I guess you are wondering about the title there. Well, my husband and I have been talking a lot lately about what we want with our lives and it doesn't not seem like we are on the right path. The things we want to be able to do are not getting done to our satisfaction and there is one HUGE obstacle that stands in our way. Finances...we are living way above our means and when an emergency (car repairs, camp money, surgery, TAXES) come up we are stuck squeezing or trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. When JB's company shuts down for a month without pay, it takes us months to catch up. This is NOT living. So, what would be our options? We could both find other jobs that pay better. This one has been vetoed because we both enjoy our jobs and working in an unhappy work environment would be counter productive. Job happiness and satisfaction are a priority. There is no flex there.
I think the hardest thing for me is when a friend is in trouble, I want to be able to help in any way I can. Currently I cannot help out financially. I don't tithe at the church like I want to. And I want to be able to go see my children in Utah. I can't be cause of finances. We have 3 vehicles that need repairs and we rely on our vehicles to get to work to support our family. This is a priority.
My reaffirmation was in the lesson today when Randy spoke of what we need to do as a church and what we need to do as a Christian. He briefly spoke about financial issues, and dwelling on them. I have dwelt for almost 5 years on this and I finally have some peace about the changes we have decided to make with our financial situation. I need to be wiser with my finances and I need to stop living above my means. I need to stop worrying about making sure my family is happy with material things and we need to think about this more. Why do I work so hard for a home with a high mortgage? My whole monthly paycheck goes to it. I have never been materialistic, I don't have to impress people with my things. If I am not good enough, than so be it. I am only worried about impressing God. He is my Rock.
I love my house, it is perfect for us, but it is hard to make. It does NOT make me happy, my family and my friends do. I love people more than this house and I want to put more into teaching people the love of God. It is clean out at our house, yes, my men hate me right now. I get in this mood where I cannot stand clutter, and stuff being stored and stored and just sitting. I want it gone. Why do I keep things? I have clothes that I wore at my largest; size 3X, 4X and 5X, that I need to ebay and get rid of them. I NEVER want to wear them again, but just have not found the time to group them and list them and GET RID OF THEM.
I am a sentimental person though. I love things from people that have meaning. My grandparents things, my Precious Moment collection of my marriage and children growing up. I can tell you where and who each figurine came from and what occasion I received it. I have a figurine in my office from my sweet friend, Krista and her family and it says "thank you". It is a Willow Tree Angel figure and I love it because it came from them. My first office gift. And I have a teddy bear that says "you are loved" from Sam and I love it too because it came from Sam. Sentimental because someone put some thought into it for me. But all the other stuff is just stuff, and I don't need to store it. So we are down sizing, and taking care of business like we should have been doing the last 22 years. Never too late to "wise up".
I am also trying to learn that just because something is important to me, does not mean it is important to someone else. I very much try to communicate and be effective at it, but obviously I fail greatly at this. I can communicate all day long but if it is not received like it is meant, it is useless. Working on this daily.
My treasure is my family and my friends, which both categorized include my church family. I love them and treasure them. I can honestly say that in all my travels and the church families we have had, this family is the dearest to my heart. Now we have had some great churches, but either it is this time in my life or I just needed this family, I am really hooked. We had a church family in Alaska, wow, now that was family. We met in a small log cabin church and did everything together, vacations, meals, tasks, everything, just like we do at Johnson street.
I started this to say that we are truly working on working for the Lord, and we want to make the changes in our lives, as hard as it will be to work toward this goal and free up more finances to be productive in His kingdom.
1 comment:
That is definitely a good goal to have. We've attended Dave Ramsey's seminar and read his book....made some great changes in our life but we still have a ways to go. Like you, we want to be able to reach out and help others. We can't do this if financially we are over-obligated to something else. I try to pay cash for nearly everything we do and that works well most of the time. Good luck on your goals!
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