No Car Payments Ever Again!

Remember a few weeks ago when I had a post about Used Cars?

This morning I got an email for DaveRamsey.com that I thought I'd share with you. If you think there is no way you can live with out a car payment, take a look at this article.

My goal is to never have a car payment again, of course if all our cars died tomorrow we might have to go that route. Hope this article helps you and motivates you to be wierd!

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser

The Berean Fellowship Baptist Church is located in Gary, IN and really has a great need for repairs to their building. If you look at all the pictures, you can see just that. 

They have a roof that is leaking.

This has caused some extensive damage to the inside

and the nursery needs to be completely remodeled.

This year, our church gave each small group $400 to use for community service or outreach. Our group decided to hold a pancake breakfast fundraiser to help the Berean Fellowship Baptist Church. We were able to buy all the supplies with just $200 of the $400 we were given.

It was also decided to hold a bake sale at the same time and many women graciously donated baked goods for this cause.

Planning it was a great time for our group to come together. Everyone pitched in and was really able to use their gifts to get it all together.

The day itself was also a huge blessing. So many people came out to support this church and we also had many members from Berean Fellowship come out and help serve.

Helping others always brings out the love!

Pastor Raymond and his wife Sonya

Our group of volunteers.

We are so thankful to all of those who supported this breakfast and this church.

So many people helped in so many different ways. Those who came to eat, those who came to help serve, those who baked, those who watched our kids while we were there all morning, those who donated, and those who prayed.

With all your help $200 was turned into $3000! Praise God!

Over the next couple months, repairs will made and many will be donating their time as well. We ask that you we keep this church in your prayers and all of those who will be working there.

What we did last week.....

Kids were at VBS last week learning about Believing, Loving, Adoring, Serving, and Trusting their Savior. They had a BLAST!

I got some alone time. Of course, Isaac did leave his pets in the car for me so I wouldn't get lonely.

We've been swimming in the extreme heat!

We went to a birthday party with a pinata and a pony!

The boys would not ride the pony.

Here's hoping the girls forget all about this by their birthday next year!

That's our week in a nutshell!

The Tongue and Murder

Yesterday we had a guest pastor speak at our church. He spoke on Matthew 5:21-24.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, "You fool!" will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

It was a very powerful message titled "Murder in the Church".  If you want to listen to the whole thing you can download it here.

But I just want to share a few things that stuck out to me. We often look at murderers and think what horrible people and often feel we are better than them. I know you have all read these verses a million times. But have you really thought about them? We really are no different than a murderer! How many times this past week have you murdered someone with your tongue?

As women, we tend to gossip, look for the bad in people, slander, backbite. I know this used to consume my conversations. It is something I have really tried to work on not doing in the past few years, but I know I fall back into my old habits pretty easily. One thing that really stood out to me, (I wish I could quote it word for word) what if when someone started talking bad about another person and we stopped them by telling them we need to stop MURDERING that person! Wouldn't that stop our gossiping if we really used it in such bold words!

I really want to encourage you as Christian women to really think about your conversations. Ask for forgiveness for your past sins and ask God to truly help you in your speech.

I've been doing a Bible study for my devotions by Elizabeth George called Nurturing a Heart of Humility. It's a study about Mary. I want to finish this post by quoting something that she wrote in one of the lessons.

Beloved, what do you tend to talk about when you are with other Christian women? We have so many options, don't we? We choose to talk about trivia, trash, the latest "talk" from a talk show, the local news, gossip, or--our most well-loved topic---our self!

If we are nurturing a heart of humility, our "talk" will be markedly different! Why? Because as women who are humble--women after God's own heart--we will think of others. We will be other-oriented. We will, like Elizabeth, seek to encourage others, honor others, bless others, build up others. One of the principles of my life I owe to a principle from one of my husband Jim's sermons: Make it your goal that, in every encounter, others are better off for having been in your presence.

Dear one, such a goal assists both you and me as we seek to be women who encourage others!

I'm not sure about you, but I know I would rather have people walk away from a conversation with me encouraged by my words instead of murdered by my words. May we all prayerfully seek to be humble women of God.

