My Very Own Loaves & Fishes Miracle!

I've debated for over a month about whether or not to tell you this story. I finally decided I can't keep it to myself any longer. I just love it when God works so beautifully and obviously...I couldn't not share!

Before I start...why did I hesitate to share? Because I don't know that I can do God justice. I don't know that I have the words to express how awesome He is. I don't want this story to seem like it's about me in any way, except that I am honored and privileged to be His kid. Please know that this is a story about Him, not about me.

It all started when I went to a home improvement store at the beginning of last month. Garden plants, flowers, soil, gardening gloves...that's the kind of stuff that was on my list. I love to plan my garden, flower pots, and beds. On my way into the store's parking lot, though, I noticed an elderly homeless man sitting on his chair holding his "Will work for food" sign.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the homeless. Although I can't always give them money or buy them a lunch, I do at least try to look them in the eye, smile, and wave. I want them to know that they've been seen...that they are at least worthy of a kind greeting.

Admittedly, I've become a bit more jaded over the years. My first reaction isn't always love and compassion like it once was. I often think, "I"m not giving them money, they'll just go spend it on something foolish." And sometimes my reaction is just plain fear. I fear getting too close...will they try to harm me or my children? Are the car doors locked?

But that beautiful spring day, I felt an odd pull to that old man sitting on the corner with his "Will work" sign. There was just something so frail and quiet about him. "Work?" I thought. "Doing what? He looks like he could topple over at any second!"

So do you know what I did? I did my shopping, loaded my car with all my goodies...and drove home.

I scolded myself all the way home...I should have at least stopped to buy the poor old guy lunch.

I got home and unloaded all my garden stuff...tomatoes, onions, peppers, soil, fertilizer, flowers, seeds...but no garden gloves. Where were my gloves? I'd left them at the store. Dang.

So I headed back to the store. On the way there I promised that I'd stop by to offer him lunch if he was still sitting there. He was. Again...dang.

It took me a few minutes to get the gloves I'd paid for but forgot to bring home. I got back to my car, dropped off my gloves, said a quick prayer, and headed over to talk with the old man.

"Hi there, can I sit with you for a minute?"

"Well, sure!", was his surprised answer.

"My name is Daiquiri, what's yours?"

"Gary"

"Hi Gary. How are you today?"

"Oh, alright."

I sat on his little cooler that he'd offered me as a chair. For a second, there was uncomfortable silence as we both sort of inspected each other from the corners of our eyes. It was then that I saw the little picture taped to the back of his "Will work" sign. It was a picture of Jesus.

"I see that you have a picture of Jesus on your sign. Do you know the Lord?"

"Oh, yes. I know him and he knows me. I'm not sure why he's got me in this situation, but as long as my social security check falls short of my rent by $200, I'll be sitting here asking for help."

"Well, at least you have him to keep you company, eh?"

"Yes ma'am!", he said with a big, toothless smile and a twinkle in his eye.

From there, the conversation was easy. He explained how his money had run out, and how his social security check didn't quite cover his expenses. He told me that he's a diabetic. And he was quick to tell me that he's "Not one of those fellas who's into the booze or weed. Just smokes. I know it's a bad habit, but I just can't seem to quit it." At one point, he even had me stand up so that he could show me what was in his little cooler. All that it contained was some prescription medicine (his diabetes meds), a half eaten box of chicken nuggets, and a pack of cigarettes.

But by that point in our conversation, I didn't need any reassuring. The clarity in his speech, the spunk in his attitude, and the twinkle in his eye was enough to tell me that he was just an old man down on his luck.

I offered to buy him lunch, but he turned me down. He said that someone had just brought some chicken nuggets and that was enough for him to get by until dinner time. He didn't want me to waste money on food that would go un-eaten. "Besides, you stopping to talk to me was better than food anyway."

Our conversation eventually dried up, and I said goodbye and headed back to my car. As I walked across the busy Saturday parking lot, I was thinking about how much money I might be able to spare from our budget. Since it was the beginning of the month, I had a wallet crammed with cash...a result of our new "all cash" spending plan. But I also knew that when the money was gone, that was it. No going to the bank for more if I didn't plan carefully.

