Well, by now you know we are saving like crazy to get as financially fit as possible because well, quite frankly...adoption is not inexpensive. We follow Dave Ramsey's principles (ohhhhh, somedays I would just like to pinch his head off...) and are finally lining up ALL our finances with our beliefs.
So tithing...yes that dirty word that your pastor/priest/preacher gives an uncomfortable sermon on once a year to explain to you how much you should be giving to your church. Either you're a tither, or you give a little giver and think it's ok, or maybe you think "well my time I spend helping and volunteering at the church counts as my tithe right", or maybe you don't give at all. I've always just kind of tuned out on that Sunday thinking it was the same ole same ole, we gave when we gave financially, gave a lot of time, but this year struck me different. Maybe it's my different relationship with God, maybe it's that I'm actually listening (who knew right?!), maybe it's that I finally made the connection that it isn't my $$$ to begin with. What we have and the gifts/talents that we use to earn it are ALL blessings from God. How and where we spend our money is a reflection of our respect for that.
Now please for the love of sugar don't think I'm talking about special interest groups or do I buy Pepsi/Coke/whoever because they give money to whatever...that is important, but not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to a little less granular than that. I'm speaking to the choice of say eating out versus giving that $$ to a rescue mission meal program, or buying that new pair of shoes/shades versus donating a few backpacks for students without, or...and we know that the list is endless. My view of need vs want is definitely different as is the amount of stuff I want around me. I really can do with less so that I can give more.
Giving up some things is hard at first but...
So we gave up a lot....let me repeat...we gave up a lot of eating out!! We eat out once a week now. My kids had become so used to eating out we'll just say it was a rebellion of Lilliputian proportion when they realized we meant business and stuck to our plan. Now they have accepted it and look forward to our special eating out once a week...we plan and choose together what that will be.
Cable tv...gone. So the first day was weird...my house had never been that quiet! We've always been outdoorsy, play games, etc people, but if we're inside the tv has always been on if for nothing more than background noise....no more. I have to say this was probably the hardest for my kids...they love, LOVE, love Phineas and Ferb, Lego Ninjago, and Braves baseball. We have let them watch a few episodes here and there online but are enjoying the quiet...again, who knew?! I guess I thought of it this way...their future little sister (I adore saying that!!!) most likely doesn't have tv, could we do without in order to save more $$ faster and by proxy get her to her family sooner? My answer was: of course...I'll tell you that when I asked them and explained why...their answer was exactly the same!
TEMPTATION....and stuff that breaks...
So, don't think that on this path we have been without struggle or temptations. Good grief!! The day we said out loud we wanted to adopt for sure our new-er dryer stopped working...oh yes it did...BUT...it was luckily still under warranty and we had the sweetest repairman ever come out....then we find out it wasn't the dryer that was the problem...but sweetest repairman ever helped figure out the problem and we ended up $7 out of pocket.
Just recently I get a knock at the door...it was the devil himself! Ha..okay...I'm being overly dramatic there...it was the AT&T lady trying to sell me Uverse TV packages(which I had been waiting months to be installed in our neighborhood so I could switch over) on a day my kids had just watched all of their movies we checked out from the library....which technically is the same thing..right?! I let her give her speil and then politely pried the ad for the free(picture me saying the word free here with air quotes) xbox/kindleFire/Visacard/etc and great price on a bazillion channels out of my hand, thought of my future daughter(I adore saying that too) and told her thanks but no thanks!
We have recently put in a digital antenna(it's football season now)...a neighbor so sweetly gave it to us when he discovered his oak trees blocked his use of it, but maybe it would work for us....it did! I do have to say that I forget to turn it on and still relish my time without the squawk box. For the occasional ball game and cartoon it's great though.
I love that by saying no to a few simple things that seemed big a few months ago, it is allowing us to say yes to some really important choices that aren't "thing" related but people related. Our home is just as fun and full of the usual boisterous goodness, just now, we have all our eyes honed for the same way of being/calling. Doing...for each other, friends, strangers, is the matter at hand. With the distractions and tv, shopping, etc out of the way this is a focused group and people...that may be the making for some serious bid-ness!
kk
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