When it feels like it isn't paying off

The Conquest of Jericho

I find it noteworthy that when God gave the city of Jericho to Israel, the first time they marched around the city, NOTHING happened.  Nothing.  The same with day 2-6.  The first 6 days, nothing happened.  There was no progress.  There was nothing measureable to encourage the people’s faith. Further, on the 7^th day, when they had to march around the city a total of 7 times, the first 6 trips again, produced no results.  They actually had to march 12 times and saw NOTHING happen. 

I have to say that typically, once I’ve persevered or pushed through something just a few times, I pretty much feel worn out.  Even when I am certain of God’s calling, I still find myself doubting pretty quickly. 12 is not a magic number of attempts or times to persevere, but a reminder that God does what He says He will do.  If He says He is giving a city into your hands, He will do that. Even if obedience yields no results and feels like it isn’t “paying off”.  Even if it feels like maybe we misunderstood, we can still trust Him to be faithful and come through.

By the way, at the end of that 7^th trip around the city on the 7^th day, the walls were demolished.  The city was given to Israel just the way God said it would be.  It’s probably safe to say that Israel learned to trust God that day, or at the very least, they were reminded.

I don’t know what’s in your life right now that has you feeling like all your hard work is not paying off, or feels like chaos, or feels hopeless, but may I remind you, that if you are obedient, and if you will keep pursuing & fighting, God will not return His Word void.  He never has and He won’t today.  God will do what He said He would do.  We can trust that.

Choose Life in order that you may Live

I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.   So choose life in order that you may live – by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers.   Duet 30:19-20 

So choose life…
In order that I may live… 
I have a choice to make.   I have a seemingly easy choice to make – of course, I choose life!   But in the day-to-day of parenting, cleaning, cooking, coaching, loving, etc… too often, it doesn’t feel much like the blessing, and as for the living…yea, but barely.    I often feel overwhelmed, no matter how much I get done.   I often feel unappreciated, no matter how much of myself I give.   I often feel angry that my expectations aren’t met, and I often feel completely drained and alone.   Too many days, this life feels less like the blessing and more like the curse.   So what about choosing life…in order that I may live? 

I find myself at the end of most days physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally exhausted.   I get a lot done – in fact, I pride myself with the fact that I don’t know anyone else who works as hard as I do (not sure if it’s true, but it sure helps me).   And the truth is, it’s difficult not to work hard when there is a lot to get done…and there is always a lot to get done.   So how do I get everything done that needs to be done without draining myself?     How do I choose life, and really live? 

I started reading a book, subtitled “A dare to live fully right where you are” and through this, I am learning to live…really live…fully.   I am learning to slow down – not to be in a hurry – because when I hurry, I lose what I love most…the people, the relationships.   I am learning to be thankful – not generally thankful for a blessed life – but intentionally, specifically thankful for everything - individually…snowflakes, grown-up conversations, sleeping in, Mexican food.   Being thankful for the gifts God has given me – all of them, even the ugly ones, like getting my feelings hurt and the strong will of my child that causes me to question every good motherly instinct – because these are gifts too…a reminder that I love enough to feel pain…a character trait I want my child to have as an adult. 

As I slow down and pay attention to people, and look for gifts, it changes me.   It takes the focus off of me and what I don’t have.   It reminds me how much God loves me.   It causes me to live in the now, fully – to embrace the moment I’m in instead of always striving & planning for what’s coming next.   It reminds me that all I have is a gift from God, no matter how much credit I want to give myself.   When my focus changes, my heart can change.   When I slow down, my soul can find rest.   When I trust God, trust that He’s got this, I can be okay if I don’t get it all done.   When I choose to obey – when I choose to behave the way Christ has instructed me to – when I love God with all I have – when I choose…when I choose life…I live – fully. 

I still have to get things done.   So I still work hard when it’s time to work hard.   But I don’t work so hard that I can’t see the gifts that surround me, and not so hard that I can’t be interrupted.   We still have to get places on time, but if we are late, it is not the end of the world (even if it feels that way) – usually a simple & authentic apology will suffice here.   I don’t want my kids to grow up and say of me:   she was ok…she kept us fed and the house clean and our laundry done, but she was always in hurry, yelled a lot, and didn’t take that much time to pay attention to us.   

