Oh thank goodness January is over!!!! January is our busiest month at work, and even though I still have quite alot to do in the upcoming weeks prior to my counterpart's maternity leave, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and things will hopefully be easier this week and going forward.
I'm really looking forward to February for several reasons. Next weekend is the annual women's retreat for church at Callaway Gardens. This is my first time going. I didnt go last year because Jonny and I hadnt been going to the church for a full month yet and I was not comfortable going with a bunch of ladies I didn't know at that point, but I've been looking forward to it this year ever since they started talking about it last summer.
Tax season is in full swing and Jonny finally got his first few customers at the office last week, so that's GREAT for our financial situation. We actually filed our own taxes on Friday and when it comes in, we are going to be able to pay off the last of 2 credit cards. After that, all we'll have left is a previous signature loan, and a car loan. Depending on how tax season goes with Jonny will determine how quickly we can get those two debts paid off too. The quicker they are gone, the quicker we can work on our FFEF (fully funded emergency fund) and then work on a down payment for a house. I think that things are going to fall into place at just the right time for us. The economy hs nowhere to go but up, and by the time we have a down payment saved up, I'm certain that we will be able to get a GREAT deal. I hope we'll get a fab deal on a foreclosure that we can invest a little bit of elbow grease into to call it home. Fingers crossed that it'll be next summer....
Whoops, sorry. Got off on a tangent there. Well, like I said above - we're going to be paying off our last two credit cards this month. We're also going to 'Bama next weekend to see the in-laws for a superbowl party. NASCAR season is almost here! Daytona 500 on the 14th, only 2 more years until we're planning on being there LIVE!
I've also got to get started on the whole Crossroads Career thing at St. Mark. Aimee, Shannon, Hannah and I were all talking about it back before the holidays, but the holidays just drains you, and with January as busy as it was, I just knew I couldn't put any effort in it during January. So it's time to get the ball rolling for this. I pray that it works out and we can get the funding we need to be able to start this ministry.
Finally, as I mentioned in a previous post, I recently joined the YMCA. I am sad to say that I've only been twice so far, but in my defense, it was closed for a few days last week because they were moving to a new location. That location is open now, and I am planning on getting my butt up in the morning to go, and finally get this habit formed of going. I need to figure out what group classes I want to attend, but I'm afraid to just show up and have them kick my butt and me not be able to keep up with the rest of the class. I've heard alot of people talk about Zumba...I may have to try that for starters. Besides - I'm afraid of Karen and Hannah (from work, who both teach RPM and Body Pump) *grin*
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Why I Tithe...
So, one of my good friends yesterday sent me a message yesterday asking me some questions, and it inspired this particular post because I wanted to explain why I tithe, in case there are more people out there with the same kind of questions.
I feel like tithing is not an option, but rather, a necessity. The bible gives us instruction to tithe to the church. A Tithe is a 10th of your income. Anything more or less is an offering, a gift. So don't call it a tithe if it's not.
When Jonny and I first started attending St. Mark, for the first few months, prior to starting FPU, and even into the first month or two, we gave what we "could." We knew it was important to give, but 10% of our single income while he was not working was enough money that if we kept it for ourselves, it would make things easier...
That's not entirely true. In our experience, tithing is like an emergency fund; it's Murphy Repellant, as Dave calls it. When you have an emergency fund in place, your emergencies are less severe, and less frequent. Prior to having an emergency fund, a flat tire, or medical bill, or other kinds of unforeseen expenses would have been put on a credit card, because that was the only way we were able to handle it. Since creating the emergency fund, emergencies don't appear to happen as often - and when they do, it's only a minor inconvenience, rather than a catastrophe.
Like I said, in our experience, tithing kind of feels like an emergency fund to us. When we started tithing - rather than giving a small offering, our finances seemed to fall into better shape. We "found" money we didn't know we had, and we learned to better manage the money we DID have, so that it stretched further, and wasn't such a tight squeeze to make ends meet. Over the summer, Jonny had a temporary job which helped kick start some of our debt. Sure, it wasn’t permanent, but by that point, we had been living on one income for over 6 months, and the budget we had worked, so we continued living on that budget, and his extra income from that temporary job went only to debt (and, the tithe that was required from it).
I've listened to Dr David Jeremiah on the radio at night in regards to what it means to tithe, and why it's important. Dave says some similar things. Basically, what they've said is that our money is not ours. EVERYTHING we have is because of God. Yeah yeah, I know some of you out there are rolling your eyes about the freakish religious aspect of this post by now and how I must be a brainwashed Christian. Um, no. Just because someone is a Christian doesn't mean they are a brainwashed psycho. I'm not trying to change your mind, just letting you know why I feel it's important to tithe.
