A couple of weeks ago, Steve went down to UPenn's business office to check on some things with his NIH grant. He received this grant in 2008 and it is supposed to be a 3 year grant. Steve won't be quite done in May and we weren't sure what that meant for funding through the summer...so down to the business office he went.
Steve came away from that little meeting with two HUGE praises:)
One, his funding through the summer should not be an issue. Technically, his tuition has gone down now that he is a 5th year graduate student, so there is money available to fund him for a bit longer than May.
Two, he has a Education allowance of $1200 that expires in May that he was not aware of. The business office said it was part of his original grant, but somehow we missed even knowing about it. The money needed to go toward an education expense...they encouraged him to get a new computer at Penn's bookstore. His laptop was just recently upgraded, so he didn't need another one. What to do...what to do?
So, a few days ago, he came home with a new Mac. It is amazing! We got our old e-machine in 2005 and it's been a good computer, but it is definitely showing it's age. It has crashed twice since Steve's been in school and we have been just crossing our fingers hoping it would make it until he's done...because affording a new computer right now is not in the budget...not even close.
In all honesty, this computer feels extravagant. We have pinched pennies for so long while Steve has been in school...this computer just feels like such a huge gift. Our budget situation has actually been very good for us...even though ends often don't meet. We've had to cut some pretty important things from our lives, but God has grown us through it.
Thank you, Lord, for Steve's funding...and thank you for this very practical gift.
God bless~
Rach
No comments:
Post a Comment