I want my family & friends to know that they are important enough to me for me to stop and pay attention to them…FULL attention.   Sometimes this means I have to plan my time better – spend less time watching tv or reading facebook, or put my phone down.   Sometimes this means that things just don’t get done – and that’s ok…it’s hard for me, but it’s ok. 

If I am going to live in the blessing – if I am going to live a life full of joy, then I must CHOOSE life. I have to be intentional about my time and my actions.   I have to choose to pay attention.   I must choose to live in the moment.   I can choose.   I will choose.   I will choose the blessing, I will choose life – my life depends on it. 

Scratch the Resolutions and Set some Goals!

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions every year? Do you find that by February, or even Jan 10th, you’ve given up? There’s a good reason why resolutions don’t work… A resolution is defined as a “formal expression of opinion or intention made.” It’s a wish - what you want to happen, how you want to be different, what you hope to accomplish in your life over the next year.

While it’s true that in order to change your life, you first have to decide that you are willing to change (make a resolution), but if you don’t have a plan behind that decision, you have no way of knowing how to get there, nor will you be able to measure whether or not you have reached your goal or even progressed.

This year, why not set goals? Real goals. Goals that matter. Goals are not just a wish, but they are backed by a plan. When you put a plan behind your wish, you can determine the steps necessary to reach your goal, and whether or not you achieved your goal.

Get out a pen & paper and start writing…
1. State your goal.
This is your resolution. This is what you want to change or hope to accomplish.

2. Determine your starting point.
If you don’t know where you are starting from, then where will you start from? If your goal is weight loss, you need to step on the scale. If your goal is debt freedom, you need to know how much debt you have. A guess will NOT work here. If you aren’t willing to make the effort to find out where you currently are, then you won’t be willing to make the effort to reach the goal either.

3. Set a date
What is the time frame in which you want to accomplish the goal? Many of the goals we set this time or year are annual goals, so most of our “dates” are Dec. 31st. However, if you want to go on vacation in June, your “date” should be prior to June.

4. Divide your goal up and decide what you need to do TODAY.
If you want to lose 50 pounds by Dec. 31st…that’s almost 1 pound per week…that’s 1/7 of a pound per day. Once you have a specific (daily) goal, you can hold yourself accountable for each choice you make…to exercise or not to exercise…to eat the cookie or have an apple instead. Daily goals are much easier to focus on because you know what you need to do at every choice to get there. And if you blow it today, you get to start over tomorrow!

One of mine & Nathan’s favorite date nights of the year is our January date. We review our goals from the previous year and see how we did. We don’t ever reach all of our goals, but we reach some and we always progress! Then we talk about our dreams and get to set new goals for the new year. (BTW – one of our goals every year is date night…when we don’t make it a priority, we forget to date each other).

What are your dreams? Where do you hope to be next year? What can you accomplish? Why not set some real goals? Why not spend the energy to figure out how you can reach the goals? Why not you? Why not now? Wouldn’t you like to look back next December and see the progress you’ve made? You really can change your life, stop making excuses and start today!

Shared from thoughtsfromfreedomfinancial.blogspot.com Jan 2, 2013
http://thoughtsfromfreedomfinancial.blogspot.com/2013/01/scratch-resolutions-and-set-goals.html

Why don’t we do Santa? Well, since you asked…

First, let me encourage you to not take offense at what I’m about to say. We don’t judge you if you don’t agree or have a different view point, as most people don’t agree with us. However, these are OUR convictions, and for that, we will not apologize.

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ…We believe that Santa is a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas. For example, when you offer a child the choice of interest between a bright red fat man with flying reindeer who gives them shiny toys vs. a humble baby, the obvious choice is Santa. We do however, tell them about the real person of “Santa” – about his generosity and giving to those less fortunate.

Next, the truth is…Santa is not real. Nor is the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Shrek, Tinkerbell, or Captain America. At the end of the day, if I tell my child that Santa (or Spiderman) is real and he is not, I have not told the truth. We hold integrity VERY highly in our family and believe that agreeing to participate in this fantasy, does not line up with our values.