My church has been wonderful for me, and our transition in Columbus. I swore after I left the military, I'd NEVER leave home again. Well, I did - sort of. Yeah, it's only 2 hours, so it doesn’t really count, but 2 hours is still far enough away from my friends and family, that I get a little homesick from time to time. I've gotten really involved in the church, and it's helped make Columbus feel more like home. So in one sense, I feel like I owe it back to the church, for helping me. Here's an analogy that my sorority sisters will love: The same way that a sorority is fun and games, but needs money to operate on - a church has a responsibility to the community. Guess what? The church needs money to fulfill that responsibility.
I have friends who say "I can’t afford to tithe." Really? 10% is enough to make or break you for the month? If that's the case, you really should look at where your money is going and cut some unnecessary expenses. You don't NEED a cell phone at $150 a month, catch my drift? If you can’t afford to tithe, then Christ "can't afford" to reward you for being good managers of the money He gave you. We've all heard the story of the master with 3 servants, who gave the first servant 5 talents, the second 2 talents, and the last one 1 talent. The first 2 used their talents and made them grow, and I think, if I remember correctly, they at least doubled their money at the end of 1 year. The 3rd guy buried his talent in a hole for fear of losing it, and the master was displeased with him because he hadn’t used it to do anything with.
Basically, it's like this. If you can’t afford to live on 90% of your income, you can’t afford to live on 100%. If you can't show God that you are smart with your money, He has no reason to reward you with more. People say they can't afford to tithe, but I say; how can you afford NOT to? Yep, my 10% a month is a big chunk of change that could certainly go towards my debt snowball. But as luck would have it, if I didn’t give that 10% per month to the church, my financial luck would diminish. I'd have broken down cars, and medical expenses, other unexpected costs that my poor little baby emergency fund couldn’t not Murphy Repel for me, and then I‘d need that 10% - OR MORE - to cover those catastrophes. I am not willing to take any chances. God blessed us when we started obeying. Why would I start disobeying now?
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/daves-advice-on-tithing-and-giving/lifeandmoney_church/
I feel like tithing is not an option, but rather, a necessity. The bible gives us instruction to tithe to the church. A Tithe is a 10th of your income. Anything more or less is an offering, a gift. So don't call it a tithe if it's not.
When Jonny and I first started attending St. Mark, for the first few months, prior to starting FPU, and even into the first month or two, we gave what we "could." We knew it was important to give, but 10% of our single income while he was not working was enough money that if we kept it for ourselves, it would make things easier...
That's not entirely true. In our experience, tithing is like an emergency fund; it's Murphy Repellant, as Dave calls it. When you have an emergency fund in place, your emergencies are less severe, and less frequent. Prior to having an emergency fund, a flat tire, or medical bill, or other kinds of unforeseen expenses would have been put on a credit card, because that was the only way we were able to handle it. Since creating the emergency fund, emergencies don't appear to happen as often - and when they do, it's only a minor inconvenience, rather than a catastrophe.
Like I said, in our experience, tithing kind of feels like an emergency fund to us. When we started tithing - rather than giving a small offering, our finances seemed to fall into better shape. We "found" money we didn't know we had, and we learned to better manage the money we DID have, so that it stretched further, and wasn't such a tight squeeze to make ends meet. Over the summer, Jonny had a temporary job which helped kick start some of our debt. Sure, it wasn’t permanent, but by that point, we had been living on one income for over 6 months, and the budget we had worked, so we continued living on that budget, and his extra income from that temporary job went only to debt (and, the tithe that was required from it).
I've listened to Dr David Jeremiah on the radio at night in regards to what it means to tithe, and why it's important. Dave says some similar things. Basically, what they've said is that our money is not ours. EVERYTHING we have is because of God. Yeah yeah, I know some of you out there are rolling your eyes about the freakish religious aspect of this post by now and how I must be a brainwashed Christian. Um, no. Just because someone is a Christian doesn't mean they are a brainwashed psycho. I'm not trying to change your mind, just letting you know why I feel it's important to tithe.
My church has been wonderful for me, and our transition in Columbus. I swore after I left the military, I'd NEVER leave home again. Well, I did - sort of. Yeah, it's only 2 hours, so it doesn’t really count, but 2 hours is still far enough away from my friends and family, that I get a little homesick from time to time. I've gotten really involved in the church, and it's helped make Columbus feel more like home. So in one sense, I feel like I owe it back to the church, for helping me. Here's an analogy that my sorority sisters will love: The same way that a sorority is fun and games, but needs money to operate on - a church has a responsibility to the community. Guess what? The church needs money to fulfill that responsibility.
