Books I've Been Reading

What you put in is usually what comes out, that is why you need to put good things in.  The Bible is the most important book you will ever read!  It should be first.  After that, you should read books that help you in your roles as a woman - being a wife, homemaking, mothering, homeschooling, etc.  A lot of the modern authors today are teaching incorrect doctrine and I stay away from a lot of their books, though I may read through some of them to glean the good things and leave the bad. 

Some of these I've already read recently and others I'm almost done with or just starting.  I read several books at one time depending on what I feel I want to read at that moment in time, so I tend to have a lot going at once!  Some I haven't started yet but plan on it in the next few months.

I also have some my daughter is and will be reading this year:

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What's Been Cooking

I've tried a lot of new recipes this past year and recently been trying a lot of Instant Pot meals that have turned out amazing!  My daughter has been cooking about 2 meals a week and helping out when I need her.  Here are some pics of a few things we've been making:

Description of pics:

I made my first completely homemade (cake & frosting) birthday cake and my daughter absolutely loved it!  I've also been making desserts instead of buying them: banana bread, blueberry cobbler in the crockpot and cherry cheesecake pie.  I made one of our favorite Indian dishes that I haven't made in a very long time; Chicken Tikka Masala.  I made 2 crockpots full of Ham & Scalloped Potatoes for Christmas dinner.  Lastly,  I've tried Instant Pot Beefy Scalloped potatoes and Chicken Broccoli and Rice and both turned out perfect and delicious!

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Pics: Organizing Throughout the Home

I'm way behind on sharing pics of all the organizing I've been doing the past few months.  This post is picture heavy and should catch you up on what all I've managed to organize lately.

My son loves playing play-doh and I had no place to store it downstairs, along with some of his art supplies.  I found this great storage cabinet last year and it is working great.  I got the red storage baskets at the Dollar Tree and the gray/black fabric containers on the shelf above the cabinet.

In the homeschool room, I organized his crayons with this great red box that comes with a lid from the Dollar Tree.  I also found these very sturdy divider organizers from Aldi that are working great for holding things up like workbooks on our bookshelves.

I organized my son's shelf and closet.  We changed his decor in his room to black, tan and red to match his new bed but have yet to update his storage bins.  I do plan on replacing all of these colorful bins with red ones from the Dollar Tree.  We are also going to finally paint his room the same color as the rest of the house (tan) this spring.  I want to find a better storage system for the clothes on the top of his closet shelf but that is for another day.

 I used some of the Dollar Tree red bins to organize under the kitchen sink.

I bought 2 more matching chairs for our dining table, so when we extend the table, we have sturdy chairs for guests that match.  For everyday, we only use 4 of the chairs and push the table back in to seat just 4.  I use the other 2 chairs upstairs when we don't need them downstairs.

We did a deep-clean on our bedroom, my husband moved all the furniture and we vacuumed and mopped all of the floor and dusted all of the furniture.

I have some ideas for the room eventually - buying a large rug for the space between the bed and the mirrored dresser.  Then, we set up a desk in the corner where the glider rocker is currently, since we no longer need the glider rocker.  Also adding in some lamps, curtain lights on the windows, repainting the room this spring and fixing the nail holes from the previous owner and putting some things on the walls.  Here are some ideas I have that match my yellow/gray/white bed set (not pictured):

I put my room off while I was fixing up the rest of the house but hopefully one day, I will get the bedroom decorated!

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Immaturity Breeds Unpreparedness

I'm sure you all know about the government shutdown and the sad stories of so many that can't pay the bills, rent, etc. because they just missed a paycheck.  However, the issue isn't the government shutdown - the issue is that so many people in America can't make it ONE month without pay!  If you can't make it without pay for ONE month, then you must do whatever you can do RIGHT NOW and start preparing!

The issue of unpreparedness could be traced to a lack of maturity in some cases.  Immaturity screams, "I want it now!' and is impulsive and doesn't think to the future or consequences.  Maturity waits till it has the money, considers the risks and looks to the future.  Sure, there are exceptions - families or people who had the savings but just recently came in to a big medical bill or car repair that wiped out their emergency fund or just being poor or without work and unable to save.  However, for most, it has never even been a thought to save for a possible calamity or emergency but just depend on the government to see you through.  I've found that if you put your trust in God and do your part - by preparing - you will be ok no matter the emergency that comes your way.

