Our school district had the day off yesterday for Yom Kippur so I made plans to go shopping with my daughter Morgan. She has grown a lot since last year and most of her fall/winter clothes no longer fit. It amazes me to look at pictures of her from 2 summers ago because she must have shot up at least 5 inches since that time. Incredible!
I told Morgan that we would go out to breakfast at a bagel shop down the hill from where we live. Now, my daughter loves milk. And if they did have milk there, I didn't want to pay almost $2 for it. So I ask her if she'd like to take some milk along with her in a water bottle.
"Do they have milk there?" she asks.
"I don't know," I respond. "I know that they have coffee, but I'm not sure if they have a refrigerator case with other drinks like milk."
"No that's okay. I'm gonna wait and see if they have milk there."
I had set a budget for what I wanted to spend for breakfast. My budget was $10 or less. Now in my mind I'm calculating what I would need to spend for breakfast--with milk. As my mind was racing and finagling, God told me to relax.
'This is a day out with your daughter. You have the money. Spend it and enjoy your time together.'
'Okay,' I thought, 'I can do this.'
We went to the bagel store, she got the milk, we both got bagel sandwiches and spent only eight dollars and some change. God had blessed me in spite of my selfishness and worry. Holding on to what I had served only to stress me out. It was only when I let go of what I had that God blessed me with what only He can do.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
The End of an Era
I knew the day would come. Just didn't know the day would be today.
I should have known. In fact a couple of weeks ago when I was wrapping up some food, I sensed that something was going to change. I could see its core, and that wasn't normal.
For five years I just counted on it being there. There was so much of it, you see. Maybe deep down inside, I felt that it would never end.
But today when I went to cover up three bowls, it was clear.
First bowl--is it just me or is this plastic wrap kind of wrinkly?
Second bowl--ugh, we're definitely nearing the end of the line.
Third bowl--no wrap remaining. Just the bare, empty, brown, roll. The bulk plastic wrap that we have had since the summer of 2007 was gone...in an instant...without so much as a farwell.
Will we replace it, you ask? How do you replace 5 years of memories? Meals wrapped up for dinner guests. Pesto secured in the freezer with its protective barrier. Makeshift ice packs for children's boo-boos. It takes time to heal.
But with time, I believe that we may be strong enough to make the trip to Costco, pick up another Kirkland Signature plastic wrap from the shelves, and allow it to grace our kitchen countertop once again.
I should have known. In fact a couple of weeks ago when I was wrapping up some food, I sensed that something was going to change. I could see its core, and that wasn't normal.
For five years I just counted on it being there. There was so much of it, you see. Maybe deep down inside, I felt that it would never end.
But today when I went to cover up three bowls, it was clear.
First bowl--is it just me or is this plastic wrap kind of wrinkly?
Second bowl--ugh, we're definitely nearing the end of the line.
Third bowl--no wrap remaining. Just the bare, empty, brown, roll. The bulk plastic wrap that we have had since the summer of 2007 was gone...in an instant...without so much as a farwell.
Will we replace it, you ask? How do you replace 5 years of memories? Meals wrapped up for dinner guests. Pesto secured in the freezer with its protective barrier. Makeshift ice packs for children's boo-boos. It takes time to heal.
But with time, I believe that we may be strong enough to make the trip to Costco, pick up another Kirkland Signature plastic wrap from the shelves, and allow it to grace our kitchen countertop once again.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Anniversary
It has been one year since I began blogging My Mortgage Miracle. Our mortgage balance is currently ninety-five thousand and some odd dollars. Still a way to go, and still plenty of time for God to work.
We have recently made the decision to look into refinancing our home. Interest rates are so low (around 3%) that we can now take out a 15-year mortgage and have the same payment as we have on our current 30-year mortgage. Pretty much a no-brainer, huh? Right now we are researching to see which bank would best suit our needs.
The primary reason for this blog is for you and me to witness the miracle of God paying off our mortgage in five years or less. However, life happens during the wait. And I've come to discover that everyday life is a miracle. Watching God intertwine my life into the lives of others is an even bigger miracle than anything He could ever do financially in my life. I love to see Him display His power, and I love it even more when He uses me (little 'ole me!) to do His work. For this reason, posts incorporate our family, grocery shopping, cooking, or helping a stranger get to his destination. It is in the ordinary that God does the extraordinary.
Thank you for reading and I pray that it will lead to believing.
We have recently made the decision to look into refinancing our home. Interest rates are so low (around 3%) that we can now take out a 15-year mortgage and have the same payment as we have on our current 30-year mortgage. Pretty much a no-brainer, huh? Right now we are researching to see which bank would best suit our needs.
The primary reason for this blog is for you and me to witness the miracle of God paying off our mortgage in five years or less. However, life happens during the wait. And I've come to discover that everyday life is a miracle. Watching God intertwine my life into the lives of others is an even bigger miracle than anything He could ever do financially in my life. I love to see Him display His power, and I love it even more when He uses me (little 'ole me!) to do His work. For this reason, posts incorporate our family, grocery shopping, cooking, or helping a stranger get to his destination. It is in the ordinary that God does the extraordinary.
