Dailey Bred Farm
Daily Devotion 202
July 20
Each Little Thought
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Proverbs 23:7a
What were you thinking about just before you began reading this? What have you been thinking about the past few days? What do you think about most of the time?
What you are is a product of what you’ve been thinking about. Take some time today to watch your thought life. Do you meditate upon the law of the Lord day and night? Do you think about the things mentioned in Philippians 4:8? Is God serious when the Bible tells us what we are supposed to fill our minds with? Did you ever know God to not mean what He says? God says we must think about these things if we want to be fruitful.
A little thought does not seem so bad. But each little thought is another brick in the wall of the stronghold we are building in our minds for either God or Satan. The stronghold of God is a mighty fortress of protection against the storms of life. But Satan’s strongholds lock us in a dungeon of guilt, shame, and misery. He will take us captive whenever he wants to. When he says “hate” we will hate. When he says “overeat” we will overeat. When he says “complain” we will complain. When he says “fear man” we will fear man. In what ways does Satan have you chained?
To repent means to change our thinking. Today, pay close attention to what you think about. Ask yourself, “What kind of person thinks thoughts like that?” With God’s help, pull down those Satanic strongholds in your mind, and build strongholds for God. Perhaps it will take several days or months until you’re done. But do not give up. The strongholds that took many years or generations to erect may take time to pull down. He that perseveres and patiently brings forth fruit unto perfection will be blessed
by God and saved eternally.
Philip Cohen, Summersville, MO
Your mind is the gateway to your heart.
Bible Reading: Philippians 4
One Year Bible Reading Plan:
Acts 21:15–40
Psalms 31—33
Used by Permission of Vision Publishers
PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
Phone: 877-488-0901
E-Mail: [cs@vision-publishers.com]
If it wasn't for me...
Blessings!
Do you ever find yourself saying, "If it wasn't for me________would never get done!" (fill in the blank)? Be honest now:P I don't do it as often as I once used to but I did find myself doing just that the last week:P
It was a couple of days of things just being so busy and sometimes feeling like we were taking two steps forward and one step back:P It began with, "What would you all do if I wasn't here to sweep up your mess on the mudroom floor?" It progressed with things like, "How would you folks survive if I wasn't here to close the cupboard doors?" "What will you do when I'm not here anymore to, pick up the dirty towels off the bathroom floor...rinse the dishes before stacking them, clean out the muddy drop in the bathroom sink, replace the soap in the dish etc!?!" Then the last one that got me thinking harder than anything was..."Am I the only one who knows how to replace the toilet paper and actually put it ON the dispenser?":P
All this to say, I had become a class one nag and self oppointed doitall:P I got to thinking about how much God has done for me because I didn't do it first or do it for myself and blah blah blah. Hearing yourself yet?:P
I wondered how many times God has said to me "Am I the only one that sees you dragging your feet, not praying enough, worrying too much etc?" What would you do if I wasn't here to help you through your trials, pick you up when you are down, hold you when you are shattered etc etc etc?"
My answer? I would be lost. Completely and utterly lost. I would be desparate, desolate, alone and forgotten. How much He does for me and how often I take it for granted.
What would my family do? Perhaps they would be lost, desparate, desolate, alone and forgotten. All or some of each? Who knows. I know one thing for sure. They wouldn't feel my love or know my guidance. Teaching them as I go along, helping them to become not so much independant but reliant on God's provision. They've been given the gift of someone who loves them enough to do these things (even if it comes with a complaint now and then) for and with them.
I will never be complaint free but I do try to let them know that there are lots of things that I couldn't do without THEM either:) My sweet husband and children will often turn my frown upside down by turning my words around. They will jump on it and say "What would we do if you weren't here to________" or they will do something with a lot of fanfare to make sure I know they are doing it and, with a mischevious little grin, say "What would you do if______":P
I love my family and I know they love me. Better yet GOD loves my family and I know He loves me!
So...if it wasn't for you....?
Have a very blessed night!
God be with thee!
Sister Lori
A tour through our new house.
We moved into this house in May. I've been meaning to get pics of it before now, but here they are now.
From the outside:
This is a closer look at the back deck. Tim is building us another bed for the master bedroom:
Next we'll look at the house from the inside. This is the front door. I think it is pretty.
Next is the kitchen. It is small but functional:
Next is the main floor great room:
Beyond the window behind the table in the last picture is the master bedroom. The following are the homeschooling book shelves that I need to organize this week on the back of that window. We hope to close in that window with a built-in bookshelf on one side with a framed cork-board on the other.