Personally, as a child, I can remember having friends that get more than me from Santa, specifically friends who behaved worse than me.  I can remember wondering what was wrong with me...after all, wasn't GOOD behavior what got Santa to come?  While this is obviously a selfish reason, I can tell you that it did not help my self-esteem, even as a little girl…  And anyway, isn't the unique thing about a gift the fact that it isn't earned, that it's given?

Further, we believe that the idea of Santa furthers the extreme commercialism and entitlement mentality in our culture. Kids write letters to Santa – who often brings the biggest gift – and this is what they look forward to at CHRISTmas…the gifts they get…getting what they want. Not only does Santa easily appear to kids as more exciting than the fact the the God of the universe left heaven to be born into this world so that He could save us, but Santa easily becomes more exciting than giving, serving, and being with family.

So, we aren’t crazy…we may be unconventional, but we are ok with that! We firmly believe that our job as parents is to empower our children and to instill them with the values and qualities that we believe are important – and the bottom line is…Santa doesn’t line up with or fit into our value system.

Merry Christmas!


Shared from thoughtsfromfreedomfinancial.blogspot.com  Nov, 27, 2012
http://thoughtsfromfreedomfinancial.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

Of course I can help you...as long as you are coachable...

The only people I can’t help are people who are NOT coachable.  If you are not ready to stop making excuses for your financial problems, then I’m not your gal. You have to be willing to stop doing what you are currently doing and commit to change.  Change isn’t easy.  Change isn’t fun – but my goodness folks, being broke isn’t fun either!

You see, I know you are struggling.  I know you look around and wonder what you’re doing wrong.  I know at tax time you look at your return and say “Wow!  I made this much money and have nothing to show for it!  Why do I still feel broke?”  I know that if you feel good about your financial situation that you are in the minority.  We don’t plan ahead.  We don’t accept responsibility for our choices, nor are we accountable for them.  We use emotions as financial decision makers instead of math.  We expect our personal finances to be easy without having to put any effort into it.

Most people feel this financial pressure and can’t figure out why.  I know why.  We are American and we are entitled – we deceive ourselves into believing that it’s ok to have what we want, when we want it.  And then when we feel the pressure, we again deceive ourselves into believing that the “fix” should be easy too.

Here’s the truth.  There’s no magic.  There’s no get-rich-quick.  There’s no secret formula.  There’s no fail-proof investment.  There’s none of that.  It’s not easy, at least not at first.  Sometimes there are things you will sacrifice, sometimes it will hurt a little, and sometimes it can hurt a lot.  This is all ok.  It is ok to tell ourselves NO, in fact, it is necessary. 

When someone says “If I just had more money, THEN I would…” they are deceiving themselves.  The truth is, if you had more money, you would do with it exactly what you currently do with the money you already have, just in a larger quantity.  A person making $20,000/year has the same problem as a person making $200,000/year.  Your payments and obligations are just proportionate to the size of your income.   If you already save, you’ll save more.  If you already pay extra toward your debt, you’ll pay more.  If you spend everything you make, you’ll spend more.  This is how people win millions of dollars from the lottery and end up broke – because their financial behavior doesn’t change.

If you are broke and you are coachable, I can help you.  You see, there are some strategies and there are some tools.  Some were created out of necessity to remedy our own screw-ups and some out of necessity to remedy the screw-ups of others.  You get to choose whether you live a life of financial brokenness or a life of financial freedom.  Choose your behavior wisely!

I can't get rid of these last 30lbs - no matter what I try!

When people ask me how I stay thin, I always start by telling them about this:
I read a book a few years ago that changed my life – mostly in the area of health / weight loss, but it applies to anything. I had been carrying around an extra 30lbs or so since the birth of my first child that I just “could NOT get rid of no matter what I tried.”

In Andy Stanley’s book, The Principle of the Path, he states that “Direction – not intention – determines our destination.” Here’s my paraphrase: The destination (goal) I wanted was weight loss. My intention was weight loss, but my direction (the daily choices I made) were not on the path that led to weight loss. When I chose to eat brownies and chips instead of apples and almonds, I was choosing the direction toward maintaining the extra weight, even though my intention was to lose the weight.

Understanding this helped me see each choice as, well – a choice. I began to understand that every choice mattered…each choice had a consequence. Eating an apple leads to weight loss. Eating a brownie leads to no weight loss. I had a choice.

