For my iPhone peps

I don't have an iPhone. I wish I did. Thats another post though. If you have read my goals for 2010, then you know that I want to make a price book this year.

What's a price book, you may ask? Basically it is tracking the price of certain items over a long period of time so you can determine the sale cycle and absolute lowest price for it. You can find all kinds of info about a price book simply by googling it, but Frugal Hacks has a simple step by step guide to creating one here. Anyhow, so far all I have done is collect receipts!

But I may have a neat opportunity for those of you with iPhone's. Jim recently contacted me to tell me about a price book app he has created and wanted me to try. Ha! I was so sad that of course I couldn't try it. But he was nice enough to give me a code for all of my iPhone-having-blog-readers to try out!! So for any of you who live and breathe by your iPhone, be sure to check this app out and see if it can help you save some money... and make sure to come back here and let me know how it goes!! Pretty please?

The Promo Code: KJ4TNT67HPKE

Which can be redeemed at:

https://buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/redeemLandingPage

Do any of you already use a Price Book??

MONEY- the ultimate fertilizer

In a recent sermon at my church, my pastor was talking about being faithful with what you have. You might have heard the verse in Luke that says : "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."(Luke 16:10)

Money is an annoying thing. You have to have it to live, but you dont want to live for it. Regardless if you want to or not, you have to think about money at some point in everyday of your life (minus the early days of course). I think too often we categorize money as a non-spiritual thing, as a worldly thing. Sure we tithe some of it and use it for something spiritual, but in and of itself it is such a worldly thing. This just isnt true. We have to learn to see everything in our life as spiritual, because we have a God that is omni-present. He is everywhere and He can shine through everything. God doesnt hate money. Jesus would not have taught us so much about something he hated. God wants us to understand that money is His, just as our every breathe is His. We own nothing. NOTHING.

"If you have not been faithful with money, God will not trust you with true spiritual riches- the care of souls, missions, evangelism, the oversight of the church. " R.Kent Hughes

I dont know about you, but I want to be trusted with the true spiritual riches! Did you know that being disciplined in giving grows your faith? Most of us automatically think of reading the bible, praying or bible study as ways to grow our faith. But doing those things without also growing in stewardship and worship is lopsided. You will hit a plateau. But committing to spend some of your money on something for the Lord versus something for your needs or pleasures transforms your heart bit by bit. It grows your trust in the Lord to provide for you and to meet your needs.

Do you know one way you can be faithful with your money while investing in the true spiritual riches of the Kingdom? GIVE! Give to missionaries, missions organizations, local organizations that are aiding the poor etc. So today I am challenging you to look at those budgets and find that extra $10 bucks (or $20 or $50, whatever) and COMMIT to give to something faithfully. Watch your relationship with the Lord flourish through this discipline.

Need some ideas of what to give to??
1. Your local church. Commit first to give to the ministry of your local church, this should be a priority.
2. Missionaries. These people are giving up their comforts, families and friends to go and share the gospel. They aren't any more holy than those of us that live here and work, but they do have a financial need that those of us with jobs can meet. (Side note: We need to all see our jobs as a mission field. You are a missionary. Please embrace this!)

Dont know any missionaries that are trying to raise support? My friend Mandy has sacrificed alot to go share the gospel in Sweden, and she needs people to come alongside and help her answer God's call on her life. Do you have $10 to give a month? $100? All of it helps. Let me know if you are interested in meeting with her about this.

3. Specific ministries. Do you know a ministry that could really use some financial help? Partner in their work! One suggestion I have is to give to the WKU BCM (the ministry I worked with for 4 years), which is a ministry that seeks to impact the campus for Christ. Let me know if this interests you.

