I have decided to leave my Patriotic music up in running and will do so until our Presidential Election. As morale for the American Public is slightly low, I wanted something to help us reflect on what our Founding Fathers based this country on so many years ago. My decision won't be based on words freely spoke, but on actions that deserve my vote. I will vote based on the Love of my country as well as it's people and for those who freely fight to keep me safe. While I don't enjoy war with anyone, including the innocent, I also want to be sure those who are fighting for my freedom and their families are kept safe. Thats where my vote and that of other Americans is most important. Please Join me in prayer for my country as we embark on hard decisions and fight for the freedoms and privledges set by our Founding Fathers and fought so bravely over the years by American Soldiers. I pray also for friends and family of other soldiers from other countries who also fight for the freedoms of their countries. In God may we ALL trust! Love to each and every one of you no matter what country your from. ~Rebekah
Whoever can be trusted with little, can also be trusted with Much
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Posted in Financial Stewardship
This time last year my husband and I were in a "valley". Believe it or not, it lasted quite awhile, but we learned more in 2006-07 that would eventually carry on during our time of Harvest in our "New Season".
I grew up not knowing how to balance a checkbook or save. Our first year of marriage ended up in disaster as because of my medical bills and inability to budget, we ended up filing for bankruptcy. I bet your thinking I learned my lesson then eh? Nope! You see, I had no idea about money management and spending had always been my way to cope. Shortly after our bankruptcy I found we had more money to be free with and decided to get back into old spending habits and eventually I knew the associate in William Sonoma by name. I learned to "keep up with the jonses" in church and kept wanting more. The more I spent, the more excitement I felt. 2 years in and I went from spending to one day bouncing a series of checks I hadn't balanced which left us in the poor house for MONTHS.
It was an eye-opener and an embarassment not just to my husband, but to those we needed to pay back. I started to pray hard for God to help me AFTER the fact, and became sad and reclusive when He didn't answer right away.
We ended up utilizing a financial advisor through our church who ended up being my enabler and actually encouraging us to spend more money we couldn't afford by going out to lavishing dinners at our meetings. NOT good when your addicted to spending!
Soon after, I felt a tug on my heart and decided to learn more about couponing and other ways to help us save income. I learned how to cut coupons (simple, but something I didn't often do), sought out grocery stores that doubled and tripled coupons, business who would give out coupons and freebies, free trials, and much more. I was so excited when after a month, we started actually saving LOADS of money! I mean I saved 75.00 in one grocery store with half of my groceries being free. We started taking small rides out to our local restaurants who gave me free coupons and utilized the food pantries and Angel Food Ministries where we purchased 25.00 worth of groceries which fed the two of us for 3 months and a family of four for one month. I learned to supplement brand names for off brands and got rid of high speed cable for the FREE Library. Not to mention the books and music as well as videos we could get there free.
I learned what JOY really was when we found other ways to enjoy fun with each other and excitement when we kept seeing our bank accounts get bigger and bigger.
Doug graduated last spring of 07' and now he makes double the income and we are well on our way to learning what freedom is and what Good Stewardship means to God. After taking the jump to learn responsibility, God gave us more and He FINALLY answered my prayer when He directed us to a course by Dave Ramsey which taught us basic financial principals. While sometimes not everything can be conquered, we strive to be the best stewards we can.
In the upcoming weeks, I plan to share our tricks to saving money. If YOU are in a place that we were last year, feeling depressed and helpless, KNOW that you CAN and WILL get out of debt if YOU take the steps to do so. God will always be there every step of the way even though you may not feel Him there. But WE must take the steps to better our lives and start making the good choices that sometimes we as humans resist. In the end, The valley we went through taught us what we know now so that we could make better choices with what God has given us. He HAS Given us more now that we've taken care of what He's given us.
I leave you with the following Scripture that held me accountable during our sweet "Valley":
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." ~Luke 16:10-13
Comments
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by schatzila
Wow, what an awesome post...look forward to checking back with you...
Blessings,
Connie
Friday, February 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Isabella
Great Post. I was not raised to do God's will with "my" money. Hard lessons are great learning tools. Have a blessed day. I
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