Don't Give Up

My husband and I have been helping our daughters with their piano lessons. Music has been a huge part of our lives and we would love to impress this upon our children. It’s pretty evident that they have some basic talent and a growing love for music. It’s often a musical at my house as the girls are singing their conversations and dancing about the house.

A challenge for us is when we introduce a new piece of music. The excitement and novelty wear off REALLY quickly when it’s challenging and they can’t play it perfectly the first time. There have been tears, frustration, threats of wanting to quit and yet we don’t let them.

I start shaking my head, wondering why don’t they get it?

“It’s just practice! It will take some time! I know you can do it! I know you have it in you! Don’t worry about making mistakes. It’s not worth getting so upset! I love you. I believe in you. With me you can do anything. Trust me.”

Then I stop.

And think.

How often do I want to quit when it gets hard…
…or I think it’s taking too long…
…or I want to just take the easy road and give up?

How often do I forget that God believes in me and has called me to His purpose? I forget that He will give me the strength to carry on - to complete the task. How often do I not see the big picture but get stuck with this difficult moment and lose all hope?

I do all of these things way too often.

And yet God doesn’t shake His head, He tells me, “It’s just practice! It will take some time! I know you can do it! I know you have it in you! Don’t worry about making mistakes. It’s not worth getting so upset! I love you. I believe in you. With me you can do anything. Trust me.”

And then with God’s help, I do it.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength,
that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.
1 Timothy 1;12

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4;13

www.myheartsdesireministries.com
©2009 All Rights Reserved Trina Loucks

It's Not So Bad

Maybe the recession isn't so bad.

The ebb and flow of our economy has got me thinking (it probably has gotten a lot of people thinking!) The media insists we are in a recession and I just heard a report saying that we've actually been in a recession since last Christmas - we just didn't know it!

I'm wondering if the recession is a good thing. If you look at any financial institution (i.e. business, non-profit or personal) there are cycles: expansion and growth, excess, scale back, expansion and growth...and it continues. It looks similar in my own finances!

Would it really be so bad if we had to cut back?

It concerned me at first that the most common piece of advice has been to "watch your spending" or "don't buy unnecessary items." This can be good advice but it won't necessarily help the economy. But then I started thinking...

Would it be so bad if we didn't spend so much?

...if we didn't spend so much, people wouldn't have to work as much...

...if we didn't work so much, maybe life would have more joy and we'd have more time to do things we couldn't do before...

What if we depended more on our family, friends and neighbors instead of buying everything or paying someone to do it?

What if we could wait to purchase items and not run up our credit?

Would it really be so bad?

As a family, we've definitely been affected by the recession and are trying to figure out ways to cut back. At first it was really stressful but it's actually been helpful. Here are some of the things we did:

• We changed to basic cable. It saves us $50 a month. We were paying for channels that we hardly ever watched! We only have cable on one TV. Our other TV is used for movies and video games.

• We talked to our auto insurance company and were able to get a different policy that will save us a couple hundred dollars a year.

• We cut back our cell phone plan - we were able to save $100 a month using text messages instead of minutes and by removing the web browser that we rarely used.

• We've been depending more on friends and family. I'm going to get a relative to trim my girls' hair to save a trip to kids' salon. We've also been swapping movies with friends and family so we don't have to go and rent them. They have a ton of movies that we haven't seen!

• We're trying to conserve water by not letting it run while doing the dishes and brushing our teeth. We're scaling way back on outside water usage during the winter months.

• We're making a conscience effort to turn off lights when they are not in use to save on our electric bill.

• For our weekly "Family Fun Night," we are doing things at home. We each take a turn picking what we'll do that night and we've become pretty creative with activities that cost little or no money. We love to watch movies or play games and the kids love it!
  

Since Christmas is quickly approaching, we've also taken some additional steps to save:

• We're not giving presents to everybody. My brother and I decided that we didn't need to exchange gifts with our families this year. Instead, we are going to have a game night!

• We are buying our girls only a couple of presents because they get plenty from grandparents and extended family! This not only saves money but saves on the stress of trying to figure out where to put it all after Christmas!

• We're sending e-Christmas Cards this year!

• We're giving homemade gifts. Our pumpkin bread is pretty popular!
  

Maybe we'll learn...

...how to live with less...

...how to depend on each other...

...how to work less and play more...

...how to live simpler lives...

...how to rely on God, not ourselves for every need...

...that we don't need half of things that we thought we needed...

...that it's not so bad.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6;25-26

©2008 All Rights Reserved Trina Loucks

God's Timing

God’s timing is an amazing thing. It often seems like it’s not my timing but always ends up being the best possible timing. Why do I still doubt God’s timing? Is it because I’m a control freak or is it a natural tendency of a chick? We’re in the business of timing. We have to schedule not only our schedules but also the schedules of our whole household. We have to figure out the timing of when to start dinner, when to start homework, when to start getting the kids into bed, or when to go to bed so we can get up in the morning (to name just a few!)

As Christmas quickly approaches (I do not have all of my decorations out or presents wrapped like some of my friends- I haven’t even started!), I’m reminded of the timing of Jesus’ arrival. Did it seem like great timing…

• for Mary to get pregnant before she was married?
• for Joseph to be publicly humiliated because of his pregnant fiancé?
• that there was a census that required Mary and Joseph to travel right at Mary’s due date?
• for Jesus to be born under the rule of Caesar Augustus?
• for there to be no room at any inn?
• that Jesus was born in a stable surrounded by animals?

It doesn’t seem like God picked the greatest timing for the greatest thing to happen on earth or did He? It definitely doesn’t look like it from our earthly standards but as I often remind myself, “God’s ways are not my ways.” (Isaiah 55;8)