I got in my car, locked the doors, and pulled out my wallet. "Okay, Lord. I know I'm supposed to give him some money, but how much?" I sorted through the cash in my "groceries" section of my wallet. I had lots of different denominations there. $5? $10? $20? Five dollars seemed far too little. Twenty seemed like too much. I settled on ten, and was trying to convince myself that ten would do it. Ten bucks doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a week's worth of milk for this 4 gallon per week family. It's taking my kids to get burgers one day for lunch. It's a few pounds of meat.

But I just had a sick feeling in my stomach. Despite my best efforts to make myself feel good about giving my new friend $10, I just didn't.

So I prayed, "Lord, help me out! How much should I give him?"

And that quiet voice said to me, "How about $100?"

I laughed aloud! A hundred dollars?! There was no WAY I could make it to the end of the month with a full hundred dollars missing from my budget. No WAY.

So I went back to sorting. Again, I contemplated $5. Again, I contemplated $20. Again, I settled on giving him $10. I held it in my hand...and again felt positively lousy. I prayed again, "How much, Lord?"

The response? "You heard me."

Oh, sweet Jesus. I was just about to give a complete stranger...a homeless man on the street corner that I'd just met 10 minutes ago...I was about to give him $100?!?! But I had my instructions, so I grabbed the $100 bill, folded it so he couldn't see what it was right away, and headed back to talk to the old man.

"You again?" he said with that sweet, toothless grin.

"Yep. I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Not at all."

"Okay, good. I just wanted to tell you something. I want to tell you that I went back to my car over there, and prayed for you. I prayed for wisdom. I prayed for instruction as to how much money I might be able to spare to give to you."

"Well, that's awful nice of you."

"Now, money is tight and I have 4 little ones at home. $10 is a lot of money for me to give. But when I prayed, I got pretty clear instruction that I am not supposed to give you $10. I'm supposed to give you a bit more."

"Really?" (he was looking at my hand, undoubtedly curious about what it contained)

"The only reason I tell you that $10 is a lot of money for me is because I want something to be really clear: if it were up to me, I would have given you $10. But the Lord told me to give more. I want it to be really clear that the Lord is looking out for you, and that this money is from HIM. You are precious to Him, and He wants to help you today. Like I said, I was ready to give $10...nothing more. So this money, is straight from Him to you."

"Can I give you a hug?" he said with teary eyes.

So we shared a brief hug, I kissed him on the cheek, and I passed the money into his hand. I walked away before he could look at what it was.

As I walked away I prayed, "Okay, Lord. I'm gonna need your help with the budget this month!" But I was on cloud nine. I couldn't have been happier to have been used to care for that precious man.

And then the month went on. Groceries. A trip to Wisconsin, and all the associated travel money. Toothpaste. Toilet paper. Utility bills. A birthday gift. The expenses didn't exactly taper off despite my growing anxiety that we weren't going to make it to the end of the month.

On top of all that, I hadn't told my husband what I'd done. Partly, I didn't want to tell anyone because I felt that it was between me and God. I didn't want a pat on the back for it. And honestly? Partly, I was beginning to wonder if I'd imagined the whole "conversation" and just made a foolish and expensive mistake. And of course, I didn't want my husband to start worrying about trusting our families finances with me...handing out $100 bills to random homeless men on street corners!

I was sweatin' it!

And finally, a week before the end of the month...the money ran out. Zero. Gone. Zilch. Nada. Completely gone.

I was driving home from the grocery store with what I'd just purchased with our last dime for the month, and I was wondering how I was going to stretch the groceries to last through the month. On the way home, I stopped at the mailbox to grab the mail.

You will never guess what was in that mailbox.

Evidently, we'd been carrying a slight balance (in our favor) on our Costco AMEX card, and they decided to cut us a check for it. We got the check that day. And guess how much it was for? It was a check for an even $90...exactly the amount that the Lord told me to give above the $10 I was planning on giving.

I was instantly covered in goosebumps and crying. God is so good. And such a punk for making me wait 'till the last second like that! I told him so...and then I thanked him. Can you imagine? The God who put every last star in it's place...knows me and my life enough to plan the arrival of a $90 check for precisely the perfect moment.

