Posts Tagged ‘budgeting’

Posted on September 10, 2009 - by Mary

Learning to be Content Where You Are

Learning to be content where you are. This is something that God has been laying on my heart for a while now; not necessarily for me maybe, but perhaps for others. Being content where God has me is something that God has taught me and something that I continue to learn. Actually lessons like patience, attitude and being content are learned on a continual basis anyway…hopefully we never stop growing in those areas.

Anyway, being content where God has us is important because there’s usually something to be learned where we are, and until we are content there and learn it, God won’t move us. A good example is in our finances. When we are struggling financially, there is usually one main reason: we are living beyond our means. Now, we may have suddenly lost a job or have suddenly incurred some unexpected medical expenses, but the bottom line is we didn’t plan for such a financial emergency. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck without saving any money for financial emergencies and we depend on credit cards to purchase the extra things we want. Then when things happen like the economical downfall, a medical emergency or our car dies, we pray to God to increase our finances or to pull us out of this situation. Well, my friends, perhaps God wants us to learn to live within our means first, which includes saving for such things. I know it’s a struggle, believe me, I know…I won’t even get into our financial struggles right now…which is why God has been laying this on my heart for the last few days.

Last night I prayed asking God to show me what I need to do, to learn that will help us in our finances. And today I’ve had this revelation so to speak. He wants us to live within our means, which means budgeting and budgeting will lead to paying off our debt and saving for financial emergencies, and then also giving more to further God’s kingdom. And it’s not like I don’t “know” this. I do have the knowledge in my head. I have to learn to be content where we are financially right now, which means buckling down, sticking to the budget, and really putting forth effort to pay off our debt and start saving money. It’s not going to be easy…it will be a struggle…but whoever said anything worth doing or having is easy? It’s not, but it is worth it and it is what I want for our lives.

photo credit: Doggettx

Another area I had to learn to be content in was when I was single. I was married for all of my adult life and after 17 years of marriage I was single. I tell you what I hated being single!!! I wanted a man so badly that I fell for any man that was interested in me. First one that came along after my divorce I fell for. We got married and were divorced in less than a year. Single again, I dated this guy who was also newly divorced. Thought I loved him, but the feeling was not mutual; he went back to his ex-wife. Devastated all I could do is turn to God. I struggled with being single for about 2 years. This guy (the one who went back to his ex-wife) was in and out of my life during those two years though we never dated again (although I was always hoping we would). Then somewhere along the way, I knew I had to be content in my singleness. I knew I needed to stop wishing and hoping and praying and dreaming that God would bring me a husband. I knew that I needed to let God be my husband. Then, of course, along comes this other guy that I had a crush on and thought he liked me too. We hung out all the time and would have each other over for dinner and all that kind of stuff. He ended up liking someone else, and they eventually got married. So, once again I had to let go of the idea of being in wedded bliss and be content in my singleness. So, I started seeking out God’s will for my life through prayer and bible study. I knew that I was supposed to be in youth ministry, so I started volunteering on Wednesday nights again (I’ve been involved in the youth ministry ever since I got saved) and was truly content being single, having fun just hanging out with my single friends, other women in church, and helping with the youth. I was also (still am) active in the Emmaus community. I love working the walks and to make a very long story short, it was while working an Emmaus walk, that I met my husband, Jeff. We have been very happily wed 4 years this month.

If I hadn’t learned to be content in my singleness (not pining, longing, hoping, wishing or dreaming for a man in my life) I would probably still be single today. No man can fulfill our needs. Yes, we are created to be married, I truly believe we are. It is also God’s will that we are prosperous and successful, yet if we aren’t obedient with what God has given us, He’s not just going to perform some miracle to make us rich. (Yes, I believe God does perform miracles every day and He does absolutely provide all our needs.) I just know that action, obedience and faithfulness is required on our part.

I’m sorry if I’m sounding preachy. I don’t mean to. This is just something that’s on my heart and I’m trying to share it the best I can.

Wherever God has you right now, ask Him to help show you what you need to learn in this situation, from this experience, so you can move on, so He can move you. Search Him, seek Him out…He is faithful…He will answer.

The Bible says in Matt. 11:29 that we can rest in God. When we are “resting” in God we are content, relaxed, laying back and letting Him speak into our hearts and souls. Rest in God.

As I’m typing this I’ve been listening to some Hillsong music. Song number 12 on the cd Look to You is called “Rest in You”. I recommend you get it and listen to it too. Here are the lyrics and when set to music…amazing and awesome.

