~ This month's topics: Financial Freedom, Simple Living Books, and the Weigh Down Diet ~  June 16th is a special day for me as it is our 9th wedding anniversary!! Jim and I will be celebrating 14 years together which includes our 9 years of "wedded bliss." I will publicly say that my husband is my best friend and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have married him! We are so compatible and our love grows with every year we spend together. Here's to you, Sweetie! Thinking about our upcoming anniversary has caused me to truly consider just how far we have come since we met each other 14 years ago. I now know that our earlier years together would have gone even smoother if we had known the Lord then, but somehow I believe that we are actually stronger in our beliefs because we found Him later in our marriage. Every day, we see just how much God has provided and continues to provide for us. We also know that our daily lives go much easier if we recognize His total control of our lives. We continue to see God's hand in so much of our lives! If you read my last entry, you will remember how I was a bit concerned about June being a tight month financially. Well, I am very happy to say that it has not turned out to be the case at all! When June began, I prayed to God to show me how to make the money stretch so that I wouldn't have to delve into any other resources to keep up with money for our monthly expenses. I prayed that He be in control of the finances and He has blessed us once again! Yesterday, I sat down and looked closely at the checkbook and we are in great shape for the rest of the month. I was able to actually double what we usually give to the church (I'd like to tithe, but am not quite there yet with the budget), I paid off the extra money due on the credit card next month (my hubby bought me a cd player for my van for Mother's Day and I had put some book purchases on there), put all my profit from my book sales back into buying books for another sale list (and tithed on the profit, too! I must give credit where credit is due!) and I still have some profit left for more book-buying when the impulse strikes! We've even had some extra expenses this month due to Ian's birthday party, some extra book-buying on my part for our family library, some clothes buying for the family, etc. It is truly only through God's grace that we have made it through the month of June with seemingly tons of money to spare for the "extras!!" A close friend has told me that when we freely give with a cheerful heart, God will take care of us and I definitely found that to be true this month! I've read two very good books so far in June dealing with simple living. The first one is called Living The Simple Life; A Guide To Scaling Down And Enjoying More by Elaine St. James. In it she takes a very straightforward approach to scaling back in different areas of our lives. She has lots of great ideas for getting started in the quest for a simpler life and then she tackles the areas of Personal/Household routines, Lifestyle Issues, Simple Parenting, and Simple Wardrobes for Men and Women. This would be a wonderful book for those just starting to consider how to lead a simpler life. I truly enjoyed it and gleaned a few ideas from it as well! Ms. St. James has written many wonderful books on simplicity and scaling back so if you'd like to see what else she has written, click here! The other book that I've almost finished reading is Gift From the Sea by Anne Lindbergh. It is a wonderfully insightful and quick read! Her basic premise is that our lives have different stages (early marriage, raising a family and building a career, empty nest syndrome, etc.) and we should change our goals and aspirations as we reach these different times in our lives. I believe this book has a lot to offer me and I'm definitely going to re-read it again this year. Reading Gift From the Sea has forced me to realize that although I'd like more material goods at times (a larger house, for instance), my focus in the present needs to be on raising my family and keeping my marriage intact as well as growing in my relationship with God. The material items will NOT make me happy! Now, I've known this for almost the last year, but it does help to have it pointed out to me again and again! Some months ago I mentioned how I was hoping to lose weight this year and also get more physically fit. I don't think I've commented recently on how I'm doing with that goal. I'm happy to report that I'm 13 pounds lighter than I was in December and I'm up to walking 45 minutes as many mornings as I can (and sometimes I also walk in the evenings with a good friend). I look better, I feel better and know that God is guiding me in this process. I still have about 20 more pounds to lose, but I'm thrilled with the results since beginning Weigh Down a few months ago (You can read my Weigh Down journal by clicking here!). I still have some toning to do, but that will probably begin in the fall once my kids are in school. I'm really looking forward to the end results, whatever they turn out to be! I guess that that is all of the update I have for you at the moment. Keep watching for more updates in my quest for the simpler life! (A good friend from my church says reading this story is like watching a soap opera! I hope you are enjoying it as much as she is :-) WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?
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