That's my sweet story. I hope it blessed you. I hope that it helped you see that God is still in the business of miracles. And I hope it reminded you that He's looking out for his little ones...even the ones who feel a bit abandoned and have to beg for money to make ends meet.


"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27


"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

Did The Women's Movement Hurt Women?

I just watched a positively fascinating video over at Like Merchant Ships. It's a video of a lecture done by Elizabeth Warren, author of The Two Income Trap. It's a long video...about an hour, but I really enjoyed it. It's filled with lots of **data**. Oooo baby. Those of you who know me, know how I love data. Give me some numbers...show me a graph...I love it! It's the engineer in me, what can I say?

She speaks on a topic that impacts my life every single day. She talks about how women entering the work force has changed the finances of families today.

On the surface, the women's movement was a very healthy thing. I'm all for women's equal rights, and their ability to choose to do whatever they want to do with their lives. I'm fully aware and appreciative of the efforts made by my "foremothers" to ensure my right to go to whichever college I wanted to, to choose a field of study that was typically only for the guys, and to be able to get a job in said field making really great money.

And I can also choose to stay home from the office to raise my children full time. Of course, it's financially painful...but for me and my husband it's well worth the trade-offs.

But every now and then, hubby and I look around and say to ourselves, "How is it possible that things feel 'tight' when hubby makes such good money?" Or, "How on earth do people make a go of it on less than we earn?"

And every now and then, when I really think about what it takes to raise a family in today's economy I wonder...do women really still have the ability to choose to stay home with their children if they want to? Or are they trapped? Are they forced to work, not only by their own purchasing choices, but by what's happened to our economy because women entered the professional work force in huge numbers some 30 years ago?

Before I tell you much about what Ms. Warren said, some basic info:
- She adjusted everything for inflation. So if you see numbers, don't go thinking that it's all about inflation...she essentially took inflation out of the picture so she could compare apples to apples.
- She studied only one segment of the population: a married couple with 2 children.
- The data she looked at was across the time from ~1970 to ~2003 (basically one generation)

For those of you who don't have an hour to spare, here's a list of some of my favorite points she made:
- Overall, a family's income went up, BUT men's income dropped by $800 per month! Women's incomes increased steadily over time, but men's incomes essentially dropped...or saw no increase over time as is usual.
- In 1970, families were saving roughly 11% of their incomes. In 2003, families are saving less than zero (spending more than they make).
- In the 70's, families were spending about 1/2 their income on "big" expenses (cars, taxes, child care, homes).
- In 2003, we were spending about 3/4 of our income on those same big expenses. We have less money left over after the "biggies".
- The bottom line is that now, families need two jobs to make ends meet.

You know, I always assumed that we, as a one income family, are at greater financial risk since we only have that one source of income. If hubby loses his job, we're in trouble, right? But let's assume that most 2 income families need both of those jobs, or face a financial crisis (and the statistics show that that's the case). Ms. Warren makes some really great points:

- The two income family sees twice the risk of a one income family. They see more risk, not less.
- We have a "backup" worker. If something happens to hubby or his job, I'm available to pitch in. In a two income family, both workers are already "used". If something happens to one of them or their job, they're just out the income provided by that person.
- What happens if a child gets sick? In a one income family, there is one parent available to sit by that child's bedside. In a two income family, when mom or dad goes to sit by that bedside it usually means a lost job. A lost job that was required for that family to keep their head above water.

I'm beginning to understand why she calls it the "Two Income Trap"!

And this is the most amazing statistic yet...I was shocked...ready for this?? Here it is:

This year, more families with children will file for bankruptcy than will file for divorce!!

So think about how many couples you know who have divorced. Statistically speaking, you probably know more people who have filed for bankruptcy.

Well, I've already made this post too long for most of you to still be reading. I encourage you to go check out the video (she's a great speaker), or to check out her book. I'd like to talk more about this though...what do you think of these statistics?

Holy Bowls Of (cheap) Cereal!

I've been thinking that clipping coupons is more hassle than it's worth...until today. I bought 20 boxes of General Mills brand cereal for less than $13!!

