Veterans

My dad and I went to visit a long time friend today. He is a veteran and currently lives in a veterans home. I am continually frustrated by how he is treated by his doctors there! They seem to have no respect for veterans and treat him like an idiot, which I can assure you he is NOT!! This man was one of the first Navy Seals. He has shrapnel all over his body from a grenade blast years ago.

The doctors seem bound and determined to over medicate him. It is almost as though they think he will cause less of a fuss if he is over medicated. It just ticks me off. Is this really how we treat our country's heroes? I mean, really?

What touches me best about this cool man is how incredibly much this man loved his wife! His wife was a wonderful women that died about 8 years ago. She had been terribly sick for about 20 years before that, and he took such wonderful care of her. That is what love is all about! This is what the vows mean, "in sickness and in health". These aren't supposed to be empty words and this man in a true example of what that really means.

It gives me hope that love like that is possible.

Lately

I put my blog on hold for awhile so I could work on some things on here, behind the scene things :)

Things have been crazy the last couple of weeks. On April 16th I got laid off. The firm I worked for was awesome, but they are having financial problems. Over the last couple of years or so they have systematically laid people off and unfortunately I was the next in line. Sigh…

So, back on the job hunt I go. I met with one head hunter so far and I have two more appointments this week. There is a good chance that I will end up back in the city for work, but I don’t find myself minding too much.

I know that God will provide for me and I am not terribly stressed about finding another job. Thankfully, I had a really bad habit of not claiming many deductions on my taxes and got a very large return this year. That return along with severance, my last paycheck and unemployment will keep me going until I find something else.

The hardest part is keeping myself busy during the day. I don’t do nothing well. I like to keep busy and that is hard to do that when I don’t have anything to do. So in an effort to help with that I am making daily lists of things I want to do each day. It seems to help quite a bit.

I am so blessed to have an incredibly supportive family!!! I don’t know what I would do without them. They are always there for me. I am looking at all of this like an adventure and have buckled myself in for the ride.

God works in mysterious ways!!

Financial Peace University

I started Financial Peace University (FPU) again tonight. I had started taking it a couple of months ago, but I had so much going on that I didn’t go more than the first week. I am so glad that I can go again for a refreshed, especially with my cut hours at work. It is more important than ever for me to get my budget down and be responsible.

The class seems like it is a good group of people and it is being held in a church within a mile from my house. I am not too excited about the small group sessions after the videos, but I think they will be good for me to stay for that part too.

The first class is called Super Saving [Common Sense for Your Dollars and Cents].

The first thing Dave Ramsey [DR] covers is the Baby Steps.

Step 1: $1,000 in an Emergency Fund
Step 2: Pay off all debt except for the house, using the debt snowball.
Step 3: Three to six months expenses in savings
Step 4: Invest 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans.
Step 5: College funding
Step 6: Pay off your home early.
Step 7: Build wealth and give!

I love that DR really incorporates God’s word into his beliefs on money. In just the first week he covers these verses.

I Timothy 6:10 (NIV)
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

Proverbs 21:30 (NIV)
“In the house of a wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”

Genesis 41:35-36 (NKJV)
“And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.”

Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Proverbs 28:20 (NKJV)
“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”

Psalms 62:10 (NKJV)

“If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”

I am really excited about going through FPU again. I think it is just what I need, especially right now.

Reunited

I am a total sucker for news bites like this. I still remember waiting for my brother to arrive after being in Iraq. There is no way to really describe seeing someone for the first time, after they have been in a truly dangerous situation like war. The relief and other emotions are overwhelming. I will warn you now...grab a tissue!!!

Who Says Chivalry is Dead?

Steve Harvey’s words of wisdom…”chivalry is not dead, it is just no longer required”. I have seen him on Oprah twice now promoting his book Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man. After laughing so hard I almost hurt myself watching him on Oprah last night, I decided to order his book.

It should get here in the next day or two. I am sure it will have some stuff that doesn’t apply, like waiting 90 days to be intimate. Unless I am getting married in 90 days (which in my family is not unheard of!), I think I can disregard that bit. :)

I am really looking forward to reading it. He is an extremely funny man, and seems to have a lot of common sense advice for women. Can't hurt. :)

Dark Day

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

On Saturday that was a terrible tragedy in our area. Four Oakland Police Officers were gunned down by a man (I use that term lightly) that was on parole (which he had already violated), had been arrested a month before on suspicion of murder (he was released, due to lack of evidence) and who just happened to have an AK47 in his sister’s apartment where he was living.

It was the worst police death toll in the history of the State of California. I don’t personally know any of the men or their families, but I do know people that were friends of the killed officers and it makes it even more tragic, if that is even possible. Maybe it is not more tragic, but more personal.

Police officers risk their lives every day for the community, many of them are ex-military who risked their lives defending this country, before ever joining the police force.

As we all know, not all police officer are good guys. But some people brush a whole group of people with the brush of corruption, but this is unjust, just as other generalizations are completely unjust. There are many “armchair quarterbacks” if you will, that will judge the actions of others, as though they have any idea of what a situation calls for.

In my book these four are certainly heroes. They made the ultimate sacrifice to serve and protect.

Please pray for the families of officers Romans, Sakai, Dunakin and Hege. They were all sons, brothers, fathers, and husband to people that are now grieving and need comfort. And please pray for the shooters family. No matter what this bad man did, he too had a family that will be grieving.

So sad.

Silver Lining

The staff at my work got called into an impromptu meeting on Thursday of last week. From past experience impromptu meetings are never a good sign. We had several lay offs in the last year and a half, so we were bracing ourselves.

What is has come down to, is that in an effort to keep the firm going, the shareholders have decided to cut our hours by 20% (which means our pay as well). So, in effect I now have Fridays off.

The first thing I thought was…I can do this. I think my survivor mode kicked in. I started to think of all the things I could do to make money, all the things I could sell in my house, all the ways I could cut back. I wasn’t panicking, but more of a take action overload. I had to make myself chill out.

That night I went home and did my budget and I should be fine even if I don’t take a second job. I will have less wiggle room, but it’s more of an incentive to stay on budget. The other thing it slows down is my debt snowball. :(

On one hand that makes me sad, but on the other hand…I can still pay my bills!

So, after looking at all this I have realized I need to start saving as much money as possible to put into a bigger emergency fund. I have a baby emergency fund now, but I may need more in the coming months, since we just don’t know what is going to happen.

And as I am trying to look on the bright side, here is a list of good things having Friday’s off means…

I have Preparation Day off!
I have no excuse not to have my house Sabbath ready.
I can volunteer again at the Crisis Nursery, or some other organization.
I can offer my time to help some of the people at church that might need help with babysitting or cleaning.
I can get a second job if I need to.
More time with Baby.
I can sleep in!

I never doubted that God would and will take care of me. I have felt completely comforted through this whole situation, and for all that I am so thankful!

Matthew 7:9-11

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

James 1:2-4
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."