Can You Really Afford That?

I read in the Dayton Daily News a couple of days ago this article about the $1 trillion stimulus package that was just passed. If you look closely this article shows different scenarios of what a trillion dollars could really purchase. Some examples that were shocking to me were:

• A trillon seconds ago--31688 years ago Neaderthals stalked the plains of Europe.
• If you had gone into business on the day that Jesus was born and your business made a million dollars every day, it would take you until October 2737 to make a trillion dollars.
• According the U.S Treasury, the average taxpayer's adjusted gross income was $58,029 in 2006; at that rate, the taxpayer would have to work 17,232,763 years to make $1 trillion.
• A trillion dollars could give every high school student in the United States a free college education.
• One trillion miles is roughly the distance of 350 trips from Earth to Pluto

And these are just some statistics!!! It's crazy the wealth and lack of wealth that the American people have. We were once considered the richest country in the world! Wealth can be deceiving because I really feel that the American people have alot of wealth but it's not enough. They are hungry for more because they don't know the true meaning of happiness has nothing to do with material possessions or money.

After reading this article I have realized in my own life and also observing others that we are so wealthy even if by American's standards we think we aren't. I have been at fault many times complaining about our income. Complaining about the lack of material possessions. The lack of GOOD paying teaching jobs that help us to plan for our future, but we are SOOO wealthy. Really how accurate is the American standard of wealth anyway? Who are they to define what that is?

I have been trying lately not to describe and complain about our lives. I have tried to take those sentence structures completely out of my language because we are beyond blessed. Problems arise, but God has always provided a way out.

I've been at fault for saying this but I've also observed alot of other around me saying this as well. We say things like, "I really wish we could do this but we just don't have that kind of money" when we're driving around in an almost brand new car, if not a brand new car, one that looks amazing compaired to a junker that hardly runs. We also say things like "when we get into this kind of money we can do this...." but we have cable tv at home that cost anywhere for $60-$150 a month. We say things like "I wish I could get a new phone but it's just not in the budget" but yet we have an amazing phone compared to the people that don't have any type of communication to begin with. We say things like "I can't afford this or this" but we have a huge 42" tv at home that is the focal point of our living room. (which to me says that is the focal point of your life while you're at home, why else would you have a need for a tv that big). I've even caught myself saying..."if only we would of purchased a bigger, nicer, cuter house!!!" How obsurd and selfish can I be!?!?!?

It's really rather ridiculous. All the wealth that we have, that we turn a blind eye to, and yet we still want more. How much more do we want God to bless us? Can you really afford to live life absent minded, wanting only more?

Be Careful What You Wish For

WARNING: I'm going to be completely honest in this blog. I'm probably going to have a lot of devoted moms (which believe me I believe if you are a mom, you should be completely devoted to your children) upset and angry at me, but I've been rolling around some thoughts in my head for over a year and I just need to blog about them. I may have completely different views from you and you can call me whatever you wish, but these are just how I see things from my perspective at this time in my life.

So lately, (and don't make fun of me for this) I've been listening to The Pussycat Dolls album that has "When I Grow Up" as one of it's tracks. For some reason I really like this song and many others on the disc. One of the phrases in the lyrics say:

"Be Careful What You Wish For, CAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT".

This statement is so true. You do have to be careful what you pray for and what you wish for. What you desire is where your heart is, no matter what the outcome is and how differently it may be once you get it.

Matthew and I prayed for a VERY long time to be home owners. We tried to have very good money practices and tried to save every penny we could on our measly incomes to save up for a down payment on a house. When the time came that we could put a sizable amount down, we started looking for homes, all the while praying for God to allow this to happen if it was his will. As some of you may know, after we purchased our home, I lost my job just one short month later. ONE MONTH. We were suddenly pushed into a situation that was very hard, scary and sent us into fearing if we would be able to make it. This was just something we didn't see in our future and weren't planning on.

I was talking to my sister about the struggles and as the conversation went on and on, the conversation went from telling her our struggle to me complaining about our hardships and how I was very unhappy. She cut me off very quickly and say "Well Kim, this is what you prayed for for three years. You had a BIG desire to own your own home. God gave you this desire of your heart. Now stop complaining about it. You asked for a home and this is just the outcome that has happened. God has put you in this position to trust him, obey him, and love him anyway even though it is tough right now. God gave you the home you wanted." My response at the time was "Well I didn't want the home if it was going to be this hard." I was blind-sighted by the comment, pretty irritated at my sister, but it was the truth. This is what we desired. The home was what we wanted, even though the circumstances following were not what we had though they would be.

This leads me to the mom part. This past year I have observed so many moms complain about the situation that they are in now that they have children. I've heard moms say that they never have time for themselves, they don't get much sleep, and that everything is just so hard. I have such a hard time biting my tongue and asking "Well what did you expect by having a child? This is what comes with the territory" I've heard so many moms use their children as excuses to get out of responsibilities and go home early (such as, well Timmy needs to go home now or Timmy prevents us from doing this now). I've heard moms say that because they don't have as much time now they can't even iron shirts for their husband (which why can't the husband iron their own shirt???)

I've also noticed something else that really bothers me-----It seems that once some individuals become mothers it's as if they forget who THEY are as a person. Everything revolves around their children. You can't have a normal conversation without the mom telling all about what there child has done. Now I love hearing stories about their kids, but the ENTIRE conversation? It's as if they have nothing else to talk about. It's as if their existence has completely disappeared.

