Never Fails

So three weeks ago we started on the E-Mealz program. We love it. We're cooking more, eating better, saving money everything is going well. Until are oven decided to revolt. It just quit on Cole in the middle of cooking our wonderful Tilapia dinner. We had to use the toaster oven to finish the process. So we've been off emealz for a bit while the oven was down. Thankfully the oven is back up and operational again as of this afternoon. We'll be back at it this week.

The oven repair estimate was about $500. I was thinking about what a crisis this presented to us and our budget. We were getting pretty frustrated for a while as we debated whether or not we should fix it our just go buy a new one. Then we looked at prices and thought maybe we'll just fix it. Then we got to thinkin', "Hey we have an emergency fund. This is not a cash crisis." Funny how just a couple of years ago this would have been a real strain on the finances. Yet, now it is just a minor inconvenience. Honestly I was just a little bummed that we had a house full of food but we couldn't cook it. I was fearing starvation!! But, my wonderful wife improvised and got us by.

The cool thing was when the repair guy returned with the parts a couple days later, it ended up only being about $300. Of course, it's never so simple and he left us with a gas leak in the oven and we had to wait a couple more days till a different guy could come back and tighten up the lines the first guy left loose. But all is well now! We can eat again! All is right in the Moore House.

We actually spent about $400 dollars to repair a leak on Cole's car as well this month. If my math is right that means we were able to absorb $700 worth of unexpected expenses thanks to a spending plan and our emergency fund. We did it all without resorting to the credit card too! Dave Ramsey would be proud!

E-MEALZ

This is just a quick post to tell you all about something Cole and I just love. E-Mealz. They advertise on the Dave Ramsey Show. E-Mealz is a company that for $5 a month will set you up on a meal plan every week. You get 5 meals a week and shopping list to go with it. The neat feature here is they can custom a meal plan to your specific needs. For example you could do a "Low Fat" plan or a "Gluton Free". You can also taylor it to the stores you shop at. For example Cole and I are on the Aldi Plan for 2. It is great! Every week they send us a shopping list for what we'll need to purchase and they even include the prices. It makes making out the food budget very easy and takes all the work out of planning meals and grocery lists. It is a fantastic plan and the recipes are outstanding. Those of you that know me know that I am a very picky eater, but I have enjoyed each of the meals so far. Check them out on-line at:

e-mealz.com

I should be clear hear. You are not purchasing meals from e-mealz just recipes and a shopping list. But it saves time, money and stress. Check them out. Okay that's it for the commercial:)

Great Wealth or Great Poverty

"Great wealth and Great poverty are equal tests of a man." That is a quote I am borrowing from my father's notes he used to teach an adult Sunday School Class entitled, "A Biblical Perspective on our Resources" over a decade ago. In light of the discussion Bruce and I have had in the comments of the last post, I have been thinking about this statement. Personally I'd rather have to deal with the great wealth test. It just seems like an easier road on the surface doesn't it? But he claims they are equal.

Larry Burkett used to say something like, "Show me your checkbook and I'll show you your priorities." This is a true statement. It is easy for us to tell someone what we believe in or what really matters most but, do our actions back it up. Bruce makes the observation that in general the poor give proportionally more than the wealthy do. I am not sure Joe Biden makes a credible example of wealthy giving. But since his records are more public we'll let it fly. I'd rather hear about the giving of a wealthy person that is not in the public eye and not in a profession prone to dishonesty. I would argue that Joe has a heart issue. Much like the rest of us. His heart is not that generous. Perhaps if Joe took a good long look at what he has been given by his Creator, he would open up the purse strings a bit and find his generous spirit. I am not picking on Joe. He is a lot like all of us. Myself included. Though I do not have the same level of wealth as Joe I do have that same selfish tendency in my heart to hang onto what is "mine". Perhaps in the context of a Biblical Perspective being wealthy isn't such an easy test after all.