Recently I moved 3dd4 into her little brother's bedroom next to ours. They enjoy sharing a room:
This bathroom concludes our tour of the main floor:
Next we'll head up stairs to the upstairs bedrooms and loft. The first pics are of the loft room that looks out to the living room and living room windows:
Here is a close-up of the futon quilt that I got at a yard sale in Illinois for $5! I love americana decor. Especially when it gives a "country look".
Looking back at the entry to the room from the railing, one can see the bedroom doors, the loft closet door and the bathroom door.
Behind the closet door is a wonderful room for storing books and toys!
Next is the bigger girls' rooms. 1dd10 first, then 1dd9's (who is reading under her purple comforter!)
Our basement has the tv room, two unfinished bedroom/other rooms, an area for dh to do his pottery, a mud room (because it opens onto the ground level in the front of the house), and a laundry area. If we ever get the okay from the county, we might be able to finish it, but for now the pics aren't too interesting, and it is a mess.
I hope you enjoyed my journey through our new home. We feel very blessed to be able to live here. God is good to us.
In His faithfulness,
Carol
Daily Devotion 201
July 19
Worries or Peace?
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
Where will the money come from for the next payment? How can I get this business paid off more quickly? Where will our next meal come from? Where will we get the money for the shoes we need so badly? How can I make more money so I can buy the truck I want so badly? Where can I invest my money to make sure it increases? What can I do with all my riches, so I can keep them? After all, a fire could burn up all our things, or someone could steal them, or . . . The list could go on.
Being overly concerned about any of these things should tell us we are not trusting God as we ought. God does not have our total devotion, which He deserves.
If God has our total devotion, material things will not matter so much. We can be poor and still serve God with a whole heart. If the Lord has blessed us with riches, we can use them to bring honor and glory to God by sharing with the needy instead of hoarding it to ourselves.
The key is found in verse 33 of our reading. “But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If we put God first in everything, He will supply all our needs.
Lowell Brenneman, Cullman, AL
True peace and contentment are found only in Jesus.
Bible Reading: Luke 12:13–34
One Year Bible Reading Plan:
Acts 21:1–14
Psalms 28—30
Used by Permission of Vision Publishers
PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA 22803
Phone: 877-488-0901
E-Mail: [cs@vision-publishers.com]
A bit of a snafu and new plans
It’s a hot and beautiful sun-shiny day here in my little corner of
I’ve been inside redoing my menu plan because I made a bit of a mess out of it.
It seems with all the other crazy goings on I didn’t check to make sure I had some key ingredients on hand for some recipes. Plus I pushed back my Aldi’s shopping to next week because of having to do some other extra driving this week for youth work and I knew we wouldn’t have the gas money.
So what have we done? How have we “survived”?
By God’s good grace.
Allow me to share: On Tuesday, Mr. Steady found eggs were 99 cents a dozen at the little store down the road from where he works and he bought 4 dozen. Unknown to me- on this same day I was at the little Amish store I love and found eggs were 99 cents also- good thing I only bought 1 dozen. I also splurged and dipped into my stock-up grocery stash to buy a large amount of precooked and frozen bacon crumbles (we’re talking major good deal here- as in the same price we pay for bacon and they’ve already cooked and crumbled it for us!). So on Tuesday we had cheesy scrambled eggs with bacon bits, onion (from the garden) and mushrooms I found in the fridge (thought we’d finished them up with salad last week). Yummo. With toast that was made from “free to me” bread in my freezer (passed along by a friend who is constantly being given free bread).
On Wednesday, I had massage therapy and my dad asked Mr. Steady to help him with a project for church. My mom fed my little family and I ate a bit of leftovers.
So that has all helped greatly with the great grocery oops.
And so you will once again be seeing recipes that were scheduled for this week in next week’s menu.
If there are no more huge snafus, I have the menu plan planned out for the next three weeks and even a couple days of the week thereafter.
Whew.
Banned Books
Blessings!
I was not tagged for this meme either but it sounded interesting so I decided to do it too:) (Like so many others who found it just as interesting):)
As I understand it you need to mark or bold the books you've read. so here goes:)
#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran (interesting and scarey)
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (interesting and misguided)
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair (very political in nature but makes you think)
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#58 Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Both in Russian and in English)
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler (both volumes with my grandmother)
#75 A Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Émile by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Émile Zola
#104 Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
I did not correct the incomplete titles but those that read them would know anyway:)
That was a walk in history for me:) Some read in school as required reading, some because of curiosity and some because it touched my family in one way or another. (And I adore Ray Bradbury. I met him at a college lecture and who later allowed me to participate in a local radio production from the Theatre in the Round, of Dandelion Wine. He also signed my copy of the script at the time):)
Anyone can be tagged now:)
God be with thee!