Lord, Let me hold onto nothing tightly and everything lightly. 

what's in a title?

well a few moments ago i realized i had still not changed my email signatures from when my job ended. you see my email signature has read: 

Sabrina Pate

WKU Baptist Campus Ministry

Assistant Campus Minister

(270)781-3185

for the last two years. and for the two years before that it was very similar (Campus Minister Intern). but for the last 2 1/2 months this has not been my title. 2 1/2 months already? wow!! so as i sent an email about leading a bcm dgroup today, i realized the time had come... and I am now title-less. my signature is now: Sabrina Pate. thats it. 

am i upset? sad a little... but I a more upset or surprised by the fact that it is almost the end of August and I do not have a job. I think when this whole journey started I just was super naive about how long it would take to get a job... at least at WKU. (seriously, why didnt someone tell me? i would have started looking in January/February instead of waiting till april!) but alas this is where we are... August and jobless. 

And though on a moment by moment basis I do have doubts or fears, in my heart I know the Lord has and will provide. I ran across this sentence in my bible study yesterday... 

"I found Him faithful yesterday, He will not be unfaithful today." (Beth, Living Free)

And it is true... "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself!" 2 Tim 2:13

for those of you readers out there...

readers, as in you like to read books. not to be confused with readers, as in you like to read this blog (or others for that matter). maybe you are both!

i love to read. i havent done a ton of it in the past few years, but i am striving to get back into it. anyhow, a blog i love to read just did a post on how to read and still be frugal. so i thought i would share the link in case any of you are like me and do like to read, but dont have the money to constantly buy more books. or maybe you need to read it bc you need to learn to be more frugal! either way, enjoy!

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/06/keeping-reading-frugal.html

the antidote

well, i was comforted to hear that several of you are struggling with the same things as me (although i probably shouldn't be comforted in sinful struggles, well you know what i mean). money and things can be a beast i tell ya! 

anyhow, this morning is kinda funny bc i am sitting in starbucks, sipping my espresso drink, listening to my off brand mp3 player and doing my bible study. why is that funny? bc its a bible study on stewardship! i felt very american this morning! but in my defense, the starbucks was cheap bc my hubby works here and gets a discount, and the mp3 player was my 'big' christmas present this year from my mom. (now the macbook i am typing this blog on is a different story and is taunting me as i talk about all of this! ha)

regardless, i wanted to build off of my posts on worry  & contentment last week. One of the next day's points in my devo was that " few people lust after mere dollar bills. Instead, money plays into idolatries of security, or comfort, or approval, or power. We like money bc it gives us something we want." This is so true for me. I am not a person that lusts after having actual money, or wanting to be rich. For me it is about comfort and security, knowing that my needs and minor wants will be met. I am not usually very controlled by the big wants (maybe its bc i know they are probably out of reach?) like a new car (or minivan) or nicer house or big tv etc. I am controlled by the security of knowing we have more than enough to pay the bills, go out to eat, give, and buy the small things i just want. Like if i want a new book etc. 

But the truth is, the problem isnt the money part. Its the trusting money instead of God part. It is (in the words of Tim Keller) the "taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing". Money is not in and of itself bad. Neither is paying the bills, eating out or buying a book. But making those things the ultimate things that bring me security and comfort and happiness, that is a bad thing. 

Enter today's devo. It was titled "The Antidote".  Yay, there's an antidote! It focused on the fact that the purpose of wealth is to do good with it. The past few days have taught on 1 Tim 6. In chapter 6, Paul tells timothy to teach the rich to invest their wealth into eternal purposes. He doesn't tell him that the rich just need to become poor and give everything away (although for some that may be what is called of them- remember the rich young ruler that Jesus told to sell everything and follow him?), but instead that the purpose of having it is to "do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share (1 tim 6:18)". 

the purpose of wealth is to do good with it. The antidote for money's poisonous effect in our lives is generosity. it is to crave giving more than getting. do you crave giving? me neither. i give, and i love to give. but i wouldnt say i crave it. so the point isnt trying to make ourselves not want things or to never buy a thing again. it is to know that every good gift we have is from the Lord, He is the creator of all and the sustainer of all. That means EVERYTHING under the sun is His. so we must work towards desiring first and foremost to minister with what he has given us. it is only then that the rest wont control us. it is then that we will be able to type on macbooks without being controlled by them (or whatever your example may be ;) ). 

i urge you to do two things today. number 1: read 1 tim 6 and pray thru it in your life. number 2: ask yourself what your life would be like if for every penny you spent on yourself you gave a penny. John Newton committed to doing this when he lived, to remind him what was the most important thing. I think simply writing out on paper how much money that would be might be the wake up call we need to adjust some spending. 

may we persevere on saints... and by God's good grace we will! 

what do you worry about?

as i mentioned in my previous post, I am going through a devotional on stewardship right now. yesterday's devotion had something definitely worth mentioning. 

