I haven't really talked to much about our financial freedom goal. The goal is still there, very much alive and present in our lives. Nearly all of our sentences begin with "When we are debt free" and end with "as soon as we get that paid off". We completed the Financial Peace University, and have been living it daily. And because it is such an every day thing, there hasn't been a whole lot to report. But this week we ran into something interesting. Previously, the Lord had told me how much He was going to help us pay off twice as much debt this year as we did last year.
William likes to crunch them from time to time - it makes him happy. And this past week he was crunching away. He decided to see how much debt we paid so far this year, and with known income and expenses, how much are we projecting to pay by the end of the year. William was startled to find that we are right on target to pay off the amount the Lord promised. :-) I find it exciting we can already see that He is doing it with absolutely no explanation as to how it is being done. We haven't received anything "extra" that would amount to it. This is a complete God thing.
I also thought I'd share how much we have paid off so far in debt since we started seriously down this road. It has been about a year and a half. And in that year and a half we have sold our house, made lots of sacrifices and had a baby. It has been an eventful year and a half!
$31,372 - amount of debut paid off so far.
This is the year of trim for me. I'm trimming my fat and I'm trimming my debt. I'm trimming all of the unhealthy things out of my life. And when all of the trimming is done, it will look like there is nothing left. My life will resemble a rose bush after a pruning. There will be nothing left but the stem that is my core being. And just like a rose bush, after a season I'll sprout leaves and flower buds. I'll flourish and become the beautiful bush that God intended.
I'm looking forward to it. But please - don't everyone sniff me at once!
Showing posts with label Debt Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debt Free. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Gazelling
We are currently working out way through Financial Peace. NOW - we have been working on becoming debt free for about a year. And we've made huge strides. I felt it was important to take the class because I felt it would help us learn more about how to accomplish our goals. And it has. We've learned a lot.
The lesson before last, Dave Ramsey talked about Proverbs 6:5.
And he talked about how he didn't understand that until he was watching Discovery channel one night. A cheetah was chasing a gazelle...and in order for the gazelle to escape it had to RUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN with all its might. He also showed a clip of a cheetah chasing (and missing) a gazelle.
This was powerful. To ME this means you do whatever it takes to get there. It means making large, huge sacrifices. It means that when you think you can't give up anything else...and you've given your all...you look for something else.
Because it is life or death.
Extreme? If you want to get out of the pit you have to be. So we are currently looking to see what else we can cut. What else can we sell. What else can we DO? William has started taking his lunches. (I already do mostly.) We are looking at selling some items that we have. Some of them I'm not thrilled with, but understand the importance. (Example: Our deep freeze. I want to keep it. But we've gotten along without it for a year, and thus can get along without it for longer. It was never plugged back up after we moved.) We are looking at selling baby stuff we don't use. Furniture...basically, looking around our house going "what can we get along without?". SELL BABY SELL!
And on THAT note I have a blessing to share. Our transmission went out on the Durango. William drove to the store - it was fine. On his way home - not so much. He couldn't shift out of first/second gear and could no go faster than 20 mph. I'm certain he annoyed many drivers.
Monday I was sicker than a dog, so the car had to wait until Tuesday. We took it to a transmission shop in town. When they called back Wed. they quoted William $2400. William said he choked on the phone and the guy said "But I can do it for $2300..." I guess he felt sorry for William. William gave me the news as I was leaving for work, so I had some time to ponder it. (He stayed home with a sick kid that day.)
I prayed my entire way to work. My first question was - do we fix it or buy new? God very clearly said YES. Fix it. He even broke down the financials for me so it made sense. (Wasn't that nice of Him to explain why?) Then I took a deep breath. I told God that we certainly didn't have the money. That our emergency fund would not cover this. I told Him since He owns the cattle on the hills (Psalms 50:10) and all things belong to Him, could He pretty please helps us out? I reminded Him of our goals and what we were trying to accomplish. I basically told Him we could NOT do this without Him.
I was going a mile a minute. And God listened patiently.
You know how parents do...when a child is pleading for something that the parent has already decided to give the child? They let them explain their case, listening and nodding and mmmm hmmming.
I pulled into the parking lot at work and my phone rang. It was William.
"You will NEVER believe this!"
Turns out...as William was chatting with the transmission shop God was already nudging him. The idea formed in William head to call the dealership where we bought the car...4 years ago. We had purchased a warranty. We were sure it had expired. Sure I tell you! That is why we didn't take it there in the first place.
But obediently to the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, William called anyway.
Hey guess what? The warranty was good until July of this year or 131K miles. We happened to have 125K miles on the vehicle and it happened to only be Feb.