Look at your budget and determine your total expenses for one month that is needed.  Strive to save that money and put it in savings in preparation for an emergency in which you could be without a job for a month or there is some sort of crisis that prevents you from even going to work or getting paid.  Most families of 4 should be able to get by on $2,000 unless you have debt.

I believe this is a great wake-up call to Americans to start saving!  At least set aside that one month of expenses and don't touch it until you really need it and then work on replenishing it when things calm down.  Teach your kids to save (and pay tithe!) and to think more on the future than the right-now.  No one else is going to teach them, actually quite the opposite!

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2019 - Restitution

I kept waiting upon a Word from the Lord for this New Year and wasn't getting anything.  Then, yesterday we started a revival and in the morning service, God reminded me of a promise that He made to me many years ago.  He said that He will restore the years that have been taken from me.  The preacher preached that you are between a problem and a promise, quit looking at the problem and look and remember the promise!  I know of 2 promises that God made to me in my life, this one and another one that is private but that He is fulfilling.  All that was left was the promise that God would restore all these years of trouble, heartache, tragedy and trauma - pretty much my entire life of 38 years!

Then, last night before the preacher preached, the Pastor called me up to the front in front of everyone.  I assumed he was going to anoint me and pray on me simply because of my health issue.  However, he began to prophesy and say he doesn't ever do this but God told him to - him and others laid hands on me and as I heard his prayer I was so touched because it was things that only God really knew.  Then, I looked up at him as I was about to turn around and go to my seat, but he spoke again prophesy and all of the sudden I shouted, probably the longest and loudest I've ever shouted in my life!  Wow!  I received the prophesy but I also gave God my burdens and hurt.

All the way home, I thought on all of it, I wrote the prophesy down and God's promise of restoring years kept coming to me like a burning in my heart.  I then began to look at the scripture that God used back when He gave me this promise and read a commentary and then I saw the word - RESTITUTION.  It pierced me and I knew - this was the year, God was going to give me restitution for all I have suffered in my life.

Restitution defined is the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner and/or recompense for injury or loss.  

God is going to begin my restitution!!  I don't know how or exactly what but I can tell you that I believe by the end of this year, I will be writing my yearly post looking back and see the great things that God has done!  He never fails!!

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A Look Back on 2018

My phrase for the beginning of 2018 was Defined By God.  I am amazed that every year I've done these phrases and posts - that when I go to look back on them at the end of the year - it truly did define that year!  This WAS the year that I became defined by God and God alone!  I had great personal and spiritual growth, probably more so in one year than I've ever had.

I let God cleanse me of the poison of the past.  I arose above others' definitions and characterizations of me that were untrue.  I broke the spiritual barriers that had been in my life for so long preventing me from reaching the place God wanted me to be.  I became even more aware of our destiny as I received 2 prophesies personally from the Lord through my Pastor.  I can't even hardly begin to tell you what God has done in our lives - I'm amazed and humbled.

I remember the first time I ever got a prophesy about me was from a doctor (of all people right?).  It was when we first came to Ohio at a doctor visit.  I felt the Holy Spirit moving and then the doctor began to speak a prophesy on me about my destiny.  It was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced and something we NEVER had in the previous 18 years since being saved.  I can tell you now, 2 years after that prophesy, it has proved true.  This year of 2018, I received 2 prophesies - one in April and one actually just last night!  Both of these came through my Pastor by the Holy Spirit.  I've only to date had 3 prophesies to me in my entire life, other than things my mom declared about my life in church growing up that the Lord had showed her that I would marry a preacher.

These 2 prophesies I received this year were major turning points in my life!  I needed to hear them and God knew that!  I think how much better my life would have been, had they been allowed in former times but God knew where to bring us.  According to the most recent prophesy to me last night, something major is coming my way in a good way.  God promised me something years ago and I'm getting ready to step into that, I can feel it!

