Lawrenceville Co-Op

This past Saturday I spent the morning with Friends at the Lawrenceville Cooperative Ministry in Lawrenceville, GA.  It was very rewarding and I encourage everyone to get out to their local Co-Op to volunteer.

The director gave us a tour of the building and shared the Co-Op's mission with us.  It was inspiring to see the impact they get to have.  Everyone that comes in is cared for one on one as well as prayed over.

Here are some pics from our time there.  :)


Stocking the shelves.

Serving breakfast to the clients.

Assiting to their cars.

Playing with the children!

Look at that smile! :)

To find out more about the Lawrenceville Coop visit www.lawrencevilleco-op.com!

Believing God for Daily Guidance

Couldn't have expressed this better...

From God's Way, Day By Day
by Charles Stanley

DOING OUR PART

"I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart."

Psalm 40:8

What is the way out of a circumstance created by an unwise decision?  A wise decision.  And who is primarily responsible for meeting the need?  The person who has made the unwise decision.

What is God's role in this?...I believe that God will give daily guidance to any person who requests it, and that He will give courage, fortitude, and willpower to any person who requests these qualities...

He will not do our part, but He will assist us so that our efforts will succeed and we will have both the courage and the endurance necessary to see a problem resolved or a need fully met.

Urgent does not mean Important

Some notes from an EntreLeadership PODCAST I listened to not too long ago.
Four quadrants of Time Management:

1) Important / Urgent
2) Important / Not Urgent
3) Not Important / Urgent
4) Not Important / Not Urgent

Urgent does not mean important!  It's deception. -Dave Ramsey
"a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment." Ecclesiastes 8:5b

Dave was speaking of good time management.  Making a list at the beginning of everyday will keep you focused on quadrant 1 and 2 and add productivity to your day.

The concept of urgent not being important was new to me, but so true.  For example the phone ringing- seems urgent, until you look at the caller ID and it's not for you.  Email can be the same way...
We need to learn how to delegate quadrant 3 and either delegate or discard quadrant 4.  Stop spending our time on things that are not important.

I'm a bit of a podcast junkie... one of my faves is The EntreLeadership Podcast, hosted by Chris LoCurto.

DIY- Jewelry Holder

A couple weeks ago a few friends and myself had a "craft night".  We started the evening off at Hobby Lobby.  At first we hadn't decided what we were going to make, but after browsing through some of our Pinterest boards we settled on the idea of a jewelry/key holder.

Here's mine in use!  Hanging in my bathroom now!  So much better than the thumbtacks previously doing the job.

To  make our jewelry/key holders we wrapped fabric around a blank board of canvas.  Staple gunned it in place.  I painted a cardboard J and hot glue gunned it in place.  Then I measured out where the C hooks should go.  Tapped them in place with a hammer and screwed them in.  It was really easy!!  And pretty fast as well!  I don't do well with long, multiple step crafts.  This little project was right up my ally!!

How do you like our creations??  Pretty Huh?

Reality

That Friends episode where Rachel's boss, at Bloomingdales, goes out with Chandler and then is bugging her "Why hasn't he called Rachel? Why? Why Rachel? Why?"

And then later on around Monica's kitchen table, Monica defends Chandler by saying just because a guy says he's going to call, doesn't mean he's actually going to call.  Then Rachel responds, "they always call".  And Monica says "bite me".

Now, don't quote me exactly on this cause I'm going from memory.  But I find myself in all three of these women.

Rachel's Boss "Why? Why hasn't he called?"-  Been there, wondered why.

Rachel "They always call."-  Especially the ones you wish wouldn't.

Monica "Bite me."-  Reality=They don't always call and it sucks. 

If you like Friends, you're welcome.  This is from season 3, I think.  My all time favorite TV series.  :) 

My Financial Breakthrough

At church we're in a Financial Breakthrough Series which makes this announcement really perfect timing.

I'm Debt Free!

I have been working on becoming debt free for a while now.  In 2011 I found a plan through Dave Ramsey's teaching that completely changed my life.  Dave uses your Grandma's common sense and the Bible and has helped thousands of people get out of debt and reach financial freedom. 

This week I became debt free paying off a total of $11,071.15 in 14 months. 

I'm excited but I've had this weird feeling about it for a few days now.  Not texting my friends right away or screaming from the roof top.  I just realized why it probably feels so weird.  The Bible says the "borrower is slave to the lender".  Well I have been a slave for years.  I've had a credit card since I was 18.  This is the first time in my adult life that I am debt free.  It's a completely new reality for me.  Would explain the weird feelings.

My wake up call was around my 25th birthday.  I got dropped from my health insurance and I couldn't pay minimum balances on three credit cards.  Pretty sad considering I lived at home and have never had a car or cell phone payment.  I was out of control.  My money management was non existent.  I mean I feel like I have something to say now because of how far I've come.  I have done stupid with money.  I didn't live on a budget and money would come in and go out and I had no clue where it was going!

I read something from Bishop TD Jakes, and don't quote me or him, but it was something to the tune of 'tithing doesn't cancel out the fact that you don't manage your finances well'.  Meaning just because you tithe doesn't mean you are honoring God with your money.  It was like something clicked when I started to realize this.  For someone seeking God and wanting to please the Lord in every area of my life I knew I had to make some changes.  There were no excuses.  I sincerely felt God convicting me of the mismanagement.

So once I realized I needed to get my act together, I looked in to this guy named Dave Ramsey.  He talks a lot about money! HA!  So I started listening to an hour of his radio show everyday.  EVERYDAY!  I was hooked.  I asked for Financial Peace University for Christmas that year and started classes in January 2012.  I started working what Dave calls the baby steps.

Step 1: Save $1000 Emergency Fund.  I had to only use this a few times once I built it up.  I think mostly for car "surprises".

Step 2: Pay off your debt, smallest to largest, as fast as you can.  I had three credit cards.  The first card had $560.  It was paid off in January 2012.  The second had $2,300 and was paid off in March 2012.  The third and final was the beast and the one I just paid off!

Step 3: Build up 3-6 months of expenses in Emergency Fund.  This is where I find myself now!

Wow!  I'm so thankful to be able to say I'm debt free and share with others what I've learned about money.  And I'm so glad my church has taken a few weeks to teach about money.  My life has forever been changed and I couldn't be more excited about my future.  You truly have the power to change your life, your family tree, your legacy.  You can do it!

Fulfillment or Fun?

As I approach my own financial breakthrough it just so happens my church has started a series entitled Financial Breakthrough.

Here are a few notes from the Saturday night service at 12Stone Church.

What do you build your life on?  Fulfillment or Fun?

Fulfillment has meaning.  Fun has moments.  Always put fulfillment before fun!

If you don't...  

Fun first will break your budget and leave you twice empty.

Fulfillment first proves more significant over time.  The Bible tells us "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matt 6:33

Stop impulse purchasing.  Start impulse praying.

I know all this to be true.  Buying something in the moment seems fulfilling at the time but if you can't afford it, later this catches up with you.  The consequence of spending more than you have is devastating overtime.  Looking at a credit card bill you can't pay is neither fun nor fulfilling.  If you need a financial breakthrough in your life I urge you to find an FPU class starting up near you.

And continuing in the Financial Breakthrough spirit, my mom and I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic this afternoon.  Perfect for this rainy day.