So our $2300 problem was reduced to $100. By God. YES by God! We drive so much that we always drive out the warrant well before the time limit expires. That is just the way it is for us. Living out the country and working on the opposite side of town accounted for a lot of it. The driving has slowed down since we moved...but that has only been a year.
The Lord took care of us. And I'm going to share something else. We have a lot of debt. A LOT. I haven't really shared numbers...but the number is large (embarrassingly so!). God shared a number with me as far as what He was going to give us to pay off this year. It is also large. In fact, it will take care of pretty much the rest of the unsecured debt we have (besides a student loan) and it is double the amount we paid off last year. We will have cars, our house and student loan when all is said and done. And THOSE will be paid off the following year. Ummm...except the house.
I'm excited to see how God will do it. I'm excited to receive His blessing for us. I'm excited to see how He will do it.
The lesson before last, Dave Ramsey talked about Proverbs 6:5.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
And he talked about how he didn't understand that until he was watching Discovery channel one night. A cheetah was chasing a gazelle...and in order for the gazelle to escape it had to RUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN with all its might. He also showed a clip of a cheetah chasing (and missing) a gazelle.
This was powerful. To ME this means you do whatever it takes to get there. It means making large, huge sacrifices. It means that when you think you can't give up anything else...and you've given your all...you look for something else.
Because it is life or death.
Extreme? If you want to get out of the pit you have to be. So we are currently looking to see what else we can cut. What else can we sell. What else can we DO? William has started taking his lunches. (I already do mostly.) We are looking at selling some items that we have. Some of them I'm not thrilled with, but understand the importance. (Example: Our deep freeze. I want to keep it. But we've gotten along without it for a year, and thus can get along without it for longer. It was never plugged back up after we moved.) We are looking at selling baby stuff we don't use. Furniture...basically, looking around our house going "what can we get along without?". SELL BABY SELL!
And on THAT note I have a blessing to share. Our transmission went out on the Durango. William drove to the store - it was fine. On his way home - not so much. He couldn't shift out of first/second gear and could no go faster than 20 mph. I'm certain he annoyed many drivers.
Monday I was sicker than a dog, so the car had to wait until Tuesday. We took it to a transmission shop in town. When they called back Wed. they quoted William $2400. William said he choked on the phone and the guy said "But I can do it for $2300..." I guess he felt sorry for William. William gave me the news as I was leaving for work, so I had some time to ponder it. (He stayed home with a sick kid that day.)
I prayed my entire way to work. My first question was - do we fix it or buy new? God very clearly said YES. Fix it. He even broke down the financials for me so it made sense. (Wasn't that nice of Him to explain why?) Then I took a deep breath. I told God that we certainly didn't have the money. That our emergency fund would not cover this. I told Him since He owns the cattle on the hills (Psalms 50:10) and all things belong to Him, could He pretty please helps us out? I reminded Him of our goals and what we were trying to accomplish. I basically told Him we could NOT do this without Him.
I was going a mile a minute. And God listened patiently.
You know how parents do...when a child is pleading for something that the parent has already decided to give the child? They let them explain their case, listening and nodding and mmmm hmmming.
I pulled into the parking lot at work and my phone rang. It was William.
"You will NEVER believe this!"
Turns out...as William was chatting with the transmission shop God was already nudging him. The idea formed in William head to call the dealership where we bought the car...4 years ago. We had purchased a warranty. We were sure it had expired. Sure I tell you! That is why we didn't take it there in the first place.
But obediently to the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, William called anyway.
Hey guess what? The warranty was good until July of this year or 131K miles. We happened to have 125K miles on the vehicle and it happened to only be Feb.
So our $2300 problem was reduced to $100. By God. YES by God! We drive so much that we always drive out the warrant well before the time limit expires. That is just the way it is for us. Living out the country and working on the opposite side of town accounted for a lot of it. The driving has slowed down since we moved...but that has only been a year.
The Lord took care of us. And I'm going to share something else. We have a lot of debt. A LOT. I haven't really shared numbers...but the number is large (embarrassingly so!). God shared a number with me as far as what He was going to give us to pay off this year. It is also large. In fact, it will take care of pretty much the rest of the unsecured debt we have (besides a student loan) and it is double the amount we paid off last year. We will have cars, our house and student loan when all is said and done. And THOSE will be paid off the following year. Ummm...except the house.
I'm excited to see how God will do it. I'm excited to receive His blessing for us. I'm excited to see how He will do it.
Monday, August 30, 2010
A peek into the past
Today on a whim I looked to see what I was writing this time last year. Turns out, there was a post dated 8/29/2010...just a year yesterday.
It happened to be some thoughts on my moving.
The reflection is amazing...I wondered (basically) what I would think of my new place and if I would continuously be looking back. So I thought it only fitting to mentioned where we are at now.