Our Pastor told the church recently about the vision he had several years ago,  and the interpretation of it from a preacher in another state; that he didn't even tell about the vision but God gave it to him and the meaning - and how when we walked in the church for the first time, the Pastor said God told him, that's them!  God truly sent us to this city for 2 purposes - one was our former Pastor, who I saw go through sad things and who had a heart of gold and was the one who helped me step into my spiritual gift fully and embrace it.  I also watched God set him free in many ways.  God also set us free in many ways.  Then, the 2nd Pastor God led us to and the destiny that we entered in to.  I've seen my husband break off the cloak of barriers that prevented direct access to God and seen him trust the Holy Spirit's leading for himself.  I've seen God promote him and I've seen him step into his call to preach again.  We've seen our daughter stand up and testify, and we've testified!  Something we didn't get to do for 18 years and that, in itself, is a tragedy!  We now enjoy freedom and liberty in Christ and see what church looks like when the Holy Spirit is allowed in all His fullness to orchestrate the service.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

God defined me this year through the prophesies He sent!  I truly became DEFINED BY GOD - and Him alone!  No more letting others determine my worth, my value and who I am in God - God had had enough and He has chosen to make this past year, a year of defining in truth.

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When Your Light Offends

You can try and be the sweetest, nicest person in the world but if you are truly born-again and a light for Jesus, you will offend others by the sheer light in you that invades their darkness.  You don't have to do anything.  You don't have to say anything.  Just the fact that you are light is all that is needed to make others hate you!

John 3:19-20

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

Matthew Henry's commentary for this scripture really speaks!  You will find people will not want you around because just you being there makes them feel bad!

The true reason why men love darkness rather than light is because their deeds are evil. They love darkness because they think it is an excuse for their evil deeds, and they hate the light because it robs them of the good opinion they had of themselves, by showing them their sinfulness and misery. Their case is sad, and, because they are resolved that they will not mend it, they are resolved that they will not see it.

I've found that you can never be right in some people's eyes, you will never be good enough or say things correctly and even the lack of you saying things will be wrong as well.  See, when you have the light, it is unbearable to those that choose to live in darkness.  Only when you step over to the darkness will you be accepted too.  So quit trying to appease everyone!  You are going to be hated.  You are going to despised.  You are going to have enemies.  You are going to suffer wrong.  You are going to be talked about.  You are going to be falsely accused.  Just stand and endure for Christ!

Quit casting your precious pearls before swine to trample on - that's the message God has for us today.  A lot of times God tries to protect us from hurtful people or situations, yet we constantly run after them seeking their love and approval because we are so needy.  In some situations, we should have had their love and approval, but we are in sad world of sin and robbed of that.  Quit running after them.  Quit chasing their approval.  Quit trying to make them love you!  Accept that you have done all you could, even more than you should have - and let go.

When you get to that place in your life when you truly let go, you will find your healing!  Your recovery will begin and you will be a much better person emotionally.  Jesus told us this would happen, even with those we love and think should never happen with:

Matthew 10:22; 34-36

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.; ... Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 

Christ's light divides from the darkness - you can't mix the two!  Those in darkness will not be able to even stand to be around you, you are making them feel bad - go away they may say!!  If you can comfortably walk with those in darkness, then you may need to question if you really have the light.

2 Corinthians 6:14

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Don't be surprised when your light offends, it comes with the territory!  Strive and do your best to keep peace with all men with all that lieth in you, right?  But, realize that you are blinding to those in darkness and you make them feel uncomfortable just by your very presence.  It isn't you - it's Christ they are rejecting and we are called to endure to the end.

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Message to Young Women From a Feminist Career Woman

This is great advice for young women from a feminist who, sadly, has learned that feminism is indeed a lie, not so much just a lie... but a spirit that destroys women as it destroys society and the order of God's creation!  You can listen to the Dennis Prager radio call or read the transcript at the link below:


Transcript Link

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Why Wives Work - Unbelief

What is the basis, the real reason why a woman, who has an able-bodied husband to provide for her - would go to work?  You could say greed, covetousness, etc. but the true basis is that of UNBELIEF.  They don't believe or have faith in God to follow His Word and live on their husband's income.  They have decided rather to take matters into their hands and make it happen.  Instead of being dependent upon God and His Word, they rather play God and become independent and put themselves under another man's headship besides their husband.

