Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tuesday's Topic/Question

What would I do with $50,000? (I'm assuming taxes have already been taken out and I really have this much) :)

The first thing I would do is tithe 10% ($5,000).

Next I would want to give to an organization helping the people of Haiti. Red Cross, maybe, I'd also look into Christian organizations helping. My heart is so broken for these people. I'd give $1,000 to whatever organization I chose.

Another thing that's been on my heart is sponsoring a child. Through a couple of blogs I frequent I've found out about a wonderful organization called Compassion. They have programs set up in many different countries. Even before the earthquake sponsoring a child from Haiti was on my heart. I found out though that, I'm assuming because of all that's going on, sponsorship for children there is not available right now. I think I would hold out until it was available again, otherwise, my 2nd choice would be to sponsor a child from India. Through Compassion to sponsor a child for a year would be a little over $450 the cost is $38/month, but so much is done to help.

OK so I'm at $43,550.

Looking for a new vehicle is on our list this year. The mini-van we have is on it's last leg, we bought it used in 2002 and it's been wonderful. We have over 200K on it now and it's still running....it runs loud, but it still runs. :)
My husband's dream vehicle...well, dream that we could fit our family in, is a Toyota Sequoia. The practical side of me says to go for the Toyota Sienna, mainly because it's cheaper. :) So I'm thinking we'd spend $15,000-18,000 on a new used vehicle. What we get would depend on how much we spend. If this were the case I think my hubby would win out and we'd go for the Sequoia, so to get a good one we'd probably drop $18,000.

Alright we're at $25,550

I'm going to take $5,550 of that and use it toward 2 trips. Maybe I'm low-balling here, but we do like to find deals. And, well, we usually try and keep our trips as low cost as possible. So I'm not sure how I'd budget the money but I'd use some for our upcoming Disney trip and then use the rest for my husband and I to take a trip to Hawaii. And I'm pretty sure we could make it work....we know of a deal or 2 we could get. :) Anyway, the Hawaii trip would be a dream trip for me! :)

Now I'm at $20,000

I'd like to take $2,000 and pay off all our medical bills. I know those don't accrue interest, but I hate having them! And since other than our house payment we really have very little debt, to wipe out the medical bills would be a weight off my shoulders!

Ok, $18,000 left

At this point I think I'd want to save most if not all the rest. Use more if we need to for our trips, but keep the rest in savings or use a couple thousand to finish up some of the never ending projects around the house. It's hard to say. :)

I'm going to leave it at that. Probably not the most exciting of things, but..... oh well. :)
Maybe some things would change (for sure not the first 3) if I spent more time thinking about it, but that's what I've got for now. :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Unexciting Post

I have forewarned you, this isn't going to be that exciting. I have a post that I want to do, some reflections from over the weekend (we went to a dear friend's funeral). However, I should be in bed sleeping right now, SO I want the fore-mentioned post to make sense so I will save it for a later time (hopefully this week).

My post is going to start with a question.

Why?

Why is it, the only time I run into people I haven't seen in a long time, is when I look like a scrub?

Can anyone tell me? Seriously, I could have the best hair month of my life and I wouldn't see a single person I know (outside of church, school...the regulars) but THE ONE day I look like a scrub is when I run into someone I haven't seen for 10+ years?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It happened to me, tonight!

Now I have to say that this time it wasn't so bad, because, the girl I ran into, is a mom also, and well, quite honestly we both didn't look our best tonight. :) So after the pink faded from my flushed cheeks I realized, she gets it, she's a mom too, and well, sometimes you just look like a scrub. I mean seriously, are we not entitled to that at least once in a while?! :)

Also, in my defense it is Monday, and well, it's Monday....do I need more of an excuse? :)

I just seem to not have great timing when it comes to "running into" people.

Another time I remember was when we had just, I mean just gotten home. In fact we hadn't even gotten home we were stopping at Wal-Mart on the way home from camping. Now, if you are an avid camper you know that, well depending on where you're camping you may or may not have taken a shower that day (or if you're some people, thankfully not in our group, you may not have showered the whole weekend) because you know, there's a lake for swimming. Anyway, I know I had showered, I just didn't look like it.

So who do we run into? 2 guys I went to high school with.

I felt like a deer in the headlights...I was trapped...they had seen me, so I couldn't run...so I walked up to them gave them hugs and as quickly as possible explained how we were just getting back from camping....hoping that would explain why I looked like something the cat dragged in. :)

Anyway, just wanted to throw that question out there. Which along the same lines the question....Why doesn't anyone just stop by when my house is clean? Why is it they show up on the 1 day, possibly the 1 hour my house looks like a bomb went off?