I have friends who say "I can’t afford to tithe." Really? 10% is enough to make or break you for the month? If that's the case, you really should look at where your money is going and cut some unnecessary expenses. You don't NEED a cell phone at $150 a month, catch my drift? If you can’t afford to tithe, then Christ "can't afford" to reward you for being good managers of the money He gave you. We've all heard the story of the master with 3 servants, who gave the first servant 5 talents, the second 2 talents, and the last one 1 talent. The first 2 used their talents and made them grow, and I think, if I remember correctly, they at least doubled their money at the end of 1 year. The 3rd guy buried his talent in a hole for fear of losing it, and the master was displeased with him because he hadn’t used it to do anything with.
Basically, it's like this. If you can’t afford to live on 90% of your income, you can’t afford to live on 100%. If you can't show God that you are smart with your money, He has no reason to reward you with more. People say they can't afford to tithe, but I say; how can you afford NOT to? Yep, my 10% a month is a big chunk of change that could certainly go towards my debt snowball. But as luck would have it, if I didn’t give that 10% per month to the church, my financial luck would diminish. I'd have broken down cars, and medical expenses, other unexpected costs that my poor little baby emergency fund couldn’t not Murphy Repel for me, and then I‘d need that 10% - OR MORE - to cover those catastrophes. I am not willing to take any chances. God blessed us when we started obeying. Why would I start disobeying now?
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/daves-advice-on-tithing-and-giving/lifeandmoney_church/
Saturday, January 2, 2010
How and Why?
$42,000 in debt. How did we ever end up in this kind of mess, you may ask. It's from a combination of several things. For starters - it's "The American Way" to have debt. It's the American way to have credit cards. It's easier to spend what you don't have than it is to have discipline to save up for what you truly need and or can justify spending the money on, and pay the credit card when it comes in the mail later.
This mentality will overwhelm you. I know EXACTLY where my problem started. It began with the military. I was working a full time job, making good money, and the only bill I had was my cell phone bill. While I was in the navy, I got department store credit cards - target, jcpenny, old navy, etc. I had "some" sense and realized I was getting in a little over my head, so when we went on deployment, I paid those cards off, and cancelled them.
However, I still had no idea about Dave Ramsey, or the common sense approach to money. I really had NO IDEA what in the hell I was doing. I had a paycheck, and a cell phone bill. I had no savings in place, I lived paycheck to paycheck. I went to the mall, I bought clothes, I went out to eat with friends, and I went to the movies. I bought DVDs, cds, and a laptop. When I was overseas on deployment, I paid for the experience. I told myself I may never get a chance to visit those countries ever again, and justified blowing my money on "stuff." Rather than having a budget, I spent until it was gone, and then when it was gone, I used the credit cards.
When I got out of the navy, my habits didn't change, but my financial responsibility did. I no longer had free housing and 3 hot meals a day that I could revert back to if I ran out of money. I now had rent, and utilities to pay. I had to pay money at a laundromat to do my laundry (something I also had for free in the military). It got to the point where I couldn’t afford everything I "needed" so I applied for more credit. I was also in a long distance relationship with Jonny at the time, and had plane tickets to buy to go see him. It didn't make sense to spend 18 hours round trip in the car when I could fly and it only is a 4 hour round trip travel. I needed those extra 14 hours.
Before I knew it, I had more credit cards than I honestly can even remember. Jonny went on deployment and was getting paid tax free, and we used some of the money to pay down the debts we had built up. However, when he returned, we built the debt right back up. Swipe Swipe Swipe went the credit cards. We didn’t learn our lesson.
Jonny got out of the navy in August 2007, and we were married in October. He started school, and found a job, but he wasn’t making near the income he had made before getting out of the service. School was important to him, and finding a banking job that was flexible with his school schedule was impossible. In December, after many nights of tears, and the realization that the 1 step forward 2 steps back approach was not working to get our debt down, we applied for a consolidation loan. At the time, we had $18,000 in credit card debt, plus the 2 cars, which was an additional $17,000 or so, so approximately $35,000 in debt, December 2007. We got rid of the department store cards, and kept only the Visa and Mastercards. However, it wasn't enough. Within the next year, we had reverted back to our old ways. The credit cards that we had consolidated were racked back up, only this time, we still had the consolidation loan to pay as well. WHAT was it going to take to make us learn?
Fortunately, I got out of the job situation I was in and found my calling. In October 2008, we moved 2 hours south to Columbus GA and started rebuilding our lives. Jonny left his job in Atlanta to be with me, and started school at Columbus State. January 11, 2009 we were church shopping and were visiting St. Mark UMC. In the bulletin, Financial Peace University was being advertised. By this time, I had heard of Dave Ramsey, but had not attended FPU. I figured God was trying to tell me something. We enjoyed the church, and became regulars (we joined the church in July). In February we started attending FPU, which changed our lives forever. It's a good thing too; due to the economy, Jonny was having a hell of a time finding a job...and that was when we hit rock bottom. FPU saved us. With it, we learned how to live better on 1 income, than we had been on 2.
TBC...
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