Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Blessed Life

Our church has been studying/going through The Blessed Life, by Robert Morris over the past month. Our pastor said it would be life-impacting and it has been. The whole book is centered upon giving and blessing others, mainly in ways of finances. If you know me well, you know that money is not my thing. I am not good at budgeting, not good at saving, and I am very much an impulse buyer. Thanks to this book, I have been reminded of what it means to live within my means, to be a good steward, and to be diligent with what God has given us.

4 years ago Jaye and I enrolled in FPU (Financial Peace University), a 12 week class about how to "live like no-one else (now) so you can LIVE like no-one else (later)". We were convinced about this class so we switched to using only cash, made ourselves a budget, and were all set to be debt-free in 2 years. Fast forward to today...we have not been using cash, we've only increased our debt, and I have definitely not been living by our budget. Why is it so easy to loose sight of that end goal? Why do I find it so easy to spend what we do not have? YUCK!

So...thanks to The Blessed Life I have been reminded of what it really means to be content with what God has blessed us with. HE has given us all we need and promises to provide.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  

This verse is always a conviction point for me as I think about how I spend my $$ and it doesn't say much about what should truly matter and about heavenly treasures as I am quick to spend on earthly/material things. I have seriously thought about writing this verse in sharpie across my debit card so that every time I pull my card out, I am reminded of this truth. 

So, here I am...wanting to be different, desiring to be wise. I've cut up my credit cards, have been working on a budget for our family, and have actually done REALLY well the past 2-3 weeks and haven't bought anything we don't need, no extras. As I've been thinking through all this, God has placed opportunities before us to give to others who have very real and tangible needs. To be honest, it does scare me a bit to think about giving what I feel He is calling me to give as it means less money in savings and less to fall back on...but I feel the tugging and I want to be obedient. I want to allow God to use us to bless others and that means being diligent with what we have and living within our means. Debt free is no longer 2 years away, but many more...but it is possible.