"Worry is an indicator of worship. What you worry about is what you don't want to lose."

I dont know about you, but that hit me. I am a worrier. I had never thought of it as an indicator of what I was worshiping. I have heard several people say that you can look at your checkbook and see what you worship, and while that does work for some people for others it doesnt. Because you see, we give. So if you look at my checkbook you would see we care about the Kingdom of God and give for its advancement. But what you dont see is my worry. And I think for me, worry is a better indicator of what I worship. "You worry about what you don't want to lose." 

This was a good wake up call for me. When I catch myself worrying, I can mentally refocus and proclaim that I trust in the Lord and He will provide... He will! 

So today ask yourself, what do you worry about? What are you afraid of losing? 

** The devo gives you a challenge to do during the day at the end. Here is the one from yesterday, I thought it was really good:

Catch yourself worshipping money- daydreaming, or worrying about it (thinking things like: "If only I had more money", "With more money I could", "I hope my new job pays me ___"). Worship Christ instead using the same loving terms: "If I only had more of Jesus...", "With more of Christ in my life we could...", "I hope my new job gives me plenty of time to serve Jesus..." etc. 

"You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and drink; or about your body, what you will wear."   Matthew 6:24-25

wet dogs and lost keys...

something in particular that is new this week? we are dog sitting for some friends. two dogs and one cat sitting to be exact. and when i say we, i really mean I am doing this twice a day and Justin and I are doing this once a day. oh joy.

so each morning i have to go over and take the dogs for a walk, then feed them. then i go in the middle of the day and walk them again and give them some loving. then we go for a longer length of time at night and chill (they have cable!). they are cute but one has a huge licking issue-- as in she likes to lick my arms, icky! the other one makes a pig noise that i love!

yesterday afternoon i was walking the dogs and apparently i dropped my keys. once we got back home and inside i realized i couldnt find them and had to walk all the way back to the farthest spot we went to find them laying in the street! i am a mess with dogs! must be why i prefer cats.

today it is raining. i had to walk dogs in the rain. yuck! luckily i thought of this as i was putting on a white shirt this morning and decided to change!! so we get back in the house and then two very wet dogs want me to love all over them! they didnt seem to care at all that they smelled like gross wet dogs! oh the joy.

the cool news about this all (other than the free cable)? our van (that parents from our church totally gave us free! what a blessing!) had an issue this week. the ignition lock decided to quit turning, so we couldnt start the van. but we got it fixed for exactly the amount we got paid to dog sit!

The Lord really does provide in His perfect time and way. And I apparently needed to learn how to be patient with animals.

downpour

in december i had surgery. it was really an ordeal of sorts, and was no big deal at the same time. i had my thyroid removed and then discovered i had thyroid cancer. it sounds very dramatic, but in fact was not a huge deal. once the thyroid was out i really didnt have cancer... so as my husband likes to say- i didnt know i had cancer till i didnt have cancer! but on the financial side of things this has been such an ordeal! obviously surgery costs zillions of dollars, so you can imagine how poor people like the pate's cannot afford this type of thing. (justin says when this is all over i cant go to the doctor for years b/c i have exceeded my cost limit) i have been fighting with my secondary insurance for months now trying to get the correct papers in to the correct people so i can get some correct money! it has been the most frustrating and trying thing i have ever been involved in....
however the Lord has provided....
we found out this weekend that the insurance paid all of it!!! which means i had a semi major surgery and paid zero out of pocket on it!! Praise the Lord!