We have completed 2.5 of the rooms in our house. The projects have included painting the kids room, painting our room, putting up crown molding in our room, changing out light fixtures throughout the house and William just started remodeling the downstairs bathroom. He's about half done.
I wish we were further along, but at the same time, I see that how much of the debt we have paid off. We were down 25% overall debt, but added some due to the purchase of our new-to-us car. Still, that is pretty awesome in a one year time frame with all the remodels we have done (and the fact we had a super huge tax bill this year)! We are hoping to get the upstairs bathroom done before Christmas...I think. And over the next year I expect to finish the remodels and pay off more than 25%. (Paying things off gives us the ability to pay more at a time...)
I rarely think about the old house. The only time I thought about it is when we took a trip to visit our old neighbor for trick or treating. I jokingly refer to the family who bought our house as the Babylonians (because God often sent Babylonians to war against Israel when they were being naughty...carrying the Israelites and their property off). And I don't particularly care to hear about changes they have made (i.e. ripping out a bunch of bushes). BUT - that all has nothing to do with the house itself and everything to do with my perception of their behavior.
I did miss the house some this summer on gorgeous days...or when it is raining or snowing or something. Can't beat the view at our old house. But it is more of a "Wish I could have that view out my window now..." and not so much a "I really want to move back to THAT house!"
In all honesty - while the old house does get some thought it doesn't get much. It certainly doesn't get as much as I thought it might. I'm certain this is because we are in such a GOOD place right now. We are working towards being debt free (YAY!), William is at peace with our finances (FINALLY!), I still can't get over the 5 minute trips everywhere...life is just generally really good.
Do I want to live here forever? Umm no. But it is serving a purpose and I'm still so very excited to see what God has for us next. Even if He chooses to have us stay here longer than our plan...one thing I have learned is that His plan is always way better. I will choose HIS plan over MY plan any day.
It happened to be some thoughts on my moving.
The reflection is amazing...I wondered (basically) what I would think of my new place and if I would continuously be looking back. So I thought it only fitting to mentioned where we are at now.
We have completed 2.5 of the rooms in our house. The projects have included painting the kids room, painting our room, putting up crown molding in our room, changing out light fixtures throughout the house and William just started remodeling the downstairs bathroom. He's about half done.
I wish we were further along, but at the same time, I see that how much of the debt we have paid off. We were down 25% overall debt, but added some due to the purchase of our new-to-us car. Still, that is pretty awesome in a one year time frame with all the remodels we have done (and the fact we had a super huge tax bill this year)! We are hoping to get the upstairs bathroom done before Christmas...I think. And over the next year I expect to finish the remodels and pay off more than 25%. (Paying things off gives us the ability to pay more at a time...)
I rarely think about the old house. The only time I thought about it is when we took a trip to visit our old neighbor for trick or treating. I jokingly refer to the family who bought our house as the Babylonians (because God often sent Babylonians to war against Israel when they were being naughty...carrying the Israelites and their property off). And I don't particularly care to hear about changes they have made (i.e. ripping out a bunch of bushes). BUT - that all has nothing to do with the house itself and everything to do with my perception of their behavior.
I did miss the house some this summer on gorgeous days...or when it is raining or snowing or something. Can't beat the view at our old house. But it is more of a "Wish I could have that view out my window now..." and not so much a "I really want to move back to THAT house!"
In all honesty - while the old house does get some thought it doesn't get much. It certainly doesn't get as much as I thought it might. I'm certain this is because we are in such a GOOD place right now. We are working towards being debt free (YAY!), William is at peace with our finances (FINALLY!), I still can't get over the 5 minute trips everywhere...life is just generally really good.
Do I want to live here forever? Umm no. But it is serving a purpose and I'm still so very excited to see what God has for us next. Even if He chooses to have us stay here longer than our plan...one thing I have learned is that His plan is always way better. I will choose HIS plan over MY plan any day.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
I wonder if this is a new tradition?
I feel compelled to update on how we have done in Dec. with our goals. No idea why...maybe because I've shared so much so far, it seems silly to stop now.
I will say that during Christmas, historically, we have racked up the most debt. We all go a little crazy. So this season was a particular test for us.
We did not get anything really paid down. No extras to the ol' debt bank. BUT...and to me, this is huge...we did not put a single thing on credit and paid cash for everything.
Huge people...HUGE! We did it! To me, this is JUST as good as paying down the debt...for now anyway!
And, we also received additional blessings from God. If you recall, we were having a bit of TV troubles. Well, William being the gadget man he is really had a bug for a new TV. It didn't help that the manager had promised 'a good deal'. But NO worries...we did NOT slip!
William received a surprise from work - a $200 gift card. We also received Christmas money from my parents and pretty much just gave each other Christmas money. With all of it (including the 'great deal' from the Best Buy manager), he was able to buy the below...
