eleventy-first post

There are people so poor, all they have is money.

(a quote I read on the internet)

Paul said our weaknesses exemplify Christ's strength. So, stubbornly, I pray "Make me needy. Make me have to suffer, to work hard, to toil long. Let me be desperate for You." Of course over the years I will do (have done) nearly anything to avoid dependence on anyone or anything, but that is laughably impossible. Our ideas of difficulty and ease can be quite fallacious.

By God's grace we no longer have ANY credit cards, for the first time in our lives. Unless Brett's salary changes dramatically or his hours decline again, we are set to pay off the student loans & house in about 5 years. As helpful as those five years would be to invest and save for the future, it is just not worth me working full time and missing these five years of Norah's life. Nope. No matter how much I second-guess. Besides, perhaps our challenges can be a testament to God's sustenance and we can glorify Him with our discipline (or possible failure). This is our chosen path, not an easy one, but it could be much, much worse.

We are taking a Dave Ramsey class again next year because we learned so much the first time (and you can get your own stats at mytmmo.com). You might be at a way different place in life than we are; I think I'm just trying to communicate my gratefulness, and to encourage anyone in similar circumstances. That red line on the graph? It ends on our 10th anniversary - how cool is that?! Maybe I will get a tattoo to commemorate the event's significance. Maybe not, we'll see.

What will Norah be like when she's ten? What does it matter? She's three right now, and she won't be three forever, so I'm gonna go give her a kiss.

111

elevenses

If i were to my 111th post, then I could write it on 11.11.11. Alas, I only just reached 100... but that time will come. :)

Since today is Nov 11th 2011, also a Friday Veterans' Day, I would like to commemorate it in writing. Writing about sanctification, which does not have numerical designation. If it is measurable at all, it is only in retrospect; or, a friend once told me, like a tree.

Saying that I love to read is like saying that I love to breathe, and most of the time I take them both for granted. But in stories often I focus solely on finding out what happens - what is the result? what is the application? For instance I cannot bring myself to read all of the Twilight books but I want to know what happens so I watch the films because that saves me a few minutes, and makes the characters slightly more endurable because I can focus on the music or the cinematography/special effects or the costuming and find something redeeming instead of trudging through a style of writing that (I hate to say it but I can't lie) bores me. What I am getting at is the fact that I must know what happens. But only God knows what tomorrow holds. He is the only perfect Future Thinker (by the way, He is also the perfect Present Thinker, in case you didn't know). He wants us to trust Him TODAY for whatever we might think we need tomorrow. In fact that's what Jesus did when He prayed Thy Will Be Done.

[Note: I posted this a while after I first wrote it on 11/11/11. My apologies.]