Sister Lori
Lets look at what I've learned
Recapping what I’ve learned:I learned that you should never ever enter into an agreement with a debt counseling, debt solutions, debt settlement or debt consolidation agency (or any other name they might have).
I learned that I should have, when I realized that I could no longer make even my minimum monthly payments--- I should have contacted the credit card companies immediately and worked our arrangements with them myself. [I didn’t know this was an option until I’d already signed on with the debt counseling agency.] The credit card companies actually do want to work with you because some money is better than no money.
I learned to keep a file of every piece of paper that has to do with my finances, especially debts, and to keep copious notes of any and all correspondence (fax, voice mail, email, snail mail, phone calls) including the date and time of each.
I’ve learned to trust God more than ever before.
I’ve learned to lean on Him and depend on Him in ways I have never done before.
I’ve learned that I am not good at maintaining our budget unless I have someone holding me accountable (Mr. Steady).
I’ve learned that it is easier for me to stay on budget and keep track of all spending when we use the cash envelope system.
I’ve learned that I don’t need all those things I thought I did.
I’ve learned that instant gratification can really be a bad thing.
I’ve learned that planning and waiting and accumulating for purchases (vs. instant gratification) really makes you take stock of whether you actually need it or even want it.
I’ve learned- really learned better the value of “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”.
I’ve learned that I actually find much joy and satisfaction in living within that phrase I just wrote.
I’ve learned to pray about all matters- from the need for car repairs to come in on budget to the purchase of a pair of needed khaki pants. [I remember praying about white T-shirts- I picked up two shirts for the girls at the store but hemmed and hawed about the purchase all the way thru the store because I knew we didn’t even have the extra $8 for those two shirts- I prayed about it and put the shirts back. That evening my momma brought me a bag of clothes she had purchased at Goodwill- with 2 brand spanking new white T-shirts inside. God knows our needs- we need to ask!!]
I’ve learned that there is no real need that God does not supply.
I’ve learned that coffee ice cream is not such a need.
I’ve learned the joy of being financially accountable for our finances to my husband- no more shame, no more allowing him to be oblivious.
I’ve learned the joy of cheap date nights.
I’ve learned the joy of coming home from a vacation that was not only totally paid for but we came back with money in our pockets! [As opposed to the old me that would put about half the vacation on the dreaded credit card.]
I’ve learned that I do not miss shopping. I have not been to a mall in 3 years.
I’ve learned to pray about all purchases- yes, even groceries.
I’ve learned that it’s okay to be honest and tell others that you can’t afford something.
I’ve learned that it’s even okay to opt out of the huge family holiday gift exchange.
I’ve learned that I don’t feel guilty for opting out of that gift exchange- but relieved and light-hearted.
I’ve learned that by stepping up and having the courage to say NO to even the good things that others will be glad you did and join you. (Once I was honest with my family about not having the means for the gift exchange others totally agreed and said they’d been trying to find a way to opt out for years! Go figure!)
I’ve learned to find deeper appreciation in the small things- such as making my own iced coffee, going to a free museum, a quick car ride to watch fireworks from the driveway of a nearby field (with popcorn we hurriedly popped beforehand), bike rides, picnics and family camp fires.
I’ve learned that God is nudging me to a new level of hospitality available to me due to what He’s been teaching me these past 2.5 years.
I’ve learned a better understanding of a want and of a need.
I’ve learned to dig deeper to pursue lining up my heart’s desires with the Lord’s.
I’ve learned that in lining up those desires the blessings are uncountable.
I’ve learned that God’s ways are ALWAYS better than mine.
I’ve learned that my family can not only survive but thrive on a combined family income that is quite a bit less than $40K. Quite a bit less.
I’ve learned that money doesn’t buy happiness. [Some lessons you just have to learn for yourself.]
I’ve learned that some things are worth waiting and saving for.
I’ve learned that some things aren’t.
I’ve learned that it makes a whole lot more sense to rely on God rather than on myself or on that darn debt counseling company.
I’ve learned that God is compassionate and loving enough to help me clean up my mistakes. And better than I could have cleaned them up on my own.
I’ve learned that God has forgiven me and does not hold those mistakes against me. As far as the east is from the west.
I’ve learned to forgive myself.
I’ve learned to see the blessings in the midst of pain and adversity and to cherish those blessings.
I’ve learned the value of meeting God on my knees.