Thank you for reading and I pray that it will lead to believing.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Gaining in the Wait
Ross received a raise for the 2012-2013 school year. His school district doesn't give performance raises, but instead he receives increases in salary based on what "step" he is on in his teaching career. I believe it factors in years of service, degrees earned, and credits taken. His raise has him making $4000 more than he was last year--that's significant and certainly timely for us. Allow me to explain.
In my book Personal Finances Personal Freedom, I wrote about how every month when we sit down to plan our finances for the next month, we always take into consideration the "God Factor" (I'll use GF for short). The GF is realizing that although on the spreadsheet may things look tight, we cannot forget about what miracle God is going to work in order to allow us to end the month in the black. When we sit down to pray for our finances for the upcoming month, we are expecting God to provide for what He wants us to do with His money. Time and time again, money will come in from unexpected resources, expenses that we thought we would have were not needed after all, and the list goes on. So we know that it is not us doing the providing, it is Him and always has been.
We are currently looking into making some changes with our insurance that will increase our monthly spending budget. So this raise comes right on time and helps us to see that making the insurance change is what God wants us to do--because He provided the money to do it!
So I celebrate not only the raise, but also the contentment that God has given us with the money that we have been living on these past few years. Ten years ago, I couldn't say that we were content with the money that we had. And at that time we were both employed. Our focus was on looking like everybody else--wearing their clothes, driving their cars, and living in their houses. Now we realize that doing those things is a surefire recipe for being disappointed and broke! We now have one income, less money, and loads more peace. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:6,
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
I am thankful to God for what we have gained in the wait.
In my book Personal Finances Personal Freedom, I wrote about how every month when we sit down to plan our finances for the next month, we always take into consideration the "God Factor" (I'll use GF for short). The GF is realizing that although on the spreadsheet may things look tight, we cannot forget about what miracle God is going to work in order to allow us to end the month in the black. When we sit down to pray for our finances for the upcoming month, we are expecting God to provide for what He wants us to do with His money. Time and time again, money will come in from unexpected resources, expenses that we thought we would have were not needed after all, and the list goes on. So we know that it is not us doing the providing, it is Him and always has been.
We are currently looking into making some changes with our insurance that will increase our monthly spending budget. So this raise comes right on time and helps us to see that making the insurance change is what God wants us to do--because He provided the money to do it!
So I celebrate not only the raise, but also the contentment that God has given us with the money that we have been living on these past few years. Ten years ago, I couldn't say that we were content with the money that we had. And at that time we were both employed. Our focus was on looking like everybody else--wearing their clothes, driving their cars, and living in their houses. Now we realize that doing those things is a surefire recipe for being disappointed and broke! We now have one income, less money, and loads more peace. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:6,
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
I am thankful to God for what we have gained in the wait.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The M&M Challenge
Our son Hunter has taken a recent interest in Tae Kwon Do ever since being in a week long TKD camp over the summer. He's been asking since then to take lessons and begin the trek towards black belt. We've shared with him that the cost of classes is more than what our budget allows for right now, so he would need to find a way to contribute to the cost.
His allowance alone would not be enough, he already knew that. So he began thinking of other ways to finance the class. One day at the dollar store he was looking at candy and came across the M&Ms. Reading one of the wrappers, he saw that he could win $100,000 if he got the M&M package with all brown candy in it. He asked if we could buy him the bag of candy so that he could win the money, pay for Tae Kwon Do lessons, and get a whole bunch of other things, too. We gave the typical parent answer of, "No, these contests are just made to get you to spend your money and the chances of you winning are one in a million." A few days later, however, I started thinking...
Why not let him try? So we set up the "M&M Challenge". Hunter will buy (with his money) one pack of M&M candy every week to see if he is a winner. The stipulations are that he cannot eat all of the candy himself (he needs to share it with others) and he has to write about it on his blog. You can follow it here http://readhardstudyhard.blogspot.com/ Rather than shoot down his dreams, we are going to let him go for it and present him with a learning opportunity--win or lose.
His allowance alone would not be enough, he already knew that. So he began thinking of other ways to finance the class. One day at the dollar store he was looking at candy and came across the M&Ms. Reading one of the wrappers, he saw that he could win $100,000 if he got the M&M package with all brown candy in it. He asked if we could buy him the bag of candy so that he could win the money, pay for Tae Kwon Do lessons, and get a whole bunch of other things, too. We gave the typical parent answer of, "No, these contests are just made to get you to spend your money and the chances of you winning are one in a million." A few days later, however, I started thinking...
Why not let him try? So we set up the "M&M Challenge". Hunter will buy (with his money) one pack of M&M candy every week to see if he is a winner. The stipulations are that he cannot eat all of the candy himself (he needs to share it with others) and he has to write about it on his blog. You can follow it here http://readhardstudyhard.blogspot.com/ Rather than shoot down his dreams, we are going to let him go for it and present him with a learning opportunity--win or lose.
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