If you keep wondering why things never go your way, maybe because you’re missing the signs that are facing the other way.
Over the weekend I hit another couple of financial goals-
- Attended GCC’s Dave Ramsey teaching.
- Started Financial Peace University
- Decided that the last credit card is going bye bye. For the past several months as I’ve started out, I decided all spending will be done purely by debit card or cash only.
I couldn’t help notice the irony of cutting up my “Freedom” card. It’s the free-est I’ve felt in a long time. It made me wish I had more cards to cut up.
Really, there are nearly 800 (!) references to managing your money and comments on finances in the Bible. I took that as a sign that if things are ever going to change, I need to start listening to them. In this case:
Proverbs 22:7- The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
After the sorrow of seeing the Colts lose last night came a surprise nugget of “reality” TV in the form of the CBS show Undercover Boss. In case you didn’t see it, the premise is top level C-something-O’s of their companies come down in the trenches and see what kind of jobs their blue collar employees are really doing. Interesting premise, and while you have to figure parts of the show are staged to an extent, the underlying principle is a good one.
Managers and Presidents seeing first hand the exact same work that their rank and file are doing-hands on- every day. There were no ” ooo bash the boss” moments seen last night. The Waste Management employees had some people in real difficult situations, made possible, in at least one instance by the COOs own policy.
I think the show makes a good underlying point in that, given the right circumstances, the work that is done every day for a company’s bottom line is a seemingly well oiled machine by workers left tired, hurting, achy, or going through the motions day in and out.
It’s a terrible thing to have a job that you slave to because you just need the paycheck. Going through the motions. Doing the bare minimum to avoid the ire of your bosses. As Peter Gibbons stated in the classic film Office Space, “my only motivation Bob, is to not get hassled”.
If more management took the time in companies to SEE the work and listen to some of the stories that are done daily, it could be an eye opener. Forgetting that real people are responsible for making the company what it is, instead of just doling out policy and procedure to appease shareholders or their higher ups will tend to lend a measure of support to the workers.
But at the end, I think the single biggest point is that no matter what kind of job you do, workers just simply want- and NEED- to feel appreciated in their efforts. That’s it. Management principles, classes and books… save them. Just make your people appreciated in their efforts, and they can shine.
Proverbs 18:9- Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
Earlier this week, my girlfriend and I started Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.
FPU is (as the website says): “Dave’s life-changing program that teaches you to achieve your financial goals by eliminating debt, saving for the future, and giving like never before”.
Who wouldn’t want that? I read Dave’s Total Money Makeover book last year, which was simply fantastic on bringing ideas about budgeting and saving and paying debt forward that I had never seen nor thought of. After hearing about FPU, I decided that was something I wanted to take someday. After some discussion, it was decided with times and schedules that we can attend the online classes. So we started week one on Friday.
I think it’s time that as a society, we get realistic about our personal debt, our spending habits (spending to spend), and about planning for the future. The percentages in saving for retirement, and in working out a simple budget to see what kind of money you need to simply live your life is quite eye opening. Especially because I put myself in the bracket of Americans that simply never thought about these things much until faced with problems with both.
But I have vowed to say “never again” to unnecessary credit cards, and to have an idea where finances and the freedom that being truly debt free can provide. A few days ago i started working on another action plan with finances and bills. So far, it feels pretty good. I encourage you after just one lesson to give some thought to taking a look at FPU and what it can do for you. I’m excited.
I’ll post more week by week to see how it goes, and share thoughts. If you have done FPU before, share your thoughts!
Hebrews 12:11- 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.
I posted yesterday to stop wasting time on the internet. And the link I hooked up to was Facebook. I guess I should say while I don’t think Facebook is all kinds of evil, it troubles me that I see a trend in friend status updates that is non-productive.
If you follow any sort of internet trending (which I do as a result of my web designing), or if you just had a myspace page you no longer use, then you are familiar with what went wrong there. Myspace became a jumble of blinkys, bad l33t-style spelling, and a host of other happenings, which drove people away. I fear Facebook is going down that road, except it is user driven.
Jon Acuff posted today on his blog:
Don’t twitter or blog unless you have something to say. You didn’t feel compelled to have a ham radio, don’t feel forced.
Good point there. I joined FB to connect with people in my past, from my job, from my church and to just use to network with other like minded people. I have accomplished all of those things.
I didn’t quite “get” Twitter at first, but I have found a great value in Twitter as well. Twitter allows me to make brief connections and instantly be able to build community and network with people who encourage, inspire or teach me.
- Facebook Inbox has become the new email.
- Twitter has become less about “standing in line at the grocery” tweets, to seeking teaching and inspiration, and to seek and reach people that I would otherwise never know about.
And with that in mind is the issue. Both have a separate value, yet an equal goal. To share networking and to seek and grow with new connections. IF DONE PROPERLY.
If you are using Facebook to socialize and stay up on your friends and family, this is great. If you are spending hours at work playing Mafia Wars and flying between New York and Cuba, not so much.