Normally, these boxes cost between $3.79 and $4.29 each. When it was all said and done, I got them for .64 (that 64 CENTS) each!

How? Albertson's was having a buy 10 for $20 sale, with an additional $10 off at the register when you enter your membership number. That brought them down to just a buck each. Then I had coupons for either $1 or .75 off two boxes. Check out my receipt...I saved a total of $66.90!

Granted, the vast majority of the savings was in "preferred savings" (don't need a coupon for that)...but if I didn't have the paper subscription I would not have heard about the sale. And I did save $8.50 in coupons too. I've been feeling bad for paying money on my newspaper subscription, but I more than paid for it today.

Thomas, My Little Sewing Helper

I was sewing some personalized pillowcases the other day, and Thomas was my little helper. It was such a nice day...just my little guy and me :) He was so sweet and fun, I just had to grab a little video:

I had my camera handy because I was taking step by step pictures for the pillowcase tutorial I'm working on for you. Keep an eye out for it!

PS. Don't forget to take 5 minutes and earn an easy $25!!

Am I The Last One To Hear About This??

Evidently Revolution Money Exchange (RME) has been all over the web...only I just heard about it now!

What is it? It's a FREE competitor to PayPal. You have to pay fees to use PayPal...not so with Revolution Money Exchange.

It's also easy to link your bank account to it. I plan to use this feature to transfer money between our bank accounts (for free). I'll link one bank account to my RME account, and a different account to my hubby's RME account. They're at different banks that don't transfer to each other on line, so we always have to do transfers manually by writing checks and depositing...a pain! But with RME I can simply send money to hubby or he can send money to me...transfer done. I'm all for making life easier!

The best part of signing up for RME? Until May 15th, they're giving you $25 just to sign up!! I just finished signing up, and sure enough, there is $25 in my account! To be perfectly honest, that's the reason I signed up...until I started realizing the benefits of being able to send and receive money for free. Now I'm a customer for the free service.

The second best part? If you refer other people to sign up, you'll earn another $10 per person! That's one of the reasons I'm telling you about them...please press my referral button if you'd like to sign up (green buttons on this post or in my left sidebar)! You'll get your $25 and I'll get $10. The other reason I'm telling you is because I think it's a great product, and I like to share these great things with you.

Cuz that's what I'm all about...generosity...sharing...love...peace.

And yes. The $10 doesn't hurt! By the way, if you refer people once you've signed up, the $10 offer is for you too.

A Letter To The President (Economy)

Dear President Bush,

Hello, Sir. How are you today? I just thought I'd drop you a line to say...you are very welcome. No really, it was my pleasure. I was just doing my part to stimulate the economy like you planned. I did it for you, you know.

All those cute shorts and capris I found and TJMaxx yesterday? I bought them for you...well, for me to wear...but for you and your economic plan, really.

And then I decided that shorts and capris might not do enough for our economy, so I headed over to the mall. To Eddie Bauer to be specific - my favorite store on the planet. I know that I'm a solid size "M" in an Eddie Bauer shirt, and always a size 10 in their pants and shorts. I don't even have to try anything on! I can just wander the store, grab the lovely duds in my size, and head straight to the cash register to do some more economy stimulating.

And then there are the shoes. I saw that Payless was having a buy-one-get-one-half-off sale, so I brought my 5 year old little girl with me and I taught her how important it is to do our part in supporting the health of our economy. What better way to do that then half off shoes? I really can't think of a way.

What's that, you say? But you haven't given me my "economic stimulus" check yet? Oh, I know. But this is America...how best to show my patriotism than to charge everything and then cross my fingers that the check gets here before the bill? It would be downright un-American to do it any other way!

Besides, I was desperate. I haven't bought myself summer clothes in 4 years! I'm not kidding. Last summer I was pregnant with my little Thomas. The summer before that Eddie Bauer had terrible summer colors, and I just couldn't find anything. The summer before that I was pregnant with Samantha. So it was the summer before THAT that I bought new summer clothes...the summer of 2004...4 years ago! Everything I had in my closet was either very worn, didn't fit, or was downright ugly. Like I said, I was desperate.

