Life on a budget

    Recently we have felt a serious push to enhance our food storage as well as things we might need in case of an emergency. When we originally felt this urgency, we began praying that the Lord would provide the extra money we needed, every prayer we said included this plea and yet nothing was changing. Eventually I changed my personal prayer, I no longer prayed that the funds would be provided but that we would find a way in the money that we already make, to buy the things we need. I felt an immediate need to pay off all unnecessary debt ( credit cards, lines of credit, ect.). I called my husband at work in tears and explained that the Lord was not going to have someone leave $10,000 on our porch but if we listened closely to his promptings, budgeted, sacrificed our 'wants' and continued to pay our tithing and fast offerings, he would provide a way.  My husband agreed but was a little hesitant. We have found that we can do a budget for a bit but we quickly get burnt out when we don't see results fast enough.
     So we got started.
     Budget - I've gotten a little relaxed in the last 3 months but I was going over our budget every. single. day. I would write and rewrite down all our expenses (to the very $). There were 2 week periods where we had $16 extra for 2 weeks - this was after bills, groceries, gas, and lunches for my husband - then we would pay tithing and I would go over the budget again and we would have $50 extra instead of that original $16. A true miracle.
     Every single extra penny we received - bday $, bonuses, profit from selling things, you name it - all the extra went towards debt. sometimes the extra money was right down to the penny, enough to pay off a certain debt.
     We still have a little bit to go but we finally, after 5 years of marriage, aren't living paycheck to paycheck. We are cruising through our goal of paying things off  and somehow enjoying a budget. We finally have money in savings and an unexpected bonus and instead of spending money we finally have, we just sit and stare at our bank account.
     I testify that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we all have our lessons that have to be learned the hard way. I'm truly grateful that we are trying to live right and are able to hear the promptings from the Lord. If we are willing to put everything in the Lord's hands, he will provide a way for our righteous desires, very rarely is it in a way that we want (or think we want) but we will become better and stronger if we do his will.

What's in a name?

It was a Tuesday and I was flossing for the last time with braces, eighteen months was cut down to 14 and I was ready to get them off. I was laughing to myself thinking about the $$$ that had been put in my mouth over the years and wondered if I would be satisfied with the current results. I got really close to the mirror pretending to possibly talk myself out of getting them off that day, even though my mind was clearly made up, when I noticed something I hadn't previously. Just to make sure I wasn't seeing something that didn't exist, I smiled big, frowned, smiled, frowned, smiled, and starting crying. Apparently, I have a crooked grin. My top teeth pull a little bit to the right where my bottom teeth are lined up perfectly with my cupid's bow.
 Fortunately for this 'crooked grin', the tears didn't get very far. I heard a small whisper, one that I recognized and couldn't deny.
 "You are perfect because I made you."
Whaaaat? It's incredibly hard to live in a world where you're nearly always behind in the newest fashion trend and what's 'hip' (I'm probably behind on the lingo as well.) but I find confidence in the reminder of my Heavenly Father's love for me. Sure I'm lacking in all sorts of areas when it comes to my closet and we won't mention my make up but I am a child of God who know my imperfections and loves me in spite of them.
 My husband laughed when I tried to show him my crooked grin. With his little wink and his gorgeous smile, he told me I was beautiful.
 You see, if we pay attention to the the whispers and the kind words of those around us we'll find that our Heavenly Father's love is surrounding us, reminding us that we are perfect even with a crooked grin.