hardest working woman around

one thing americans seem to have trouble with is showing appreciation for those who work so hard to make your life better. whether its a boss with their employees, a husband with a wife or an organization with its volunteers, we have a tenancy to take for granted the hard work of others.

we recognized some of our volunteers at church last night and i began thinking about how very much my wife does, from taking care of our son, working 24 hrs. a week at starbucks, working 20+ hrs. a week at Revolution. she also watches our neighbors kids once a week. all while trying to keep her demanding husband happy and caring for others in her life.

i always knew christe had a great work ethic, but she continues to prove her ability to take on a lot of responsibility and excel in those areas at the same time. thinking about it i'm making one of those creepy connections between my wife and my mom (who is a borderline work-a-holic).

anyway, i love you baby. thanks for all you do.

Link of the Day

The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now

how sad is this?

how sad is it that comedians can get the bible better than christians?

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time of rest

beniah & his beloved chair

No man ever laid on his death bed and looked up into the eyes of his friends and family and said, 'I'd wish I spent more time at the office.'

2009 was a wonderful, full year for our family. watching beniah grow into a little person who interacts with us in all his toddler glory and runs around until he collapses onto the floor from exhaustion. it was a full year at work, each of us working a number of jobs with both good days and bad. dave accomplished one of his goals by taking his girls volleyball team to state for the first time in school history. and we spent the year growing in friendships and having the opportunity to help revolution church grow. all these things are very life giving for us.

but because we are hoping to take a trip to korea this coming summer to see my mom and family we had to forego trips for thanksgiving and christmas. which actually turned out to be what we needed. our holiday season was quiet, relaxing, and low key. but when i realized that it would be a year and a half before we saw our niece again (the plan was christmas 2010) or that it would be at least 6 months before dave's parents would have seen beniah, my heart was heavy. i'm learning that kids change so much in the first couple years and i was longing to see that happen in my niece. so we planned a trip out to chicago for beniah and i to visit dave's family, without dave. i've had a number of reactions from people when they hear that i would be visiting dave's family without dave-but in all honesty i love these people and was willing to brave the flight alone with a squirmy toddler. and it has been worth it.

this break was exactly what i needed. i was beginning to grow impatient with some of my customers at starbucks, i was getting snappy with dave, and there were times i was not as loving with beniah as i could have been. being with family and being back in chicago has been life giving for me.

so, before i bore you too much more, here are some photo highlights:

mimi in paradise
kisses for ice cream

making a joyful..noise

sledding with poppo

helping uncle john play hearts

showing poppo how to sort shapes

making a snowbaby

miss lina loving all the toys at the children's museum

precious in pink

bathtime with mimi

"so when you pull this, it starts to play a song"

sledding!

thanks to the chicago snow, beniah was able to experience sledding for the first time with poppo. so first we had to get all bundled up to go outside..

and then came the sledding!

initially he was all smiles and giggles..but what it really seemed like he wanted to do was walk up and down the hill by himself and watch all the other kids sled. it might have been the layers upon layers of clothing his mother put on him, but all in all a very fun trip.

i may be going bald, but at least i'll be rich

something has been happening at my church over the last 6 months or so that has stuck out to me, i keep hearing different people say, "in x number of months i am going to be out of debt". people just don't talk like that...not even in church. i feel the norm in american society is to be in debt, assume everyone else is too, but pretend like your not.

i soon realized the cause of this phenomenon. the last couple semesters, revolution has had a small group or two study a personal finance book and people are actually excited about it.

in light of this christe and i decided to read the total money makeover and promptly made and made a new-years-and-a-half resolution, we are going to be debt free (except our house) in 18 months.

as i read this book and stroked my thinning hair up top, i became very excited about putting the old-school money lessons my parents had taught me to dave ramseys very simple very practical program.

my parents financial lessons:

1. always give back to God


2. save


3. don't get into debt


4. don't buy new cars


5. credit cards are bad


6. your top goal in life should not be money


7. bless others in any way you can

the total money makeover:

1. save money for an emergency
   


2. pay off debt as quickly as possible (credit cards and new cars are bad)


3. juice up emergency fund to 6 months income


4. save for retirement by investing in mutual funds and kids college with ESA


5. pay off the house


6. get your money working harder than you work for your money


7. give like crazy

the only real differences between the total money makeover plan and that of my parents is the simple way to exicute the plan, the hope given to those who are in debt, and the fact that when my parents were teaching me these lessons i didn't have any money.

we had james, diane and kids over for lunch soon after i had finished the book. we hadn't seen each other in a while and they asked if we had anything new going on? i explained all the cool things we were going to do (the yard, a trip to korea...etc.), then mumbled under my breath, "stupid dave ramsey". james quickly shot back, "don't worry, dave ramsey ruined our life too." yet we are both sold out to the plan.

so, i may be going bald, but at least i'll be rich.

a great book, id recommend it to anyone.