DISQUS

Christmas Eve we go to a church service & then come home & have a bday party for Jesus.

We always have some sort of desert. Sometimes there are party hats & tooty horns. But we always sing Happy Birthday & talk about His birth & sacrifice.

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My kids would love this.

The leper's voice was a little South Parkish...not that I've watched that show...uh...somebody told me about it...yeah...

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It works.

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We cut $100 a month out of our grocery budget & pay with cash. No one even noticed the difference, except me when I had an extra $100 in my account at the end of the month.

We pack homemade lunches everyday for all the kids & for hubs. Hubs taking his lunch saves us about $5 a day. I can send lunch & 2 bottled waters for about $2 for hubs vs. the $7 he was spending. Not including saving about $2 for both kids to take a lunch instead of buying.

We also gave up on having a big bday party for each kid every year. They have big parties on even years. Small family parties on odd years. This saves me $150 per kid on those even years.

Goodwill. We live in a nice area. Goodwill rocks here. I buy stuff on 1/2 off day & use my 1/2 off coupon. I then rip apart & repurpose clothes for the girls. I made summer dresses this year out of men's hawaiian shirts. They were adorable & only 1.25 each.

We're at about 7500. Holiday weekends are around 10,000.

It was so much fun to meet you guys!!

Maybe next time we hook up I won't be so jet lagged.

And maybe my kids won't be such smart alecks. =/

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Tell the truth. You did it to be more aerodynamic. Trying to a get a few less seconds on your running time.

Um...I feel really weird about my results.

I'm 60/40. Must be because I hang out w/ kids all day everyday. Yeah, that's it.

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Borrowing money is a bad thing, I agree. But the process is already in place. To crash it now would have long term effects that not everyone thinks about.

I'm sure you've all thought about the timber industry, the applicance manufacturing industry etc. What about your local public works? How will they be affected by this housing crash? How will that affect you? What about churches. If jobs are lost, homes are lost, do you think people will be giving $ to churches? Even a 10% minimum tithe would be difficult, if existent at all. That would affect tons of jobs too. It would affect all of those who are depending on churches for a hand up. People who are struggling to buy groceries (who can no longer depend on government subsidaries, because they are overstressed) will depend on the church, but the church won't be able to accomodate.

It would take a miracle...oh wait...never mind. Delete all the above. I forgot for a second Whom we live for...

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Rich - Problem being that, even when the church is doing its ministry to reach real people...people accuse it of being cool just so they can make a list. That happens weekly when I tell people I attend GCC.

Being innovative?...I think it means coming up w/ new ways to get folks to church. Whether that be the actually church building, a small group, a volunteer opportunity or even a bar...

I don't think it has anything to do with building size, first impressions or the coolness of its children's programming. Although sometimes those are the things that attract people to a church...

GCC is definitely innovative. It's not important for us to be "attractive" (as Ben says) to anyone other than those that don't yet know Christ.

Hubs is in the RV market. It's taken a HUGE hit. Our paycheck was down 40% which was hard. Now it's down 60%. We are commission only which means we have to be disciplined w/ what little money we do get.

Luckily we have an affordable home & no other debt. The 3 kids are understanding about no extras right now.

I've taken a job (starting in a few weeks) to cover the 60% cut in pay. Desperate times call for desperate measures...

I see the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean...

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That's what I thought....9+ minutes...that ain't short. Still good though.

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I watched a few minutes, but it was like Days of our Lives only they're searching for votes, not ratings.

I'll feel the same about next week's event. It's all scripted by professionals, nothing's real. It's all rehearsed & planned to say just the right thing, with just the right twist to rally in as many folks as possible. It's not the candidates words..it's a writer's words.

I wonder if Mr. Miller spent time praying for the right words to say or if they were scripted by a writer. I turned it off believing that it was all a play & they'll run a repeat next week when the Rep. gather.

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Hubs works his regular job & changes oil. Sometimes he mows the lawn as well.

I stay home w/ the kiddos & do the rest. =)

Post more vids of the actual events if you can. Awesome idea.

I find it interesting that so many old worship songs were derived from bar tunes. Speaking the people's language is the only way to reach them!!

As of April 19...it's was 11 years. Ross is all around amazing. I couldn't have imagined him being as great of a father as he is. With 3 girls, his got his work cut out for him!

I also love that he brags about my cooking to people at work. When I walk in the office I always get "when are you going to bring us some of that famous (insert food item here)!"

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I once sat next to a woman at GCC who was moaning about some guy wearing a hat in the front row. She said "REAL Christians don't wear hats in church. It's disrespectful"

Just then our worship leader walked out..ready to start singing..wearing a hat.

Classic!!! I love it when people just wear what they want to wear, as long as it covers more than saran wrap & a rubber band would.

I broke up a good friend's relationship in H.S....yeah, I was THAT girl. I met up w/ her the day AFTER I got saved. No coincidence there huh?

She forgave me on the spot & we've been great friends ever since.

I read Kem's blog, although I wish she'd do a personal one as well. Of course that would eliminate her "less clutter" lifestyle. (She joined us for family night last week...hysterical!!)

I also read Pete. He's not afraid to talk about things we all think, but won't say. Love it.

You should add Tam Hodge, wife of worship pastor in Medford OR, Brent Hodge
http://kassota.wordpress.com/
http://brentinworship.com/blog/
They have amazing communitites over there.

We've been going to Granger for 2.5 years & have yet to experience close relationships. They offer study groups, but no child care. And spending $10 an hour is NOT in our Dave Ramsey budget.

So I guess we're sacrificing relationship to be debt free right now.

It seems like the 20 families in our hood that (I've heard) attend our church would want to dive into life together. I wish I knew who they were.

We had a black as night storm here just an hour ago. I tried to convince the kids it was bedtime again...w/ no avail.

Our Summer has been mild. Only a few humid days. Nice actually. I'm dreading the snow already. =(

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Totally respond...WITH SCRIPTURE. Hahaha.

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Our pastor told a story of an old friend of his who had worked at a certain church for years. He lived in a parsonage & his furniture were provided by the church members.

Guess what? They brought him their crappy, left over, smelly old furniture.

Whatever happened to giving our best? Why would that ring any less true to someone we're following on our walk w/ & to Christ.

How we pay our pastors shows how much our church values them.
It's not a 40 hour a week job...

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