I will say that during Christmas, historically, we have racked up the most debt. We all go a little crazy. So this season was a particular test for us.
We did not get anything really paid down. No extras to the ol' debt bank. BUT...and to me, this is huge...we did not put a single thing on credit and paid cash for everything.
Huge people...HUGE! We did it! To me, this is JUST as good as paying down the debt...for now anyway!
And, we also received additional blessings from God. If you recall, we were having a bit of TV troubles. Well, William being the gadget man he is really had a bug for a new TV. It didn't help that the manager had promised 'a good deal'. But NO worries...we did NOT slip!
William received a surprise from work - a $200 gift card. We also received Christmas money from my parents and pretty much just gave each other Christmas money. With all of it (including the 'great deal' from the Best Buy manager), he was able to buy the below...
William calls it the little TV. I keep telling him that is simply bragging...while it is smaller than the TV downstairs, I think a much better title would be "the TV upstairs". Ah well...semantics I guess. My point, is we are yet again very blessed. Very very blessed.
By the way - we bought our last 'big TV' the Christmas after we moved into our last house. I just found it a little funny.
So to recap...no additional debt, new TV and we are still sticking with our goals. We are doing good. YAY US!
By the way - we bought our last 'big TV' the Christmas after we moved into our last house. I just found it a little funny.
So to recap...no additional debt, new TV and we are still sticking with our goals. We are doing good. YAY US!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Temptation Abounds
So we continue to trudge along in our little duplex. Trudge really isn't the right word - I am actually really liking the layout of the new place. I like the fact it isn't so large, because it makes it so much easier to keep clean. (Drop by...our house is probably clean!)
And I've given a lot of thought to what I like and dislike so I can figure out next time around what I want in a house.
Firstly, the fact I have to walk past the kitchen dining room to go anywhere is really nice. This means the constant mess of the kitchen absolutely bothers me until I clean it. I simply can't help myself. Every night I actually clear the table and wipe it down. Weird - but I never did that at our old house. And the conclusion I've come too is that in the old house, I could go to another part of the house and ignore it. That went for the whole house really. If something was messy, I'd move on...until the whole house was messy. ;-) Then you can't avoid it and have to clean.
The fact I don't have much storage place or places to stash things is also really nice. It prevents me from letting laundry pile up. I have no place to simply let the laundry lay around without seeing it. :-P Therefore, laundry has been getting done very regularly from start to finish. I've been taking it straight from the dryer and folding it. Crazy - I know.
So I guess you could say the maintenance of this house is great. And I hope to keep it around next time. Having a ranch house I think really helps, and therefore I'm not sure I'll buy another two-story. I'll never say never, because I just really don't know until I get there!
I do miss having my own bathroom, but not very often. William's parents haven't visited yet. I have a sneaky suspicion that during their next stay I'll really miss it.
I also do not miss having a larger room. As crazy as this sounds, I like our new bedroom than the old. Isn't that crazy? The only thing I can figure out so far is that maybe I like it more because I spend more time in it. At first, I spent time in it because we didn't have a couch ...so it was one of the few places you could go for comfortable seating. But we have a couch now. I still go in there to do things like fold laundry or read. I only ever slept in our old room. I never just hung out in there. No reason too, there were so many other places too I guess.
Right now the only thing I really miss is the yard. I'm not liking the smaller yard, especially with a large dog. Large dogs put out...large messes. And every time I go out there to clean the yard I end up stepping in a mess. (I blame the grass - it was longish, making it difficult to see.) And Solomon sometimes runs out of yard...or something...and poops on the porch. I *really* hate that. Our old view and yard though were just so absolutely perfect. That was why we bought it anyway - not the house itself.
I also don't mind too terribly living in a duplex itself. I suspect that is really related to the fact our neighbor is so incredibly quiet. You NEVER hear her over there except for the occasional phone ring. I feel bad for her in a way. We certainly are not quiet. And there is no way we can be and still let the kids be kids. I do try to reign them in - no yelling before 9:00 AM on weekends for example. ;-) I don't let them scream in the bathroom (kinda echoes in there)...and I try to limit screaming in general. If you want to get technical - that last part is more for my ears but we can pretend that it is purely for hers can't we? And our lovely neighbor has never complained. Ever. And I appreciate that so much. I wish there was something we could do for her. I've been keeping my eyes out. I'm certain we'll figure something out eventually to maybe bless her back.