I’ve learned that my prayer life has grown exponentially these last 30 some months.
I’ve learned that the more time I spend talking with God the less time I have to worry and the less inclination I have to worry.
I’ve learned the power of key bible verses hidden in my heart and written everywhere as reminders.
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Oh my, I could just go on and on about all I’ve learned. It never ceases to amaze me how many extra lessons I’m learning along the way as God teaches me to be a better steward! And all the extra blessings to boot!
But most of all
I’ve learned that the only one I want to be indebted to is the Good Lord!
Sharing more of my debtor story
What this has taught me so farIn the past I was not a careful manager of our money. Oh, there were times when I would get super organized, create a budget and stick to it.
For about two or three months.
Then I would go right back into my old spending habits.
I had see-it-want-it-buy-it- itus. Instant gratification, oh yeah baby.
Oodles of things I just thought we couldn’t live without.
It wasn’t big things necessarily- instead it was little things. A $30 purchase here a $20 purchase there. If went errand running to 3 different stores and overspent by $25 each store- that’s $75 over budget. It didn’t look so bad in my mind because I was only seeing it as smaller purchases- I was always thinking, “Hey, it’s just an extra $20 bucks- we can afford an extra $20.”
Truth be told- we couldn’t even afford an extra $5.
All these purchases were paid for, by you guessed it,
Credit cards.
I knew it was bad when the budget was so lousy (due to all those credit card bills) that I started putting groceries on the credit card.
My Grampa & momma always told me you don’t put perishable goods on credit- “things you’ll eat and po*p out tomorrow” is what Grampa would say. Momma was more tactful and said that by the time the bill comes you don’t have anything to show for it. I agreed and at first I listened.
And then I didn’t.
I remember once when I put myself on a strict diet- one month cold turkey, no use of credit cards. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it- heck, nobody knew we had a credit card debt problem, not even Mr. Steady. So I went one month cold turkey- no accountability either since I couldn’t/wouldn’t tell anyone of the problem. I barely made it through the month. I distinctly remember cashing in pop cans in order to be able to buy the bare minimum of groceries that last week. I was sweating bullets. It was painfully obvious that we couldn’t even meet our bills and needs due to my overspending.
And so this is when you think I realized I had to stop. It totally shames to me to admit that not only did I not stop- I got a new offer in the mail to transfer a balance to another card for 0 percent interest and a larger credit limit.
And I did.
And things went on for another year or so. Until one day when I realized that the monthly outgo outweighed the monthly incoming by about $350. Even if I stopped using the credit cards (three of which were at their limits) we wouldn’t make ends meet. I checked with a “Christian” debt consolidation company and was told that they could consolidate all my credit card debt into one monthly payment and it would be paid off in 4.5 years. The problem was the monthly payment didn’t decrease from what I was already paying- which I now knew I could not keep paying.
At this point, hindsight being what it is- I wish someone had told me about Dave Ramsey. I wish someone had assured me that I could actually work with the credit card companies myself- that I didn’t need a go-between. But I wasn’t broadcasting my shame, no one knew the secret therefore no one knew I needed advice. Instead this nice “Christian” debt consolidation company told me that I was a candidate for debt solutions (aka debt settlement) and gave me a number to contact. The person who spoke with me was wonderful, of course. And best of all, or so I thought, he even prayed with me!! I though I was on track- I thought this was God making a way for me.
I got sucked in just like the little old lady who sends her life savings to the televangelist who supposedly is gonna heal her thru the TV screen.
I totally bought it when they assured me that I would make one monthly payment to them (which was about $400 less than I was paying out at the time) and they would in turn pay my creditors. They assured me that all of my creditors would accept their proposals and work with them. “We do this all the time,” he said. “Trust me,” he said. “We’re gonna get this all taken care of for you and you’ll be debt free in 3 and ½ years- maybe even sooner. Yeah, really, I guarantee it won’t be more than 3.5 years and you’ll be re-establishing your credit.”
What he should have said would have been, “Ok, Amy, you send us $xxx amount each month and we’ll work on paying off your debts. BUT you need to understand that some of your creditors won’t accept our proposal. They will sue you. Probably garnish your accounts and go after your wages. You will have to go to court. And Amy, just so you completely understand- I’m not going to let you know in advance if a creditor won’t work with us and when they do serve you with papers, I will no longer be able to help you with that debt and you’ll have to work on it on your own. In fact, I won’t even tell you what to do when you’ve been served- I won’t even return your calls. But I will, however, expect you to continue to pay the amount stated in a timely manner as set up in our contract. And just so you completely understand, not only will we charge you a monthly service fee to sit on your money (until we deem enough has been accumulated to make an offer of settlement) but we will expect you to pay us an additional settlement fee for each account we settle. This fee with be 30 percent of the difference.”