Faith does God's Word and falls into line with the roles we were made to follow.  Faith depends upon God to provide, not ourselves as women.  Faith shows the world that God's Word is true and you can depend upon Him!  No wonder God says women can cause the Word of God to be blasphemed.  By not following His Word - they are encouraging the world, the unsaved, to be independent upon themselves and not dependent upon God.  Titus 2:5

Clark says it well:

That the word of God be not blasphemed - The enemies of the Gospel are quick-eyed to spy out imperfections in its professors; and, if they find women professing Christianity living an irregular life, they will not fail to decry the Christian doctrine on this account: “Behold your boasted religion! it professes to reform all things, and its very professors are no better than others! Our heathenism is as good as your Christianity.” These are cutting reproaches; and much they will have to answer for who give cause for these blasphemies.

When people ask me how we do it without me working and how we've done it for almost 19 years now, the answer is easy - I have FAITH in God.  Sure, I could definitely take things into my hands and get a career but for what end?  To have more stuff?  To have a bigger house to store more stuff?  To be a money lover?  To see my kids tossed on someone else to school and babysit?  To cause the Word of God to be blasphemed by showing I have no faith it can be done God's way?  Why in the world would I want that!?

I trust God and have always trusted God to provide by following His Word and His model for a wife and it has proved blessed.  I would rather have God (and my husband and children) smile on me than have the acclaim of others by what career I had or what awards I had.  I've already been down that road.  I had many awards in my short military career, advanced fast and was set for a successful career in the world's eyes.  I had a choice when I got saved and then got married - I could either continue my selfish desires or I could submit myself to my husband as the head and to God's Word for wives.  I chose God's way!

Pray to God to help your evil heart of unbelief and start believing in faith that God can provide your needs through His master plan for the husband and wife and family!!  Show the world through your life and your faith that there IS something different.  Don't allow your independence and unbelief to blaspheme God's Word to the lost!  Either He is your God or He isn't!  Either His Word works or it doesn't!

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Self-Lovers & Money-Lovers

When we look at the end times signs of 2 Timothy 3, we find a long list of what shall become of mankind and it isn't a pretty picture.  How evident these things are today but sadly, they are accepted as the norm!  Notice the first 2 things listed are self-lovers and money-lovers:

2 Timothy 3:2
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous...

If there ever was a time in history when we see self-love, it is now!  Take Facebook for instance, there are those who constantly change their profile pic to yet another pose of themselves constantly.  If having a picture of yourself wasn't enough, changing several times a week is overload.  Sadly, it is here - a culture that is full of itself.

Matthew Henry put it well in his commentary:

Self-love brings in a long train of sins and mischiefs. When men are lovers of themselves, no good can be expected from them, as all good may be expected from those who love God with all their hearts. When covetousness generally prevails, when every man is for what he can get and for keeping what he has, this makes men dangerous to one another, and obliges every man to stand on his guard against his neighbour. 

Self-love is a close relative of money-love, they kind of go hand in hand.  When all you think about is your SELF, you tend to not think of others and their plight.  You will build your bigger barns and look to your own luxury and never consider that you could help someone in need.  You will have 5 coats (or shoes ladies!) and your brother in the Lord barely has 1 with holes in it - instead of buy or give him a coat, you will talk about him behind his back.  This shouldn't be so among those in the faith!

John Gill's commentary states it this way:

...who only love themselves; their love to God, and Christ, and to the saints, being only in pretence, not in reality; and who do all they do in a religious way, from a principle of self-love, and to selfish and mercenary ends; either to gain glory and applause from men, or to merit something for themselves at the hands of God, without any view to the glory of God, the honour and interest of Christ, and the good of others;

You obviously need to love yourself to love others but you don't grossly over-love yourself to the point you are full of yourself.  Let God be first in your life by loving Him and then love your neighbor as yourself and you will never find yourself on the wrong road!

