with very little furniture. Now living in such a small town makes buying furniture and other necessary house items difficult because it is so expensive. So again I prayed for provision and wisdom in how to spend my money. And again God provided me with second hand furniture at a much cheaper price. again AMAZING.
Here I sit in my fully furnished, minus a desk and shelf I still want (praying), which cost me significantly less then if I had to buy everything new.
My thoughts over the last few days have returned to the huge amount of debt that I know is hanging over my head. As in I owe $58,766.00 to the government and to a bank. That is a lot of money. So as you can imagine I have continued to pray over this number and that I will be able to pay it off in a decent about of time. As I said this number has been at the back of my mind every day now for well over a week.
Ready for the exciting news?
Are you sure?
Well, Yesterday I went to the post office and collected my mail. typical right?. In my mail their was indeed a letter from the government about my loans and load repayment. So I open this mail and start reading.
"Dear Tiffany Halliday, Congratulations.."
ummm okay on what?
"You have been approved for the Nova scotia Debt Cap award".
WHAT??
Yes, you read that correctly. With this debt cap, and a bursary that I received, I now only owe in total $37,736.00.
WHATTT.
Yes that is a difference of $21,030.00
$21,030.00
ummm. really.
Guess what? That is not all. The canadian government is starting an initiative to get more health care professions to go to and stay in rural communities throughout Canada in 2013. Long story short you have to work in a town with a population less than 50,000 people, check. You have to work there for a year, will be a check. And they will give you up to $4000 every year for 5 years to a maximum of $20,000 back on your student loans.
HELLO. This is crazy. So there is a chance that I will qualify for the about initiative and have even more money taken off of my current student loan debt.
My final words: God is so much bigger than me!
