"They ALWAYS Say..." & It's TRUE, but...!

(They always say) So many studies say that Finances=Fights in marriages and unfortunately (it's true) many divorces.  I just wish that all those involved in divorce could have been educated a little more and been willing to give it more time and another chance because I bet a large majority of those could have been avoided if they had really learned how to simply work together on (but) finances=result of major stress reduction=a saved marriage in several cases! 

I'm always excited to share a resource when I find one and this time it's a Biblical Perspective on Finances.  If you haven't heard of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University yet, then I encourage you to take a long hard LISTEN!  My husband and I have yanked the control back and forth from each other due to exhaustion over arguing and being accused of being the reason for our tough luck for the first 6 years of our marriage, but the first day I was asked to listen to Dave's radio show...we were SUDDENLY on the same page.  We both completely agreed with him, no doubt so we better get with it and do whatever he suggests if that's the only way we are going to agree.  So we did and we've been putting some tools in practice for the last year or more and we finally have PEACE in our marriage.  It is amazing how much STRESS this one things adds to your marriage.  Phew!  And we just began Financial Peace University two weeks ago and it's a 13 week session, but we are excited to implement the rest of what we haven't done yet and make sure we really get the hang of it.  All this to say, PLEASE make the effort to look at your finances TOGETHER so that hopefully you can eliminate some unnecessary added stress on your relationship!  The goal is so that you can live and have enough to give.  Malachi 3:10 - if we are good care-takers of our finances, we will have bountiful blessings to offer to the Lord AND our missions we have passion for!

Our Husbands Want to be Brides TOO!

Many of us women love to organize every detail of the house and make sure all are cared for, but often times this means we are also saying too much and going overboard so that our husband is not left alone to take care of his duties without our barging in, you know who you are:) ~Well, I'm one of those women too and I'm not proud of it.  It's something I am constantly working on, but I have relaxed too much on "working on it" for the last year or so.  I have discovered that it is a perfect definition of not submitting and as a result turns my husband into a helpless soul who doesn't seem to get anything right...according to MY standards.  That's when I had to say WHOA there cowgirl, you need to get back in the saddle of God right now!  Ephesians 4:16

Being Creative while Saving Money in the long run!

One part of life that I enjoy and take to heart when living for Christ and my Home is creativity through art. It seems to grow even more broad every day as so much seems to be offered to us as we emerse ourselves into a world of technology. I used to write journals, having several different journals (one for each topic), now I can blog with each blog having it's own topic and insert beautiful pictures. It also doesn't take as long so I can do twice as much. I used to scrapbook, but now that I rarely print my digital photos there are programs to make digital scrapbooks which can be made into DVD's to share or shared online by email and social networking sites (below is a snapshot of one my pages). I love the color that I can bring to the page:

All this to say, if you haven't entered the world of technology, maybe now's the time to feel it out. Do your research on sites that can help you find prices from multiple stores all over the internet rather than going into multiple stores in person and having to remember what exactly was at the last store. I was just comparing computers with my sister to help her purchase a new computer over Christmas and you can almost always find the computer you want for less expensive if you just look a few more places before you purchase it! Sites will search multiple places for you right in front of your eyes and also let you give your specific price range to search only within that price range. This is very convenient now while shopping, but also down the road as you only have to purchase the computer and any design programs once then you can create unlimited projects. When I scrapbook, I'm always having to purchase supplies, have them in stock, take the time to go to the specific stores and search for what I want, then make sure everything is in perfect alignment when I finally do the actual project. Don't be afraid to take the plunge because computer programs are becoming more and more user friendly every day.  Below is a picture of my Christmad boutique table where I was selling coaster tiles using pictures I printed off the computer, my own pictures of family!

We are taught to store up treasures in Heaven and when I'm putting my money and time into something that will value my memories with family, it's worth it to me! Matthew 6:19-21