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Love, Mercy and Forgiveness

I have many that have lied on me, wronged me, falsely accused me, discredited me, smeared my name and so forth, but I'm reminded that although the flesh would've like to seek vengeance and vindication - the love of God restrained me.  Instead, with each hurt, I grew in mercy and forgiveness for the wrongdoer.  If you do this, you will never become bitter!  It won't matter what they say about you, what they do to you...  you will grow in the perfect love of Christ and share in His sufferings.

I'm reminded of the great love chapter, Corinthians 13, and how it tells us that the first thing we should seek above all is what?  LOVE (charity)!  You can have a lot of things but if you don't have love - you're nothing God says!  The first commandment is to love God and the second is to love thy neighbour as thyself.  It goes on to say in Romans:  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.   Think about that for a while.

Even when someone does wrong to us and never says they are sorry, we are still to have mercy and forgive them.  If they were true Christians, they would follow the Bible and come to you and work it out!  I've always found that those who can't say they are sorry, are not real Christians, they are wolves in sheep's clothing and they will only do more harm to you and others.  We should pray for them as they are truly, our enemies.  They may have the spirit of narcissism, which comes along with a lot of religious leaders unfortunately, supposing that they themselves are God.  They seek their own worship, they are never wrong and they will discredit anyone that threatens their worshipers from idolizing them.  This one is easy - find a Godly Pastor who doesn't humiliate you to correct you, doesn't use his pulpit to slander others and does all things in the spirit of love, and you will stay far from the spirit of narcissism, but most importantly a false prophet!

But what about the friends that believe the lies?  Well, it is a good time that you found out that some people will believe a lie way before they believe the truth!  Or as the adage goes - A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.  Ain't that the truth!?  You will find that true friends will find both sides of the story and pray and seek God before they react.  Anyone that doesn't - count it a blessing from God that they are removed from your life!  God has saved me a lot of trouble in my life by this very thing, He knows how to weed out the tares! 😁

It isn't up to us to seek vengeance.  God sees it all!  Every word, every slander, every false accusation - God sees it all.  It may hurt to be lied on unjustly but we will find our healing in mercy and forgiveness.  We can't allow the root of bitterness to spring up in us and defile us!  That is what Satan would want but we can rather, grin and bear it - stay sweet in our souls and pray that others will repent in time and come to know true Godly love.  Maybe, just maybe, our correct love response will bring them to shame for their evil, we could only hope.

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Families Benefit from Tax Plan

I was playing around with some numbers on the new drafted tax forms from the IRS for this coming tax season of 2018.  It is pretty amazing how great Trump's new tax plan from last year is for families.  It is especially great for families with more than 3 kids but those with 2 kids will also find great savings.

For the typical family of 4, that includes 2 children, you actually will pay NO federal tax at all until your household income reaches $60K.  Then, for every $5K after that, you will pay on average $600 or 12% as shown below.  However, if you go into the next tax bracket past $78,950, your tax increases to 22%.

2-dependent child tax credit households making:

$60,000 and below = NO federal income tax owed
$65,000 = $600
$70,000 = $1200
$75,000 = $1800

If you have a 3rd child, you may even qualify for an additional child tax credit, which means the government will actually PAY you for having that child despite you not paying a dime in federal income tax.  Some may say that isn't fair but it is!  By having children, you are helping the government by adding another taxpayer.  It is great the government is finally giving back - oh, thanks to Marco Rubio who added this child tax credit increase at the last minute before the bill passed.

It isn't all roses, even though you may not pay federal income tax, you still must pay about 13% in other taxes:

• Social Security tax - 6.2% of income
• Medicare tax - 1.45% of income
• State Income Tax - Ohio's is 2.6% on most families
• City Income Tax - if you live in a state that taxes the city you work in, you pay up to 2.5% of income
• School Tax - again, if you live in a district that taxes you, you pay average of 1% of income tax

So for a family making close to $60K - you may pay upwards of $7,800 in other income taxes.


*Averages are based upon a typical one income earner, married filing jointly, with W2 wages only and no contributions to HSA, retirement, etc.  Calculation short list: Income - $24,000 standard deduction = taxable income; tax - child tax credits of $4,000 for 2 children = 0 tax owed

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God is ALWAYS Right on Time!