It is relatively easy to see how great poverty would be a test. Basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter become a daily struggle. Hunger and disease become a way of life. Yet we can find people of tremendous charitable spirit in these places. Why is that? In these same places we can find horrible selfish people who will take whatever they can get from those that have nothing to give. Why is that? I read a couple of months ago, "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden. In it he describes what life is like in Mogadishu at the time the US got involved. The people that lived there had very little. Yet whatever aid was sent to them was hijacked by the group with the guns and distributed as they saw fit. Or not distributed. There are a lot more to the politics there than I can speak to but, this really made the point for me in my own understanding of the human heart. Wealth is not evil. Wealth is neither good nor bad. It just is.

The good or evil part is in our hearts. Just as those in poverty can be generous or selfish so can the wealthy. It is a heart issue. The test for the wealthy is how to best manage all that God has so generously given. I believe one day I will be held accountable for how I have managed that which God has given me. This is not a salvation issue, but rather an issue of, "Do I really love Jesus and want to follow him?" If I do, I need to be about the things that Jesus was about like caring for and loving the poor. This is difficult as Bruce has pointed out to do in our Western Culture of Plenty.

My temptation is to depend on myself. I did this or I did that. Look what I have built. I got us out of debt. That hurt to write down. It becomes a pride thing. Where in our culture do we stop pursuing more wealth and start giving it away? When does saving become hoarding? Jesus told the rich man to sell all that he owned and then follow Him. He couldn't do it. If he gave me the same command could I do it? What do I value? Where does my security lie? Yet he asked some fisherman to follow him and they dropped there nets and left there dad in the boat to follow him. I would guess that they were not wealthy like the rich man yet they left all they had even if it wasn't very much. Would I have left my dad in the boat with the nets full of fish? These are really difficult issues. I do not know the answers. They are answers that we all must find. I think we find them by looking in our own hearts.

My standard for generosity is not found in other people. It is not found in the 10% tithe. It is something that I know in my heart. When I get that prodding in my heart to give, do I do it? Cole and I do give consistently and gladly to our church. We start at a least 10% but, we want to do more and whenever we do it is awesome. But I am not just talking about the offering plate. What about the waitress at the restaurant I visit frequently? What if I feel prompted to leave a significant tip on the table as I walk out? Do I? We all know single moms. What if I feel prompted to put cash in an envelope and slip it under her door? Do I follow up on that? What about the kinds of poverty that Bruce was referring to? The kind found in third world nations. What do I do with that?

These are the heart checks that God uses to test my generosity, my heart, my values. I don't always pass them. But when I do, I am filled with joy. It may very well mean more to me to give it than it does to those that receive it. It puts me back in the right frame of mind. It gives me focus on what really matters. It all comes back to the parable of the Pearl of Great Price that Jesus told in Matthew 13:45-46. Or the words of a christian song from my childhood. I don't know who wrote it or sang it:
"He is no fool, if he would choose to sell the things he cannot keep to buy what he can never lose."

For a long time I walked around not even hearing the little voice inside that provokes these acts of generosity. I tuned it out. Now that I am learning to manage resources for God I am a little bit more tuned in. I don't want to miss an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world. It doesn't always have to be monetary giving either. But, for the sake of the topic of the blog we'll stick with that.

I have to agree that dad was right. Great wealth and great poverty are equal tests of a man. In either case I am 100% dependent on God. It is easy to see it in poverty yet it is hard to feel it in great wealth. One more verse to illustrate one last point. The Apostle Paul in being grateful for the gifts of the Philippian Church:

Phil. 4:11-13 "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

Maybe what I should really strive for is contentment. Perhaps that is when you know you have arrived. When I can be content with whatever God gives or takes from my accounts then I'll know it's enough. It's all His anyways. This is not an excuse to avoid working and saving money either. It is simply a freeing statement to know that when we reach the end of our selves, there is God. He who clothes the lilies better than a king and cares for the sparrow, cares more for you and me.