If your garden in your backyard is as lush and profitable as your Farmville, you’re on track. If you don’t tend to your real outdoor garden, here lies the trouble.
We all have a finite number of minutes and hours in the day. I would prefer to read what you have to say about your life, your well written perspectives, your hopes, your dreams you hope to break into, and maybe where God has brought you in your life to get you from where you were to where you are now.
I don’t care about reading what bra color you have.
I don’t care about what celebrity you kinda look like.
I don’t care about being in the 7% of FB users who will mindlessly “dare” to copy and paste a status for an hour.
I don’t care about your joke of the day status.
I don’t care about how many Street Racing points you have earned.
I don’t care about the rare paintings and playing cards you need for your “collection”.
And the real shocker? I’m not the only friend on your page who feels the same way.
If you have something to say- and not just a “rant”, but want to share your real thoughts/dreams/accomplishments… I am all in. I want to share my own struggles with that same issue. I want you to share your journey and say we’re both walking the same road that neither of us knew we were both on. But I can’t do that if you’re not making your writing work for you. Use your social networking wisely, don’t let it use you.
Oh and if you have a blog I didn’t know about- post it!
Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV): Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Its time to face your fears and failures. Its time to get caught up. Its time to move on.
What have you been putting off? Finances? Relationships? Job Changes? Cleaning your basement? Losing that 10 pounds?
We can’t keep hiding in the sand and ignoring the issues we know we need to do regarding these things in life. Need to lose weight? Need to improve that relationship? Need to mend some fences with a friend from your last beef? Need to find a way to get caught up and be financially free of these credit cards?
Let’s do it.
I spent today trying to order and prioritize the spending and budgeting. Making some phone calls to say this is where things are at and let’s resolve this.
I worked out last night instead of sitting in the office and BS’ing with the coworkers.
I’m organizing lists.
I’m actually watching that debit card spending to stop the “$5 here,, $10 here” losses.
I’ve always said you make time for the things you WANT to make time for. Let’s do this together and face what we need to face.
Not sure where to start? Let’s make a plan. Let’s click some links.
Let’s resolve to get some workout and diet advice.
Let’s see how to be Financially Free.
Let’s see how we can get some GRACE in our life and see what God wants for us.
Let’s see how to get a Second Chance in life.
Let’s STOP wasting our time in front of the computer.
Let’s give to help those with great loss .
What else do we need to do? Share with me and let’s figure out how we can get our lives moving forward…. together!
Proverbs 27:17: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
People who like to enjoy stirring up dust of the lives of others usually often forget to sweep their own porch first.
Weezer- I Want You To..
Peppy song. Love the 50’s retroness.. it will be the best 3:32 of your day if you click it!
A Tweet I posted earlier came as a result of doing some web design work. My question being- what font would God use?
I figure there are a few possibilities. I mean, the Bible is a living document, translated from and to every language known. So if the Bible is God’s word, what would God use to get your attention? Some thoughts:
Times New Roman. It’s the default MS Word font. Used in countless memos and on millions of “please throw away your own trash” type computer generates signs everywhere. Eh, too common.
Something Handwritten? Perhaps. Since the Bible was originally told as stories put on paper, this makes sense. And God is informal. You can have a relationship everywhere, any time. So this is a good possibility.
Papyrus. Good call. This just looks kind of old school, and just seems kind of religious. But to that end, a bit overused in print for those purposes.
A good Typewriter style! This is also a good possibility because it looks formal, neat, clean, proper, and easy on the eyes. Nothing difficult about it. Except the story of our lives is usually nothing like that. Our lives tend to be messy, broken, cluttered, hard to understand.
Which makes me think a Graffiti font would be something God would use to speak to us. It can be ugly. Hard to get. You look at a railroad car and think “huh”? But someone, somewhere, gets the tagging. Mmm, not quite.
So I guess the best one I can come up with would be:
IMPACT. It by default is BOLD. It is CLEAR. Easy to follow. Doesn’t leave much unsaid. I think that God tries to speak to us in signs. Messages that are made clear. With a point. Sometimes designed to get your attention and say “HEY- READ THIS”.
Impact does just that. Hereby, the Official Font of God.
Acts 4:28-30- They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
The internet has been abuzz with this Apple iPad nonsense yesterday. I will admit that I lust for an iPhone, despite my Blackberry satisfaction. My video iPod will be one of those things I save in the hypothetical fire. But this thing? I just don’t get it. My first reaction was that after reading its shortcomings it has the same functionality as a lousy iPod Touch.
Turns out I appear to be right.
Hitler was even upset after seeing what it can won’t do:
What kind of mfr. bucks trends against standardization like Apple does with this thing? Needing an adaptor to use a USB port jump drive?? I thought only Sony had to have everything exclusive its way.
Personally, my desktop and my laptop and my Blackberry make a perfect combination for me. I think for those that needed to get the Apple “gotta have it” fix, you got left out too.
