Counting down

It's almost here, it's almost here! Christmas is a few days away, and we are so ready. Presents are so far out from under the tree we can barely walk through the living room, food is ready to be cooked, and visitors plans are made. The kids are going to have such a wonderful Christmas I just can't wait to see them open their gifts. I am also pretty darn sure I am getting what I have been asking for all year! Money has been so tight this year, but God has blessed us with opportunities to make this year just as exciting as ever. I love that I get to celebrate this year knowing that I am living the life I truly want to live. Life is so good and I am so blessed. Thank you God for sending your son here for me!

'Tis the season

Oh Christmas is upon us, the tree is up, decor is out, and plans are made. So excited for present opening time. I always love watching the kids open everything and be so happy in that moment. My daddy is coming to see me, and dinner is gonna be legen...wait for it...dary. All the kids are getting at least one gift that they really really wanted. We have new exciting prospects on the horizon. Oh it is just a wonderful time of the year. It has been very busy the past couple of weeks, but very good to our family also. I have picked up another child to keep after school to help make ends meat. The kids are very much getting into the "life lesson" series we are working on. Right now our lessons are all about getting out of debt and not being wasteful since that is what we need to do as a family right now. It is just great, lovin' life!

30 Days of thanks

1. God
2. Peter
3. Julie
4. Seth
5. Paige
6. Extended family
7. Best friends
8. Insurance
9. The persecuted church
10. The Bible
11. My church family
12. Health
13. Sanity
14. Work
15. Struggles
16. Knowledge
17. Books
18. Freedom
19. The founding fathers of the United States
20. Veterans
21. Comforts
22. Happiness (optimism)
23. Technology
24. Missionaries
25. Heaven
26. Food
27. Television (entertainment)
28. Soft toilet paper (couldn't skip that one)
29. Beauty in the world
30. Cultures from around the globe

Sacrifice

We recently took a pretty large financial hit that knocked us to our knee's. This has happened several times in the past few years with our financial status. Peter and I decided years ago that I would stay home with the children. More recently we started to home school the children. Due to the financial stress many families would have given in and mom would have gone back to work. Thanks to my wonderful husband that is not the case in our family. We put a very high value on our children being cared for and taught at home rather than some where else. Because of our values, and the belief that my being home is the best possible option for our family Peter has gone out and landed a second job. He is now working two jobs so that his children can be raised up in the way he believes is best for them. I am helping slightly with babysitting on the side, but that does not bring in much. I could not be any more proud of the man I married. Most men would fold under the pressure, but Peter took the bull by the horns. Some people do not/will not agree with this decision that has been made. All I can say to others who do not agree with our lifestyles, and values is that we are firm believers in to each his own. There is no one size fits all lifestyle or family unit. What is right for our family is not right for every family and vica versa. We live our lives in a way that we believe to be the best for us, and anyone that cares for us will take that information for what it is worth and support our decisions.

Proud of who we are

My life without a doubt is not what I thought it would be, but I wouldn't change one single part of it. We recently received a huge financial hit that has forced Peter, and myself to evaluate our financial future. We have both been in debt for many years, and though we have tried here and there to pay some of it off we have not made it a priority. We feel that the financial problems we continue to encounter are a direct result of our indebtedness. Though it is not debt that is causing huge monthly payments or anything like that we feel that if we were not in debt we would have a better financial footing. We have now made a serious commitment to get out of debt and stay that way. We have both taken on new ways of earning extra income, and are serious about using the extra income to pay off debt. We have a clear cut plan to pay it off, and will stick with it. We see our lives as extremely blessed even though we are going through trials. I could list endlessly all the wonderful things of our lives, but the blessings never stop. We have spent the past few days thanking God for the ability to pay this debt even though it will be hard. We know that getting financially stable is the best thing for our family in the long run, and hopefully going through these trials with us will teach our children to not get themselves in similar situations as adults. We are strong, and proud of who we are!

God is so good!

We recently took a pretty big loss of income, as well as gained extra bills. It is a scary situation, but we are confident that God is revealing something to us through it. We have had debt from years back that we have paid on here and there, but have never made a priority. We really feel that this is the exact reason that we keep getting knocked to our knee's financially. We are going to do something about it! We are taking the leap, and making a commitment to get it paid off fully! It will take years to do, but we are going to make it happen. I feel really good about this, and I know this is exactly what we need to be doing in our lives at this moment. It is going to mean great sacrifice for our family, but we feel God is calling us to take responsibility for our debt. The debt that we have ignored for so long now. Please pray for us as we undertake this huge task!

My path

I had a reminder tonight of the life path that I choose. When all my high school classmates were in their first semester of college I was getting pregnant. When they had their first summer break from college I was giving birth to my first child. When they were graduating college I was raising a four year old, working two jobs and getting pregnant with my second child. While they were getting their first taste of the real world I was going through a terrible unwanted divorce and about to give birth to that second baby. Not to long after that I came to know Jesus as my savior. I was a single mother working hard to survive on my own. By God's grace a wonderful woman provided more than she knows for my family. While my high school classmates were getting married I was buying my first home as a single mother of two. I had no money, and no real future for my children. The wonderful woman mentioned above gave me an envelope of money. Not just a few bucks or even a few hundred bucks, but a lot of money. It was exactly what I needed at the time to really get started in life. By that token of God's love being handed to me I came to know Christ. You see when she gave me the money she told me that God had come to her in a dream and told her to give me the money. The woman being a survivor of hurricane Katrina, and living in a hotel far away from home really did not have the money to spare. She was devoted to living for Christ and therefore made sure the girl behind the desk that she didn't even know the name of received the money God directed her to give. She did it in a way that I had no choice except to take the money. She left the hotel and I have never heard from her again. She has no idea what she has done for so many souls. By doing what she did I came to know God's love. Now I have a husband, and three children that are all devoted to living life for Christ as Adrienne Miller did/does. My classmates have caught up to me in life many with several children as well. I would never change how I got to the place I am now. I went through much heartache and hard times, but I was shown the love of God in such a way that it was all worth it. My struggles were a direct result of my sin, yet God used my sin to open my heart and through that we are now a family of believers. Thank you Adrienne Miller where ever you are for being a sister in Christ that will stop at nothing to follow him, and win souls!