Monday, May 16, 2011

Well...here goes.

For a while now, a few folks have suggested I start a blog. I am pretty open about our family...things we are praying for, praises for those answered prayers, where we may be struggling etc. I have found that by being honest and letting friends see just what the Lord is doing in our life, we serve as encouragement to others.

The Lord is certainly working within us and has refined us greatly over the last few years. Right now, He has put two things on our hearts. One, to adopt a child. Two, the get our financial house in order. We feel greatly that until we do two, we will not have one.

Yesterday, we took bold steps to get our finances in order. We finally cut up our credit cards and put them in a jar (I'll tell you why a jar in a moment...). We prayed over them and set up Dave Ramsey's "snowball" plan to get them paid. It was encouraging to see how quickly they will get paid if we commit to the sacrifice of it all. It was sickening to see just how much money will go towards these bills! Oh, how thankful I am that the Lord has provided a way out of such slavery! I am converting to a cash system of sorts - not quite ol' Dave's plan - but a good first step for us.

A second jar was placed in our car that is for sale. To back up a bit, I have been greatly convicted that there is no reason to drive the "nicer" car if it carries a high monthly payment. So, we are selling it and I am now driving our older car (funny enough, it was the first car I ever bought and drove it the entire time we dated....even brought Cate home from the hospital in it). The beauty of this conviction is that it will allow us to pay off our debts. But...we need it to sell. So, we placed a jar in the front seat and prayed for the Lord to sell it for a bit of profit so we may enjoy our vacation to see family next month, and provide for some Kingdom building at CGM.

Oh - why the jars you ask. That came from our teaching at church Sunday and Grant wanted to put it into play in our lives. 2 Kings 4:1 - 7. And, some think the OT does not apply to us today!

2 comments:

Mandy said...

Enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the Lord work in your life. Can't wait to see God's blessings as yall take these steps. Also, can't wait to meet the new Chaney kid, I'm sure he/she will be as awesome as Cate and Colin. Love u, Mandy

Duane Smith said...

Cool, i look forward to following along