Since I am a pretty sensible person, I’m pretty sure I would have opted out if the dude had been truthful. Which is quite obviously why he wasn’t.
And so I remained blissfully unaware for the first year. Yeah, I was served with a court paper and various other mailings but I did as I was told and just folded them back up and mailed them to the debt counseling agency. Every once in awhile I’d get a nagging doubt and I’d call and leave a message with my credit counselor. Once or twice he called me back, assuring me all was well, that all my creditors had accepted their proposals and that I didn’t have anything to worry about. “Just keep sending us whatever you get in the mail.” And so I did. When the court papers came, hand delivered by a police officer and me having to sign for—I became upset. Again I was told to send the documents to them. I did. Then I called and asked what I should do. And then I called again and yet again leaving messages and not getting answers. I took no answer to be a good thing and just kept on keeping on. Just like I was told. For another 9 months I lived in “blissful” unawareness. La-de-da-de-daness. Until I got the mail one day with three large overdraft notices and two letters of account garnishment. In one day we went from paying our debt and putting aside money to pay our taxes and car insurance to having a negative balance. Poof. Gone.
And what did the debt counseling agency do? “Oh, Amy we’re so sorry. Didn’t you know that was court document and you were being sued? Didn’t you know you missed your court date and they garnished your accounts? We can’t help you with that now. It’s out our hands. You’ll have to work on that one on your own.”
And so I did. And I stayed with the company. We were sued again- this time I knew what the court document was but couldn’t do anything to stop it. Again no help from the debt counseling agency- expect that they did accept a lower monthly payment (we needed it lower so that we would have money to pay on the court judgement). In fact they were quite accommodating about accepting a lower monthly payment. Saying how sorry they were that this had happened and that it was no problem to lower our monthly payment to them. They even allowed us to skip a month’s payment so that we could make the first payment to the other collector on time. Hello?! I should have smelled the rat when they were so accommodating. This is their way- this is their way of keeping me longer- with me making smaller payments there was no way they’d be able to negotiate better, quicker-to-pay-off settlements on my behalf. It would take longer than the 3.5 years I was so absolutely assured of in the beginning.
How much longer?
Who knows? We won’t because I finally wised up enough to get out. After 30.5 months I finally figured that I had traded one never ending cycle for another and I jumped ship.
So what did I learn?
Well- from the debt counseling agency- I learned that they will tell you whatever they think you want to hear, sometimes it will be the truth, sometimes part of the truth, and sometimes they wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and bit them.
I learned that it is absolutely paramount that you keep meticulous notes. Keep detailed notes of the date and time of every phone call, fax and email. Ones you send and ones you receive. Write the date rec’d on every piece of mail. Keep a log of messages you left and when they were finally answered. Keep files of papers and notes on your computer but also in hard copy in a folder. Save/record phone messages. Save and make note of every possible detail.
When I would speak with my “credit counselor” on the phone I would pull up my specific file on the computer and type notes while we spoke on the phone. This would often lead me to ask more questions so that I made sure I understood something. I would go back through my notes as soon as I was off the phone, polishing and adding while it was fresh in my mind.
I know that my copious notes helped me in the end with terminating the contract and getting the fee waved. I had proof.
Continued next post- because this is getting awful long.
What hospitality does- a quote
“Hospitality does not try to impress but to serve. Entertaining puts things before people, but hospitality does the opposite. Hospitality does everything with no thought of the external reward. Instead it takes pleasure in the joy of giving, doing, loving and serving. Because hospitality has put away its pride, it doesn’t care if others see our humanness. We are maintaining no false pretension; people relax and enjoy our offer of friendship. When we are trying hospitable, we forgo the urge to ‘wow’.”-From Simple Hospitality by Jane Jarrell
I'm the second frog
A dear friend and mother of one of my youth kids sent me this today and I must share as it is ab-so-posi-lute-ly perfect encouragement for me today!TWO FROGS
Two frogs fell into a bucket of cream. The first frog, seeing there was no way to get any footing accepted his fate and drown.
The second frog didn't like that. He started thrashing around doing whatever he could do to stay afloat. After awhile, his churning turned the cream into butter and he was able to hop out.
HOW PERSISTANT ARE YOU ????
Which reminds me of that little blip I love from Facing the Giants.
About the farmers and the fields . . . . .
I continue to prepare my fields for the RAIN!
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