Your faithfullness endures always
Where mountains fall and reason fails
And You calm the raging seas
And You calm the storms in me, again

All I know is I find rest in You
All I know is I find rest in You

My heart will praise throughout the night
Where singing seems a sacrifice
Your grace is all I need
Your grace is all I need

Posted on August 28, 2009 - by Mary

What’s on My Heart

Warning: this is a totally random post. Just feel like laying some stuff out that’s on my mind and heart. Nothing big, nothing serious, just stuff, just life.

Right now I’m listening to Hillsong, Hillsong and more Hillsong! I got their new CD, Faith+Hope+Love, and loaded into my iTunes along with all my other Hillsong music. I clicked on their playlist and have been listening to them all morning as I try to get some work done. Notice I said “try”. I’ve got a client’s project to work on, but it’s a little challenging because it’s in .pdf form and I need to copy the text into a Word doc. Well, I converted it using an online .pdf converter, but it’s still formatted as a “picture” instead of text. I then tried to save a copy of the .pdf file as text, but the text file came up blank. Grrrr. I WILL figure this out, I just needed to stop for a moment and not get frustrated.

Jeff just started a week of evenings today. He left about 10 minutes ago. It will be weird not having him here all the time. He’s had so much vacation this summer, it’s been nice having him around all the time.

My youngest is going to the church to help out with vacation bible school. She’s been helping all week, including with set up, which I think she really enjoys doing. My oldest daughter and I are making plans to go to the fair tonight perhaps, if she can convince her hubby to go or maybe he will find something else to do. We shall see. Either way I have to get a ride with my youngest to G-town because I don’t want to drive the gas-hog truck with a low tire.

I really need to get back on track with my diet. I’ve not been tracking and have gained 2 more lbs!!! Ugh! I can feel it too. Plus I’ve not been drinking all the water. Be right back, going to get a glass now…ok I’m back. I actually filled up my water bottle I got when I first started Weight Watchers. Oh, be back again…going to fill out my points…there. I added my weight, which I did not want to, and tracked my points for today. I have 10 left.

Other areas I have to get disciplined in are exercising and budgeting. Being self disciplined has never been easy for me. I wish I were one of those people who was naturally self disciplined. I find the same people who are great at budgeting are also great at staying in shape and vice-versa. Or else they were born with a great body and don’t really have to work at it or they are financially blessed and don’t really struggle paying bills, etc. Whatever, I just wish I was more naturally disciplined in all areas of my life. I tend to do really good at something for a while, then I get bored and don’t want to work at it any more. Something I’m definitely going to have to work on…LOL.

I’m really enjoying working from home and am looking to add 2 new regular clients. I have 2 right now but need a couple more to meet our income requirements. I have been praying about it, and God has been providing all our needs. We certainly aren’t going hungry, and some past due medical bills still need to be paid, but we have a roof over our heads, vehicles that run and have gas in them, and clothes on our backs. So, I can’t really complain though I know living pay check to pay check is not what we’re supposed to do, so I’m praying for increase in our income and wisdom and help with being a wise steward of what God has given us.

I’m really enjoying my bottle of water! I forgot how much I love water!!! I will probably be peeing a lot over the next couple of days as my body adjusts to taking in that much water again. But it will be good. Perhaps I will lose the few pounds I’ve gained pretty quickly because I know most of it is water weight. I can see it in my fingers and ankles.

Oh, I went to the doctor last week. They actually called me in. I guess I was supposed to be having my blood checked every 6 months with the meds I’m on. Niaspan for my cholesterol issues and Synthroid for my low thyroid. So, I went and had blood drawn last week and yesterday the doctor’s office called and said I needed to get back on the Niacin, but only 500mg starting out. When I went off it a couple of months ago, I was up to 1500mg a day! So, my cholesterol must be better than it was. Yay for me. Must be the little bit of weight I did lose and the walking I WAS doing. Need to get back at that too. Sheesh.

Another thing I want to start doing is meal planning again. I did it for like one week, then got off track. Surprise. I have all the info for all this stuff in my head-heck I even write about it on my other blogs-it’s just hard for me to get in the habit of it.

I guess that’s the key to all of my issues; I need to make habits of everything. Good, healthy habits. Well, I guess that’s enough for now. I feel motivated and ready to conquer the world. Ok, not quite ready for that, but almost!

photo credit: audi_insperation