I know I've been writing a lot about how blessed we are, I do feel utterly blessed in so many ways. But I feel compelled to mention some of the attacks we have been under lately. It hasn't phased us at all, and is almost humorous. But when you are doing what God wants you to do and making tough choices, The Evil One certainly isn't going to sit idly by. Therefore, I feel like I need to mention this so that maybe I can encourage someone else who might be going through something similar? William and I look at these attacks and go "Yep, that was definitely a good choice." And I don't know who to tell you the difference between an attack and a Godly timeout. I've been in both. The difference is in the heart really - when you are in a timeout you usually know you aren't doing what you are supposed to be doing!
Anyway - on to the attacks. About 3 or 4 weeks ago the computer that we keep all...and I mean all our pictures on wouldn't boot up. William tried several things, to no avail. We had two hard drives, and so we were certain the pictures were safe. But every year we put together a calendar for all the grandparents. They love it - and it has become the "expected" gift. There would be a lot of disappointment all around if we didn't get the calendar completed.
The issue with the computer was either the main hard drive where the OS was installed, the mother board or the processor chip. We ruled out the main hard drive, leaving the motherboard or chip. This was a home built computer, and unfortunately we couldn't simply replace the motherboard or chip - because both had been discontinued. So we had a choice to make - buy a case to put the hard drive in or buy a new motherboard/chip. The hard drive case ended up being like $15, and that is the choice we made. But we discussed all sorts of things...we use this computer to watch netflix in the basement, process movies and other things. It was used regularly. So coming to the conclusion to not fix it right now was pretty difficult. But we did it - and it was a good choice. The cost will be between $100-300 depending on the route we wanted to go. None of it budgeted right now of course.
So strike one - The Evil One of course did not get his way. I can picture him pacing, spewing expletives and plotting his next move. And his next move he did make.
Our beloved 60 inch TV is having problems. Sometimes it will not turn on. William rushed out to Best Buy, because we knew the warranty was either up or about up. Turns out - it was up. It expired Nov. 21 - just 20 days ago. William pleaded with the manager, but the largest issue is the price of TVs have come down SO MUCH we could have walked out with the most expensive one with no cost to us. Leaving the store to swallow it. He did tell William he'd give us a good deal on a new one (after hearing that William bought it with an employee discount).
Of course the good deal is alluring. New TV...queue salivation here. What to do what to do...we are told that fixing TVs tends to be more expensive than worth. And the technology that has come out lately! NEW TV!!!
We talked about it quite a bit. This decision was NOT easy. I have to say, it took some will power on both our parts. But our logic went something like this...
- We still have a TV.
- We could buy a large (but smaller than we have) TV for much less, but it still would probably not be healthy towards our goals...something would have to give.
- We could look at getting it fixed possibly - the dad of a friend of mine does fix TVs.
- Worst case - we simply just use the 1 TV we have.
So we talked ourselves down, and again made a good choice. William is going to call our friend's dad soon...just to see what he has to say. If it is too much, of course we will again make a good decision. (Since I just typed that to the world and everyone is watching - I guess I feel extra obligated. ;-)) No really...William and I really did groan and giggle at the entire thing. How can you NOT laugh at something so absolutely ridiculous?
Then today...William tried changing the channel on the little TV upstairs and it went blank. It said "Please wait..." and wouldn't do anything more. He turned it off and on with the same results.
With me yet? Really? I mean - electronics is our biggest weakness. We are gadget people. William was so excited about this house, because he GOT TO KEEP HIS TV...we'd actually HAVE room for it! (Many of the places we looked at would not hold our TV!) So the decision to NOT replace that TV was tough enough!! But to take away the second one?
You know all these things were running through our heads. I did the unthinkable...I unplugged the little TV, waited a couple minutes and then plugged it back in. It began working again. Whew - crisis averted...at least for now.
So there you have it...while I continue to be blessed in so many ways, we are in fact under constant attack. And these ARE attacks. They just feel like attacks. But we have been keeping our eyes on our goals, on the instructions God has given us and the direction we know we are to take. If all of electronics go kaput - then I guess we'll save up for something very modest so as not to affect our goals. Sorry - I know many people live without a TV...but we just couldn't do it! LOL Especially since we just bought the New Super Mario Brothers Wii game! And really we could replace our smaller TV for very little money. So that is completely a viable option (you know - after we save up!). But that doesn't mean loosing our big TV wouldn't hurt.
We will endure. We will make good decisions. We will continue to be attacked. And it just proves to us further that we are making good decisions, which fuels our fire to continue. I'm sure that isn't what The Evil One had in mind. And I'm certain this isn't making him happy - I can just picture him throwing a chair across the room in anger at his foiled plans...
And in all of this, I call ourselves blessed.
And I've given a lot of thought to what I like and dislike so I can figure out next time around what I want in a house.