I'm asking deep questions here, deep questions :) The kind that will never really have an answer...or at least a good one!

If you actually read this whole thing, I'm impressed. And if you ever see someone in a store that looks like me but is trying to run and duck down an aisle...it's probably me having a bad hair day, nothing personal. :)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It Sounds So Simple

Trust.

A 5-letter word, it's simple to say, simple to ask of others, but when it comes right down to the actual trusting, that's where it's not always so simple.

I'm struggling with this very word, not so much with the word itself, but in doing...trusting.

Not in trusting my children, or my husband, or in others around me, but in trusting God. Which when I really think about it has to be one of the silliest things ever.

Why?

Well, my husband, my children, my family & friends are human, they're not perfect. They've broken promises. Some have hurt me very deeply. Some have lied at one time or another....they're not perfect.

So why is it, I'm having such a hard time trusting God, who has NEVER broken a promise, has NEVER hurt me in the sense I'm talking about, who has NEVER lied?

Right now the Lord has brought me to a place, where, concerning a specific situation that's all I can do (trust). That is what He's requiring of me. Every question I've been asking has been met with the same answer, "Trust Me."


I've asked.

How is this going to work? "Trust Me."

What will people think/say? "Trust Me."

Lord how will I get through this? "Trust Me."

What's going to happen, if...? "Trust Me."

Every question, has been met with 2 simple, yet sometimes impossible, words. "Trust Me."

And in my feeble attempt to "argue" with the Lord, I've said, "This wasn't part of my plan Lord". And He has answered with...

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

I am in a place where all I can do is trust.

This hasn't been easy, there have been tears, but this situation has brought me to my knees, it's kept me at the feet of the cross. And that is never a bad place to be!

I know the Lord knows that I'm still learning and that He's not expecting me to have it all together. So I continue to cry out, to ask Him to teach me how to trust, no matter what the cost, what the outcome, what others think or say. Knowing that what I'm going through hasn't caught God off guard, but that He's allowed it, and that He will use it to bring glory to His name. And while I may be having a hard time wrapping my mind around what's about to take place I know that the ending will bring about a great blessing, a great reward.....that the end result will actually be the Lord trust-ing me with something.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. " Proverbs 3:5-6

Friday, January 8, 2010

My song for today

I am and needing to lean on those Everlasting arms today!


What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Day 1 Is a Success

I am happy to say I have met my goal of exercising today!!! Hooray!! One day down, lots more to go! :)

Ideally I'd like to exercise when my youngest is napping....one less person to "dance around" while trying to follow the exercise instructor on my DVD. While that didn't happen today, I'm happy to say I only had to do a few push-up with a little person on my back and managed to not hit anyone either while lifting my arms up and down during other "moves". :) And watching my itty bitty try to "exercise" with me was worth all the soreness I'm experiencing now! :)

Oh, and my youngest son who was home only managed to spill/use/ about a 1/3 of a bottle of maple syrup. :) And he was so sweet to "clean" the bathroom for me after he spilled what syrup made it onto his plate all over the counter and floor. :) So I guess you could say I got 2 workouts for the price of 1. :)

I know being sore is a good sign, but I'm not looking forward to tomorrow! I was sore about 15 min. after I finished and am getting more sore by the hour....tomorrow could be brutal...but soreness is a good sign, right? :)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Time Has Come....

for me to get my butt in gear and start exercising again!! I pretty much haven't done anything since this summer/fall. I did a lot of walking, but now that the ground is covered in snow and ice and the temps are only in the teens with wind chills that feel below zero....walking isn't so fun anymore! :)

I'm hoping that somehow by posting this I'll be holding myself accountable. I need it, I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds over the holidays, so now's the time to get rid of them....plus I've got 2 trips coming up this year that will be taking me to warmer climates and I want to make sure I fit into my summer clothes with breathing room!

I've got a couple of new workout DVD's that I'll be trying. They're a little over 20mins. each, which I know is not the "recommended" time, but in my world, getting my boys to school in clothes that match on time is an accomplishment! Not to mention getting a shower in is something to be celebrated!! So...in my world 20 min.s is very much the "recommended" amount of time. Ha! :)

When am I starting? Well, I wanted to start today, and I still have time, but I have to get the boys from school soon and then there's after-school busi-ness and dinner, etc. I'm still going to try and fit it in, otherwise, tomorrow, January 6th will be my 1st official day of getting my body back into shape!

Ok, need to go get ready to get the kids from school!

Happy rest of your Monday!