Protect Your Family

I'd like to speak more to the gentleman. Not that this doesn't apply to you ladies as well, but men I charge you with this responsibility. Actually, I believe God calls you to this. Please protect your wife and family with disability/life insurance. No I am not selling insurance. What I am pushing is our charge as men to love our wives and look out for them. What kind of a mess would you leave to your spouse if you were the victim of "The Bus Incident." The Bus Incident is what we say at work when we want to explain a situation to a coworker "just in case I get hit by a bus tonight on my way home," they'll know what is going on tomorrow.

Please be patient with me as I relate a couple of personal stories on this one. 8 years ago this July my father passed away after a 33 month battle with ALS (Lou Gerhigs Disease). My father was the best! That is him in the photo above. Yes, that is little me too! That was the first time he took me hunting. He loved our family more than I'll ever realize. He looked out for us. Long before he was ever ill, he made the small gesture of love to my mother and purchased good disability and good life insurance. If he had waited till he was sick he would never have been able to get it. Immediately after diagnosis, he set about arranging his estate so that it would be able to care for my mother after he was gone. For those that don't know, ALS has no cure. It is a death sentence. He knew that if he was the average case he'd be gone in 18-36 months. He probably waited a little too long to get his estate plan arranged but, he took the time, when he was literally sick and tired, and he loved my mom in this way! With all of the emotions we went through as a family, it was wonderful that mom didn't have to worry about the money end of it. I am so thankful for the last 3 years of my dad's life. We had time to say all that we wanted to say. He left this life and entered the next knowing his wife was taken care of.

Men!!! Are you still listening??? My father was in fantastic physical shape. At the age of 48, he was in better shape than most 35 year olds. He ate the right things and exercised. Through no fault of his own he contracted a disease that turned him into an old man that could not do anything for himself almost overnight. He could not even talk for the last several months! Don't think this can't happen to any of us! Worse yet, you may not get 33 months. You may only get the blink of an eye before the bus hits you and you realize your a goner! Take care of this today! Make it a priority.

My father told me in the months prior to my marriage that I needed to make this a priority. I am so glad that I did. Every time I see that money leave my account each month to pay the premium, it let's me know Cole will be okay, from a money standpoint, if I get hit by a bus. For that matter Cole's policy is in there too and it let's me know I'll be alright as well.

The last story I'll relate to this topic is this, last Oct. 31st, a lady in my office was killed, on her way home from church, in a car wreck. She was on the narrow country road near her home and as she crested the top of the hill at 40mph she discovered an SUV coming at 60mph that had drifted to her side of an already narrow road. She took the hit just to the drivers side of head-on as she swerved for the ditch. Just like that she was gone. I don't think that it ever crossed her mind that today was her day. 52 years young and in great shape. She used to walk after work down the country road our shop sits on. We used to tell her to be careful not to get hit while walking there.

Her name was Lee. I don't know about her financial/insurance situation but I know she left behind an aging mother that she was the primary caregiver for, a boyfriend, and 2 daughters in there 20's. This is the group that had to come up with the cash for her final expenses. If there was no insurance in this situation, that is potentially a several thousand dollar or more burden that was laid on that group. I tell you this because I want you to realize just how quick this can happen. Whether your 20 and engaged or 60 with adult kids, care for your family in this way. They will have it hard enough dealing with the loss of you! Give them this one last gift to help. If you are independantly wealthy and leaving them a large estate you may disregard this request. You've already covered it.

What I took away from Lee's death was that I don't know how long I have left. Maybe 70 more years maybe 70 more seconds! While the context here is money and providing for our families, that is what I'll stick with in closing. I want to know that Cole will be able to maintain financially in my absence, what we have worked so hard to build together. I want her to be able to continue her way of life and not have to worry about the mortgage, bills, or funeral expenses. You could add to all of this an estate plan as well. As much fun as it is to talk about it, you should. Communicate with your family on what the arrangements are. This is important! Do it today!