Firstly, the fact I have to walk past the kitchen dining room to go anywhere is really nice. This means the constant mess of the kitchen absolutely bothers me until I clean it. I simply can't help myself. Every night I actually clear the table and wipe it down. Weird - but I never did that at our old house. And the conclusion I've come too is that in the old house, I could go to another part of the house and ignore it. That went for the whole house really. If something was messy, I'd move on...until the whole house was messy. ;-) Then you can't avoid it and have to clean.
The fact I don't have much storage place or places to stash things is also really nice. It prevents me from letting laundry pile up. I have no place to simply let the laundry lay around without seeing it. :-P Therefore, laundry has been getting done very regularly from start to finish. I've been taking it straight from the dryer and folding it. Crazy - I know.
So I guess you could say the maintenance of this house is great. And I hope to keep it around next time. Having a ranch house I think really helps, and therefore I'm not sure I'll buy another two-story. I'll never say never, because I just really don't know until I get there!
I do miss having my own bathroom, but not very often. William's parents haven't visited yet. I have a sneaky suspicion that during their next stay I'll really miss it.
I also do not miss having a larger room. As crazy as this sounds, I like our new bedroom than the old. Isn't that crazy? The only thing I can figure out so far is that maybe I like it more because I spend more time in it. At first, I spent time in it because we didn't have a couch ...so it was one of the few places you could go for comfortable seating. But we have a couch now. I still go in there to do things like fold laundry or read. I only ever slept in our old room. I never just hung out in there. No reason too, there were so many other places too I guess.
Right now the only thing I really miss is the yard. I'm not liking the smaller yard, especially with a large dog. Large dogs put out...large messes. And every time I go out there to clean the yard I end up stepping in a mess. (I blame the grass - it was longish, making it difficult to see.) And Solomon sometimes runs out of yard...or something...and poops on the porch. I *really* hate that. Our old view and yard though were just so absolutely perfect. That was why we bought it anyway - not the house itself.
I also don't mind too terribly living in a duplex itself. I suspect that is really related to the fact our neighbor is so incredibly quiet. You NEVER hear her over there except for the occasional phone ring. I feel bad for her in a way. We certainly are not quiet. And there is no way we can be and still let the kids be kids. I do try to reign them in - no yelling before 9:00 AM on weekends for example. ;-) I don't let them scream in the bathroom (kinda echoes in there)...and I try to limit screaming in general. If you want to get technical - that last part is more for my ears but we can pretend that it is purely for hers can't we? And our lovely neighbor has never complained. Ever. And I appreciate that so much. I wish there was something we could do for her. I've been keeping my eyes out. I'm certain we'll figure something out eventually to maybe bless her back.
I know I've been writing a lot about how blessed we are, I do feel utterly blessed in so many ways. But I feel compelled to mention some of the attacks we have been under lately. It hasn't phased us at all, and is almost humorous. But when you are doing what God wants you to do and making tough choices, The Evil One certainly isn't going to sit idly by. Therefore, I feel like I need to mention this so that maybe I can encourage someone else who might be going through something similar? William and I look at these attacks and go "Yep, that was definitely a good choice." And I don't know who to tell you the difference between an attack and a Godly timeout. I've been in both. The difference is in the heart really - when you are in a timeout you usually know you aren't doing what you are supposed to be doing!
Anyway - on to the attacks. About 3 or 4 weeks ago the computer that we keep all...and I mean all our pictures on wouldn't boot up. William tried several things, to no avail. We had two hard drives, and so we were certain the pictures were safe. But every year we put together a calendar for all the grandparents. They love it - and it has become the "expected" gift. There would be a lot of disappointment all around if we didn't get the calendar completed.
The issue with the computer was either the main hard drive where the OS was installed, the mother board or the processor chip. We ruled out the main hard drive, leaving the motherboard or chip. This was a home built computer, and unfortunately we couldn't simply replace the motherboard or chip - because both had been discontinued. So we had a choice to make - buy a case to put the hard drive in or buy a new motherboard/chip. The hard drive case ended up being like $15, and that is the choice we made. But we discussed all sorts of things...we use this computer to watch netflix in the basement, process movies and other things. It was used regularly. So coming to the conclusion to not fix it right now was pretty difficult. But we did it - and it was a good choice. The cost will be between $100-300 depending on the route we wanted to go. None of it budgeted right now of course.
So strike one - The Evil One of course did not get his way. I can picture him pacing, spewing expletives and plotting his next move. And his next move he did make.
Our beloved 60 inch TV is having problems. Sometimes it will not turn on. William rushed out to Best Buy, because we knew the warranty was either up or about up. Turns out - it was up. It expired Nov. 21 - just 20 days ago. William pleaded with the manager, but the largest issue is the price of TVs have come down SO MUCH we could have walked out with the most expensive one with no cost to us. Leaving the store to swallow it. He did tell William he'd give us a good deal on a new one (after hearing that William bought it with an employee discount).
