sharelife.me

In January my church, Northcrest Baptist Church, advertised a new financial class that was going to be offered called “God Owns It All.”  My instinctive thought in response to this announcement was, “I don’t need that.” Even though my husband Heath and I were married just this past June, I wasn’t concerned about how we manage our money. I felt confident in our current financial state. Many people who know me personally know that I grew up watching my parents learn about budgeting through Dave Ramsey’s classes, and I even wrote an article about my thoughts on money management as a single woman in 2017 called “Money Smarts” (https://www.sharelife.me/money-smarts/).  While Heath and I were dating, I shared what I had learned over the years and showed him how I budgeted. We also read Dave Ramsey’s book titled The Total Money Makeover during our weeks of marriage counseling. When I heard about this new class, I truly felt we already knew everything we needed to know. We budgeted, we saved, and we tithed, so it would be a waste of time. 

It was just turning into the holiday season of 2017 when my husband lost his job. I felt anxiety, despair, and panic roll in at full force. I immediately thought of all the things coming up at the time. Christmas was only weeks away, along with all the extra expenses. He was about to start medical school, and we had no idea how we were going to make ends meet living off student loans. We were trying to save for a down payment and buy a house, so we could move near the school which was over an hour away. All of these worries filled my head, and the anxiety of how we would pay our bills, let alone have the money for anything extra, threatened to suffocate me. Continue reading

In this day and age, we live with technology similar to that seen before its time in the classic cartoon, “The Jetsons.”  We have technology that we can actually talk to and instantly receive a response.  Parents around the world may be suiting up their kiddos for a school day when they pause to say, “Alexa, what’s the weather like today?” And we are not surprised when the electronic device responds with something like, “The weather in Meridian today will be slightly warm with a high of 67 degrees and a 90% chance of rain showers.”  iPhone users will speak with Siri, and it’s no surprise when “she” responds.  Continue reading

I ate really well on Sunday. It’s my day to rest and worship with my family, so I ate several huge, vitamin-filled meals. Someone served the food to me, too, so what’s better than that? I didn’t even have to make it for myself, so by the end of the day, I was fat and happy. Then Monday came, and even though I’m off on Mondays, I filled my day with a MILLION things I needed to do for the week. The hunger pangs started toward the end of the day, so I ate a little snack to get me by, and then I kept going full speed ahead. No slowing down, y’all! Continue reading

Research tells us that young children need to hear around 21,000 words per day.  These words help them develop their vocabulary, language skills, and will make them better students once they enter school.  My three-year-old hears this allotment, no doubt.  He’s the youngest of four, so there’s no shortage of words in our house. Continue reading

Life has a way of throwing things at us unexpectedly,  doesn’t it? You go through a period of time, a time of calm and peace, you might say, and everything seems to be going so well. Your boss tells you how much he appreciates the hard work you are putting in. Your sweet husband makes you breakfast. You have financial plans in place for all the things you want to accomplish in the future.  All of the pieces seem to be falling into place when all of a sudden, the car breaks down. Continue reading