As I began to take responsibility for my choices, I began to make wise choices more often. I was accountable for each choice I made – no one else was…not even the screaming baby. Each healthy choice I made, led me down the path of health. Each unhealthy choice I made, led me down the path of, well, un-health.

When every choice counts – you can’t start tomorrow, you can’t “blow it” for the day, you can only “blow it” for that choice. Each choice is a new choice, a new chance to make the wise choice. If you eat a brownie and “blow it” you can then choose to eat another one, or to not eat another one. If you choose not to exercise today, you don't have to make that same choice tomorrow, or even this afternoon.  One unwise choice does not negate your responsibility for the next choice.

This applies to anything – not just food and weight loss. It applies to any area of your life, even to your finances (don’t get me started!!). Every choice you make, every minute of every hour of every day, has a consequence. If you want to change your life, you have to make different choices – you have to choose different behavior. It’s not always easy – but nothing worth having is easy! The more often you choose the wise choice, the closer you become to your destination.

When you stop making excuses for your problems (extra weight) and take responsibility for your choices (food and exercise), you will begin to see change and make progress. And yes, sometimes I still chose the brownie – but I also accept the consequences for that choice. And because my goal is to be a healthy weight (destination), I make intentional choices every day (direction), all day long, in order to stay on the path that will lead me to, and maintains a healthy weight.

You have a choice to make. You alone are responsible for that choice. Will you make the choice (direction) that will lead you to your goal (destination)? Or will you make another excuse? Will you stay stuck where you are and make excuses to why you can’t change? Or will you take responsibility for your life?

Your diet doesn’t start on Monday. Changing your life starts TODAY!!!


From: http://thoughtsfromfreedomfinancial.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-happened-to-30lbs-that-i-just.html 1/08/13

Trading My Debt For Peace

God used Leslie Sweet to change my family’s lives.  Here’s our story.   While most are feeling the effects of a bad economy, our family is as well.  Since I’ve always been the one “in charge” of making sure our bills were paid, I was especially feeling overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to do so.   Actually, “overwhelmed” seems like an understatement of how I was really feeling.  I was becoming “obsessed” and “constantly worried” about the lack of money to pay our bills.  I started praying about our situation and almost, if not every time, the Lord would bring Leslie to mind.  But in my pride, there was no way I was going to go to my niece, who was much younger than me, and a much better financial planner, and reveal to her my daily struggles with our finances.  That would have been way to embarrassing.    But, because the Lord loves his children more than any of us can comprehend, He kept on pressing me to call Leslie.  Now, I’ve been serving the Lord for a very long time, and I know that when He’s speaking to my heart to do something, it’s ALWAYS in my best interest to do it.  So, I called Leslie and told her we needed her help.  The peace I had after I made that call told me I’d made the right decision.  And from that day forward, I knew the Lord would use Leslie’s talents to not only help us with our finances, but to bring glory to Him.  It’s always about Him!!! 

After my husband and I spent a few months with Leslie, it completely turned our financial situation around.  Do we still struggle from time to time?  Absolutely.  And I’ll admit there were some times that I felt mad because I couldn’t afford the things I thought I deserved after working all these years.  But again the Lord, thru Leslie, taught me that life is not about material things.  And when I finally accepted that, the peace that I now have on a daily basis, doesn’t even compare to any material thing I could buy.  When I started focusing on the blessings in my life, spending time with my family, friends, good health, etc., the material things didn’t even matter anymore.  There are many times I still choose not to buy something I think I’d like to have, simply because I choose to have peace of mind over being in debt.  It’s worth so much more to me.

Our finances aren’t always perfect because “life happens”.  But the big difference is, because of Leslie’s guidance, we now have a financial plan and goals. And we’ve learned how to rethink about the way we handle our money.

Leslie Sweet is a very talented financial planner.  What stands out most to me about her is the fact that she lives what she teaches.  And she is living proof that taking responsibility for the money God has blessed us with is important and has many good returns.

Even though we don’t meet with Leslie anymore, God still uses her by bringing her to mind whenever I’m making a financial decision and I remember all that she’s taught us and how far we’ve come.

If you are struggling with finances, I would highly recommend you contact Leslie.  Not because she’s my niece, but because she could potentially change your life.  I know she changed ours!