But that's just the guilt trying to justify spending all that money. I just have to focus on the greater good...the economy of the United States of America.

Well, I know you're busy trying to run the country and dealing with all that stuff going on in Iraq (I have some questions for you about that, actually. I'll save it for another time though), so I'll bring this to a close now.

Thank you for allowing me the honor of helping to support our great nation's financial well-being. If you ever have another economic stimulus plan like the one you just put together...well, then I'm your girl. You can count on me to take one for the team and spend every last dime of that closet...I mean economic...stimulus check.

Just call me a patriot.

Have a very nice day, Mr. President.

Sincerely,

Save Tons of Money!

Speaking of coupon savings, you simply MUST check out this site: Money Saving Mom.

I plan to spend quite a bit of time at her blog to see if I can get this coupon shopping thing down to a science. Yahoo! Watch me save!

Amazing Coupon Savings!

What a great shopping day for me!

I've never been much of a coupon person. Oh, I clip 'em....I store 'em....but I never ever use 'em! I never had a good 'system' to organize them, and they just ended up in an irritating pile at the bottom of my purse or on my desk, or somewhere else just as un-useful.

Lately, I've had a renewed passion for coupons though. I just refuse to believe that with all the coupons floating around out there, that I can't figure out a way to use them.

Today, I saved $12.25 in coupons!!! For me, that's a lot. In fact, let me do the math...my subtotal was $38.85...so that's a 31.5% savings! (And all on things that I use all the time, not on things that I might try because I had a coupon to use.) Here's how I did it:

• First, I have 4 Sunday papers (yes 4) delivered to my house every Sunday. I pull out the manufacturer's coupons and the store inserts.
• Next, I clip all the coupons for things that I use. **Only for things I know I'll use** Otherwise, I just end up storing coupons that take up space and complicate my system.
• Then I store the coupons in my binder. My binder is sorted by various categories like "baking and condiments", "meat and dairy", "cleaning and storage", etc.
• The pages of my binder are baseball card holders...perfect for storing coupons! (Thank you to Amy at Memoirs of a Mommy for this idea)
• Once I've sorted through all the coupons and stored them, then I look through the store ads. I look for things that are on special, and I make a note of them and how much they'd cost with my coupons. This step is made much easier by only looking for things that I use.
• Then I make a shopping list, and hit the store. If a deal is really great, I'll use all 4 of my coupons and stock up.

One thing I'd like to improve on is knowing when a deal is really great. Lots of people use a "price book", but I haven't gone there yet. I'm hoping that I'll just get the hang of good vs. bad prices through my normal shopping.

Here's my coupon binder:

It's so much fun to get to the end of the shopping trip and hand over all my coupons! It's even more fun when the cashier scans all my coupons, gives my my new total, looks and me and says, "Wow! How'd you do that?!"

I'm hooked! (Like I needed shopping to be even MORE fun!)

Happy Sunday!

Hi everyone! Do you ever have times in your life when you just feel like...I don't know...being quiet? I've been in that mood for the past few days. I've felt like I just want to be quiet and observe and listen...and just enjoy. Probably a welcome treat for my friends and family...but not so good when you're trying to come up with something to write about!


It's a typical weekend around here. Yep, still in my jammies well into the afternoon. Hubby is designing, building, and installing some beautiful custom cabinetry in our living room (with lots of "help" from the kids, of course).


His project has really tested our "cash only" system. It seems that he keeps having to run to the Depot (we call it "Home Depper In Debt" instead of "Home Depot") for another piece of wood...a hinge...some stain...whatever. And we keep having the "what money are we going to use" conversation. On one level it's really irritating because life seemed so much easier when we just put everything on the card and dealt with it later. But it is SO liberating paying cash, and knowing that when we walk out of the store, it's PAID FOR. So yesterday we spent an hour with our change jar...sorting, counting, and rolling coins. We had hundreds of dollars in there! That should be enough to finish the project :)


I suppose if we were really disciplined, we'd put that change toward our goal of being debt free. But we're not, and I don't feel one ouce of guilt over it! Hey, you gotta live too.


So I should probably tell all you faithful readers out there (all 6 of you) what I've been up to in my little blogging world.