Matt and I are all for having children. We want to be truly devoted parents when we decide to have children and when the time is right. But I've observed so many families completely change, sometimes not for the best, that it almost makes me NOT want to start a family. I've seen so many women turn into other women once their children come along that I don't want to be that type of woman. It makes me not want to have kids because I want to still carry on normal conversation with other humans, I want to still be ME--just with an added dimension of myself. It's just frustrating witnessing this. Sometimes I wonder if other moms realize that what they say makes others fearful of having children because of how much they talk "down" about their new responsibilites?

This is the one thing that Matt and I decided when we adopted Mo. I know a dog is completely different from a child, but we're easing our way into responsibility and the added responsibility that comes with a child. We said that we would never use MO as an excuse for anything or use him as an excuse to go home early/not take on things. It's not fair to him. We decide to make the decision to adopt him and by placing blame or using him as an excuse isn't honoring to him in any way and it only makes us look bad.

I'm sure I'm going to get some nasty comments about this post, but I just needed to write my "diary" entry for this. It's only my opinion and you can definitely disagree. Does anyone else feel the way we do?

EXCITED MO!

Here is our little puppy Mo! I thought I would post some videos for all of you to see his transition into his new home. He is definitely warming up to us and he gets very excited when we come home from work! ENJOY!!

Walks, Dogs, Invisible Forces?

As some of you may already know, we adopted an awesome dog named Mo last month. He is a beagle, about 8-9 years old and was from a shelter. He is basically a dog that no one loved except his foster mother. We think that in his past years he was heavily abused. He was very timid, shy and cautious. .......... . but now he is fully alive. He has the greatest personality and it has been very interesting to see him transform from the shy pup to the outgoing and loving beagle that he is.
We had a wonderful Christmas break with our family and also with Mo. He was very cautious when we brought him to our different families, but he eventually warmed up to everyone including my sisters pup named Sammy. Overall Christmas break was a time of relaxation, reflection and enjoying the season of the Saviors birth.
But something that also happened over break and is continuing to happen on our walks has been very puzzling and has made me contemplate many things. I am fully aware of spiritual warfare and I firmly believe that there are many things occuring around us in the spiritual realm more than we'd like to think about.
Mo and us take the same walk everyday, every morning and every night. There is one particular house on our walk that has me puzzled. As we approach this house and the empty lot beside it, Mo gets this look of terror and panic on his face. Since he was abused, we can easily tell when he is scared because his tail goes between his legs and he gets very low to the ground. Every stinkin walk he does this as we approach this empty lot and house. Just a couple of days ago he even sat down on the freezing, snow covered sidewalk because he was so scared. The only thing we can do is pick him us, hold him really close and whisper to him that everything is okay as we walk very quickly past the lot and empty house. After the house is out of sight we are on our merry way as if nothing happened.
What is going on? I've thought about many different options but I have only come to one conclusion. I think dogs can sense and see things that are going on that we just can't see. Is there a spiritual battle happening in that empty lot? Are the people that live in that creepy home filled with Satan? Is Satan trying to fill these people?
Yesterday on our walk when he again looked terrified I mustered up all of my faith, spoke in a deep forceful voice (I guess this is how I think you should talk when you're talking to spirits I guess...) "Leave him alone!" Instantly Mo got up and started walking. This morning on our walk, he wasn't even phased by this house. Did what I say really make a difference???
Regardless of what is actually happening this is making me realize how desperately I need to begin praying for my neighbors, the neighbors down from them and my entire neighborhood. It's also made me realize that our pets probably need to be given more credit than we realize.
One of my favorite quotes in "Prince Caspian" is below. It's during the scene when the bear is running after Lucy to eat her and then the dwarf Trumpkin spears the bear and responds to Lucy.

Susan Pevensie: Why wouldn't he stop?
Trumpkin: I suspect he was hungry.
Lucy Pevensie: Thanks.
Edmund Pevensie: He was wild.
Peter Pevensie: I don't think he could talk at all.
Trumpkin: You get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that's what you become. You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember.

The Eyes Of Her People

Well she is finally complete! At Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, (where we attend), there is an exhibit for artists to display their work called the HeART for Sudan. When each piece sells, the money is then given to the Sudan Project. For more details about the Project check out the Sudan link: www.ginghamsburg.org/sudan

The exhibit started the weekend of the 29th and 30th of November. Between the fourth and fifth service, to my surprise she sold!!! Praise God!!!

"On February 15, 2008, I started this piece. I began looking through the many Sudan pictures, trying to find the perfect subject for my cross stitch. It just had to be perfect. After searching many hours, I found her. Her eyes are what caught my attention. Her eyes were calling to be heard. The pain of her people, the hidden cries of those ignored. Those people forgotten. She stole my heart.
This piece has followed me through a lot of good times and not so good times. I focused almost everyday for at least one hour to completing her frame, her covering, her facial features. She was with me during my quiet prayer times with the LORD, praying for her, my family and my friends. She was there during the joy of purchasing our first home, the loss of a job, a family vacation to Coldwater, Michigan and through the loss of my best friend, my dog of 15 years, CoCo. Through it all she has helped me to stay focused. To sit down and stitch, sipping my creamy coffee and presenting my requests to the LORD. She has been with me.

For 276 days.

Now it is your turn.

Whether you hang this on a wall in your home, or on a shelf, or store it in a box from sight, don't forget about her. It's now your turn to pray for her, her family, her people, her country. Remember her for me. Allow her along with the Holy Spirit, to change your life.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6