From where?

I was just reminded that I wanted to post this. Joi was watching an interview of Alan Keyes, and he said the exact same thing I've been thinking.

On my drive home from work the other day, I heard discussion about the federal government taking over Citibank for a period of time, and that the government was going to back the banks.

The only thing I could think was

Who's going to back the government!!!

It's not like there's any money there. What do you think that multi-trillion dollar debt is? I'll tell you what it is... It's leadership. Our leaders have taught us that we can spend more money than we have. That's why we are where we are... debt... encouraged by the federal government... like the energizer bunny... it keeps going... and going... and going... and going...

What an encouraging story

All I can say is Wow. I have a close friend who recently had a close relative die. I wanted to minister to him in the time of his Fathers death. I felt I had failed to do much ministering due to Gods providence. It turns out I was wrong. I just had a conversation that blew my mind.

It was not long ago that my friend was thinking of quitting his tenured job where he is well respected for his abilities. We had a conversation about it one day at lunch. It turns out it was the day he was deciding one way or the other. We talked about a lot of things that goes into that type of decision. I specifically played up whether it was the right one for the family, or a selfish one for personal gain. There was still a lot of teetering. After dodging the crux of the question several times, the ball finally hit me and I was it. The question now was, "how do you know if you are making the right decision?"

This opened up a little gem of a conversation that I had forgotten about until it was retold to me tonight. This came up in a Bible study he was attending. They were discussing the Israelites lack of faith when led to the Red Sea. He brought up the same question... How do you know you are making the right decision... and then pointed to my response. (He told this a bit differently than I am retelling here, but I have a great deal more learning in doctrine and theology that I will account our differences. He was none the less on target with everything he said.)

My explanation on how you know you are making the right decision:
When we practice our faith, we grow in the image of God. The more like Christ we become the more our decision and the pulling on our heart reflects the will of our Lord. So knowing which decision is really a matter of acting out our faith. Being true to what God has placed in us.

That changed his decision. The conversation is still somewhat vague, but that stunned look afterward is etched in my mind. I think that was met with thanksgiving and angst. Either way, it had a profound impact.

That decision change meant weeks and months spent with his Father that all would have been lost. I didn't realize how I ministered, but I did. Everything we do works to tell the story. The story is of God and His wonder. Don't dodge the questions. Answer them with vigor. That Christ might prevail.

I have found a good thing

It was a long time ago through Gods providence, but I have found a good thing. Joi never ceases to amaze me with her abilities. Our friend by acquaintance, Jim Bob Howard, has posted a webinar regarding saving money by shopping with coupons. We've done this before. I'm sure we all have. It never seemed worthwhile though.

That has all changed. Saturday, Joi went to the grocery store and loaded up for our small family of seven. She had her list and her strategy. I honestly didn't know anything about it until she returned. She returned with a receipt the size of a football field. This is mostly because Kroger chooses to print the paragraphs that no one ever reads on all of their receipts. All in all, the receipt wasn't that long considering what all she got. When she handed it to me, I looked at the price to see what would be hitting our check registry. It was $65. I looked a little further down, and saw that she saved 48%. She saved $56 and spent $65. That means we got $111 worth of groceries for $65. This was the first time Joi has used this strategy, but I like it already. That is cheaper for the name brand stuff than we pay out our cheap store Aldi. I will let you know how it works out in the future. I suppose someday the grocery store may give us money to shop there.