Of course the good deal is alluring. New TV...queue salivation here. What to do what to do...we are told that fixing TVs tends to be more expensive than worth. And the technology that has come out lately! NEW TV!!!
We talked about it quite a bit. This decision was NOT easy. I have to say, it took some will power on both our parts. But our logic went something like this...
- We still have a TV.
- We could buy a large (but smaller than we have) TV for much less, but it still would probably not be healthy towards our goals...something would have to give.
- We could look at getting it fixed possibly - the dad of a friend of mine does fix TVs.
- Worst case - we simply just use the 1 TV we have.
So we talked ourselves down, and again made a good choice. William is going to call our friend's dad soon...just to see what he has to say. If it is too much, of course we will again make a good decision. (Since I just typed that to the world and everyone is watching - I guess I feel extra obligated. ;-)) No really...William and I really did groan and giggle at the entire thing. How can you NOT laugh at something so absolutely ridiculous?
Then today...William tried changing the channel on the little TV upstairs and it went blank. It said "Please wait..." and wouldn't do anything more. He turned it off and on with the same results.
With me yet? Really? I mean - electronics is our biggest weakness. We are gadget people. William was so excited about this house, because he GOT TO KEEP HIS TV...we'd actually HAVE room for it! (Many of the places we looked at would not hold our TV!) So the decision to NOT replace that TV was tough enough!! But to take away the second one?
You know all these things were running through our heads. I did the unthinkable...I unplugged the little TV, waited a couple minutes and then plugged it back in. It began working again. Whew - crisis averted...at least for now.
So there you have it...while I continue to be blessed in so many ways, we are in fact under constant attack. And these ARE attacks. They just feel like attacks. But we have been keeping our eyes on our goals, on the instructions God has given us and the direction we know we are to take. If all of electronics go kaput - then I guess we'll save up for something very modest so as not to affect our goals. Sorry - I know many people live without a TV...but we just couldn't do it! LOL Especially since we just bought the New Super Mario Brothers Wii game! And really we could replace our smaller TV for very little money. So that is completely a viable option (you know - after we save up!). But that doesn't mean loosing our big TV wouldn't hurt.
We will endure. We will make good decisions. We will continue to be attacked. And it just proves to us further that we are making good decisions, which fuels our fire to continue. I'm sure that isn't what The Evil One had in mind. And I'm certain this isn't making him happy - I can just picture him throwing a chair across the room in anger at his foiled plans...
And in all of this, I call ourselves blessed.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Free Starbucks: It is the little things
My local radio station has been advertising the "Drive Thru Difference", where basically you give a letter to the person at the drive thru window and pay for the meal of the person behind you. They are to then get the letter when they are told their meal is taken care of.
I have no idea what the letter says. I've been meaning to look it up to read it for awhile. I just haven't. (Yes, I'm lazy.)
Monday morning I went crawling to Starbucks for my morning caffeine kick. I splurged and got a little more than my iced-coffee.
Iced coffee: $2.87
Peppermint Mocha: $4.62
I then realized I had forgotten cash. Ah well...I had decided, I'll just use my card. I didn't like it, as William and I have been on cash-only for awhile. It is part of our success with paying our debts off. I half thought about leaving the line, but how rude would that be? I had already ordered.
I drove up and the gentleman stuck his head out the window into the cold air. I did not envy his job. I recall working the window at Wendy's when I was a teen. While I didn't do it for very long or in very cold weather (quit in early fall), it was cold enough that I dreaded it. Doing such a thing in teen-degree weather is simply not appealing.
"The person in front of you paid for your drink."
I starred blankly, letting the words process in my head. "They paid for my drink?" I finally replied.
"Yes, and here you go!" handing my my deliciously warm venti Peppermint Mocha Latte.
I paused another minute, expecting a letter. No letter came. "Have a nice day ma'am!"
"Thanks! You too!" and then I drove off in disbelief.
I had been blessed.
It was a rough couple years for William and I. Making the decision to sell our beloved house and following through with it was probably the most difficult time we have ever gone through as a couple. The stress and anxiety permeated every aspect of our lives together.
We are in what I'd call a honey moon phase. God is continuing to show us that He is our provider, continuing to encourage us to make good choices. I know things won't always be this easy, but I am enjoying this time nonetheless. I won't say I deserve it - because none of us deserve any of the blessings we get. I will say that it has been some much needed relief after the tough times we had.
Tough for us, anyway.
And here we are, yet another month gone by and we managed to make another whopping payment to the debt. We paid off three items this month. THREE! That is HUGE. Last month when it happened, I thought "I know this won't happen every month..." but I didn't expect it to happen two months in a row.