We had a unexpected situation recently that we had to make an immediate upfront payment for.  It was a large sum money and one we believed was going to be reimbursed to us in the near future.  However, the reimbursement was being denied (which just isn't right for them to do!), and we were left with the lack of funds to cover our monthly expenses.  I was angry and just couldn't believe that such an injustice would be done and then we were left in a situation that could put us into debt temporarily.

In the midst of this anger and fear - I stood up and began declaring the Word of God!  I prayed and petitioned Heaven for help to correct this wrong done to us.  I then did my best to let the situation go and just waited upon God to move.

Nothing happened.  I was getting nervous as the date was drawing nearer and we were going to be short money and be in debt to cover our regular expenses.  This past Sunday I knelt at the altar and asked for financial help.  I didn't think much about it until Monday came and the miracles started flowing in drowning me in blessings!!

It started out with a few hundred dollars and I thought, that's it - that's our miracle.  Then, after a phone call, of whom the caller had no idea what I'd been praying about, begin to inform me that they felt LED to give us such an amount of money and they had received a call from another family member who was also giving us some early Christmas money.  By the end of the day Monday - we had MORE than enough to cover the unexpected expense and then some leftover for savings!

God is ALWAYS right on time!  I don't care what we have gone through the past 18 1/2 years, God has ALWAYS provided and ALWAYS met our needs.. sometimes with minutes to spare!  From providing for my son's $400 a month formula to touching a plumber's heart to say NO CHARGE to us when he finished some work for us.  Always, always, always!!  FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS and I suppose that the landscape of our lives has proven that.  Thanks be unto God - He takes care of His people!

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Thinking of Others or Only Ourselves?

You hardly see this mentioned anywhere but we are actually in a housing crisis.  Homes were too inflated for the lower-to-middle class consumer to purchase and rent was too high as well.  All that is coming down as home prices nationwide are falling dramatically.  In NYC alone, it is a buyer's market with people snatching up properties for $20K less than the asking price.  In my area, people started realizing the home prices were going down the past 2 months and are listing like crazy but there are hardly any buyers.  Rents are still very high and inflated and we will see if those come down.

I'm not here to talk about the housing crisis in that regard, I'm here to talk about how we got here.  It is more profitable for a builder to build a large, 2-story home on a lot than a small ranch home that is affordable for the buyer.  That, I believe is a huge problem as we are forced to either buy a home that is too big for what we really need, or we buy an older, smaller, more affordable home that drowns us in repairs.  We need more affordable, smaller homes being built for families!  There isn't a builder that I know that is willing to reduce his profit to do such a thing.

I've envisioned communities with 1000-1200sq ft ranch homes that are $80K, making it affordable for most families.  There just isn't anything like that being built anymore.  It isn't entirely the builder's greed that is the cause, it is American's greed as well, as they seek to live in homes that are much larger than they actually need.  I'm reminded of the scripture in Luke 12 of the man who was doing so good, he thought he would build bigger barns.  Why not, right?  You've earned it, you should have better, right?  That man lost sight of helping others and instead focused on his own luxuries and security.

I suppose you can do whatever you want and live the life you've earned (hopefully by moral means), but I feel that God doesn't just bless us with finances for us to have more.  I believe God hopes we will think of someone other than ourselves!  Again, novel thought I know.  

You can either ensure your own luxury in this world, or you can be the tool of the hand of God to help others in need.  Sometimes God may draw us out of our own financial security to help another - are we willing to obey Him or is our financial security really our God?  It is time to become dependent upon God and not independent on our own.

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Garage Clean-Up

The garage seems like it is the place to put everything we don't want in the house.  I now understand why people have so much stuff in their garage, it makes a great storage area!  I had tons of stuff that we no longer needed that I wanted to get rid of or sell that was too good to just throw in the trash but I hadn't took the time to go through all of it and it just kind of piled up.  I finally took about 4 hours yesterday and went through most of it.  I have bins full of things now to sell on eBay or give away.

I had a 30-gallon storage bin for the outside toys but it wasn't working, so I replaced it with a 40-gallon bin:

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