I've been working behind the scenes to change the location of my blog. I've been so irritated with Blogger lately...I can't get it to look the way I want it to, spell check doesn't work (and I NEED it!), the spacing on my posts is all messed up no matter what I try. So I'm jumping ship. I'm going to Typepad. I'll let you know when I have everything switched over. I'll wait at least until the giveaway is done, because some of my comments don't seem to be importing to my new location.


Well, I'm going to...gasp!...go take a shower and get dressed. But it's not even 3 pm yet, you say? I know! What an achiever I am!

Blog Obituary?

Is this the end of blogging for me?

Lifetime, HGTV, and TLC...OH MY!

We're getting CABLE!!

We did away with cable about 10 years ago. We were scrimping every penny that we could find to put toward our debt. Our goal back then was to pay off enough debt that I could stay home when we had children. We paid off 2 new cars, 2 credit cards, and 4 student loans. It took us 4 years. The $30 we paid for cable back then went toward our "baby goal". We told ourselves that we'd reward ourselves with cable when we met our goal. But by then, cable cost more and we had realized that we got all the local channels just fine off of bunny ears.

Frankly, I've been afraid to get cable again. Don't we spend enough time in front of the TV as it is? Do we really need more of an excuse to not talk to one another and go to bed late? And no...the kids do NOT need any more channels. PBS is fine, thank you very much! Plus, why spend the money if we get local channels without it?

Well, as Dear Hubby said last night when I asked him, "Why now, when we're working so hard to hit some financial goals again?"

"Because I want it. I want it. I want it. I want it. So there!"

Have I mentioned lately just how wise and mature my Dear Hubby is? Actually, if we're being honest, I want it to. I'm just glad that he admitted it first.

Don't Tell Anyone...

But it's after 2 PM and I'm still in my jammies! We are obviously enjoying a lazy Saturday around here :)

No nap for Sammy this afternoon. I battled her for over an hour while she screamed bloody murder. She slept last night out of sheer exhaustion...didn't have that going for us this afternoon. Will she ever nap again? Please, Lord. Pretty, pretty, pretty please.

We have a 3 day weekend this weekend. I sure hope to have a chance to get out with my camera at some point. I've been thinking of selling my photos from this site. What do you think? I could list some basic prices in my side bar, and people could just email me if they'd like to place an order. I don't know...

There was a bit of "reorganizing" done at Luke's place of work this past week. One hundred people were reorganized right out of a job. Sure glad Luke wasn't one of them! I'm all the more thankful that we've been putting effort into being financially free. We definitely still need a job, but we'd be able to live for a few months without one too. Thank you Dave Ramsey!

Well, I escaped for a bit to come write this post and to get away from Sammy's whining. She's clearly tired. I promised her we'd make play dough today...in green. I'd better get back out there now though.

Deep Breath
I am a grownup
I can be strong
I can be patient and calm even when I'd rather scream
I can do it
I can smile and make green play dough
It WILL be fun
Would anyone mind if I wore my jammies to church tonight?
Would anyone mind if I went for a little drive? Like a 10 year long drive?
I'll have a nice glass of red wine after the kids go to bed
Deep Breath
Put on the smile
Here I go...

Got My Purse Back!

Finally went to pick up my purse today (didn't dare venture out in the winter weather yesterday). Every embarrassing detail was right where it should have been...even all the cash and cards. Whew!

One Minor Problem With Our "Cash" System...

Is that our finances are in much greater danger when I have an air-head moment and leave my purse in the cart at Rite Aid!

I just got a phone call from the manager, who was telling me that my purse will be in their safe until I get down there to pick it up.

What can I say...I was looking for a good coupon deal when Sammy squatted down in the middle of the store and said "poopies, mama". I boogied on out of there fast because she hadn't yet...gotten down to business...and I really wanted to get home before she did. Urging (Ha!) a 2 year old to hurry out to the car while carrying a baby in a car seat across the slippery parking lot in a snow storm apparently doesn't lend itself very well to remembering to grab the purse on the way out.

I'll let you know if anything was missing. I might have to take up a grocery money collection if I was cleaned out :)