Birthday Week

Birthday week at our house is finally over. This year birthday week meant me cooking an awful lot. We started last Sunday with Brad's birthday. He requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a roast and mashed potatoes for lunch.

Thursday was Alexandra, Amanda and Joshua's 6th birthday. We started celebrating on Tuesday. Everyone was able to pick what they wanted for supper one night. Tuesday night Amanda chose spaghetti. Wednesday night Alex chose grilled chicken, potatoes and corn. Thursday night Joshua wanted meatballs and baked beans.

They also got to pick breakfast the morning of their birthday. They chose waffles.

On friday night, it was time for a party!

Brad complained that he didn't get a cake, so he got his own special cupcake.

Besides making tons of food, I also spent a lot of time working in the yard to get it ready. Brad also was busy with all kinds of house projects. That could be a whole other post.  I think next week there will be lots of days just relaxing by the pool!

Used Cars

Before kids, I had a nice car. We had bought a 2002 Lincoln LS. This car had everything and I loved it but buying that car was one of the dumbest things we ever did. It came with a nice car payment. (note sarcasm) This was an impulse buy and a decision not blessed by God and boy, did He let us know. I won't go into how, just trust me on this.

We ended up selling that car when I went onto bed rest when I was pregnant with the triplets. The day after I got out of the hospital (they were still in the hospital) we went car shopping and bought a 2001 Ford Windstar LX. Brad refused to spend a lot of money on a vehicle because it was mostly going to be sitting in the garage and wouldn't be driving too many places with 3 babies. We had a car payment for a short time but paid it off as soon as we got our tax refund the following March. That means I have been without a car payment for almost 5 1/2 years!

I admit, occasionally I get car envy. I want that new mini-van or SUV that someone else has. But then I start thinking about the car payment I would have, how much taxes and plates would cost and realize, it's just not worth it!

One of my favorite blogs to read lately is Money Saving Mom. The other day I was reading her blog and this post by her made me laugh, mostly because I can relate. It's true, when you have an older vehicle there is always stories that go along with it.

Here are a few things about my vehicle that you just won't get with that new car:

1- I don't care if you ding my door or scratch it. Not that I want you to do it but it's just not that big of a deal.

2- My windshield has been cracked for 2 or 3 years. (I lost count)

3- Sometimes I have a little leak in my windshield when it rains. I get to occasionally enjoy a little bit of the rain while I drive. (unrelated to the crack, the leak was first and in a completely different spot)

4- My interior lights sometimes flash like a strobe light. Not a big deal during the day, a little odd when you are driving at night.

5- I have spent time in parking lots when my car didn't start. Always a good time when you have 4 kids asking when we can leave.

6- I sometimes try and see how many different lights can come on at once. Currently I have 3 but one of them is because I'm almost out of gas.

See, now doesn't that sound fun! Way more fun than a car payment!

Want another story about vehicles? Check out my sister-in-laws post.

If you have a funny story to share about your used car, I'd love to hear it.

Fun With Cake

I love to bake but don't often get the time. And even if I do it's to quick make some cookies. I love to decorate cakes and get creative, once again, not enough time. Here are a couple things I have done recently.

Rainbow cupcakes. This is not the wrapper that is rainbow. It's the actual cake. I marveled at the cupcakes color the whole time I ate it! I must say, it was a pain to make and not quite sure I will ever do it again. Just very time consuming putting all the different layers together.

This cake was for a friends baby shower. I'm sure you can guess, she knew she was having a girl. I love making the different layers! Then I just went to town making a bunch of swirls.

I found this new buttercream frosting recipe that is so easy and so delicious! It's not the best for decorating though. Wouldn't recommend it if you are doing any extensive decorating and I felt like I needed to keep the cake in the fridge because the frosting was so soft. But did I mention that it is delicious? I also used this for the cupcakes.

Now I just have to figure out what to do for a cake for 3 kids turning 6 and my husband. They all celebrate their birthday the same week. If anyone has any creative ideas let me know.