God continues to provide in every aspect of our life.
And we are not the only ones He is blessing. William invited our realtor over to watch Christmas Vacation. They both have a fondness for the movies, and while house hunting they often quoted the various vacation movies to one another. Two peas in a pod really.
He mentioned that Nov was a super busy month for him. I have no doubt that this is a direct result in their faithfulness to God. They blessed us in our selling process, and now they are seeing the result of that.
So there you have...another addition of I am blessed. And YES I do intend to pass on the blessing I received at some point, when the time is right. :-)
I have no idea what the letter says. I've been meaning to look it up to read it for awhile. I just haven't. (Yes, I'm lazy.)
Monday morning I went crawling to Starbucks for my morning caffeine kick. I splurged and got a little more than my iced-coffee.
Iced coffee: $2.87
Peppermint Mocha: $4.62
I then realized I had forgotten cash. Ah well...I had decided, I'll just use my card. I didn't like it, as William and I have been on cash-only for awhile. It is part of our success with paying our debts off. I half thought about leaving the line, but how rude would that be? I had already ordered.
I drove up and the gentleman stuck his head out the window into the cold air. I did not envy his job. I recall working the window at Wendy's when I was a teen. While I didn't do it for very long or in very cold weather (quit in early fall), it was cold enough that I dreaded it. Doing such a thing in teen-degree weather is simply not appealing.
"The person in front of you paid for your drink."
I starred blankly, letting the words process in my head. "They paid for my drink?" I finally replied.
"Yes, and here you go!" handing my my deliciously warm venti Peppermint Mocha Latte.
I paused another minute, expecting a letter. No letter came. "Have a nice day ma'am!"
"Thanks! You too!" and then I drove off in disbelief.
I had been blessed.
It was a rough couple years for William and I. Making the decision to sell our beloved house and following through with it was probably the most difficult time we have ever gone through as a couple. The stress and anxiety permeated every aspect of our lives together.
We are in what I'd call a honey moon phase. God is continuing to show us that He is our provider, continuing to encourage us to make good choices. I know things won't always be this easy, but I am enjoying this time nonetheless. I won't say I deserve it - because none of us deserve any of the blessings we get. I will say that it has been some much needed relief after the tough times we had.
Tough for us, anyway.
And here we are, yet another month gone by and we managed to make another whopping payment to the debt. We paid off three items this month. THREE! That is HUGE. Last month when it happened, I thought "I know this won't happen every month..." but I didn't expect it to happen two months in a row.
God continues to provide in every aspect of our life.
And we are not the only ones He is blessing. William invited our realtor over to watch Christmas Vacation. They both have a fondness for the movies, and while house hunting they often quoted the various vacation movies to one another. Two peas in a pod really.
He mentioned that Nov was a super busy month for him. I have no doubt that this is a direct result in their faithfulness to God. They blessed us in our selling process, and now they are seeing the result of that.
So there you have...another addition of I am blessed. And YES I do intend to pass on the blessing I received at some point, when the time is right. :-)
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Them cows belong to my dad
I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
Psalms 50:9-10
We ended up selling our previous house for the same amount we paid. I'll just say it was a painful choice, but one that we felt God was asking us to make. We have goals that in 3 years, we will be completely debt free. It isn't an easy goal for us. And as we were selling our house, I just kept thinking "Well - maybe 4."
I have a friend who kept reminding me that God owns all the cattle on the hills. He is our provider, and we shouldn't concern ourselves with the "how". We just need to continue to make the choices that put us where God wants us.
This week, we were able to some fairly large checks towards our debt. Taking these steps towards our goal has been so encouraging. We have a wipe board in our room with everything written down on it, to help us remember why we are here. And even though we have a long way to go, I love seeing the numbers go down.
In addition, this week William received a promotion.
Our goals will be met, but we can not make them alone. And I'm so grateful, my Father is helping us along the way.
or of goats from your pens,
for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
Psalms 50:9-10
We ended up selling our previous house for the same amount we paid. I'll just say it was a painful choice, but one that we felt God was asking us to make. We have goals that in 3 years, we will be completely debt free. It isn't an easy goal for us. And as we were selling our house, I just kept thinking "Well - maybe 4."
I have a friend who kept reminding me that God owns all the cattle on the hills. He is our provider, and we shouldn't concern ourselves with the "how". We just need to continue to make the choices that put us where God wants us.
This week, we were able to some fairly large checks towards our debt. Taking these steps towards our goal has been so encouraging. We have a wipe board in our room with everything written down on it, to help us remember why we are here. And even though we have a long way to go, I love seeing the numbers go down.
In addition, this week William received a promotion.
Our goals will be met, but we can not make them alone. And I'm so grateful, my Father is helping us along the way.
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