Thursday, February 19, 2009

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Dave Ramsey.....with a vengeance

I have been occasionaly, casually mentioning Dave Ramsey and his ideas to my Dh for about a year now. Neil is usually very good with money, and we've only carried a balance on our credit card for a few months in our 15 year marriage.
But I know that we could do better. Of course, men usually don't like their women telling them what they need to do with their money, and they sure don't want to hear their wives sing the praises of another man. So I got dirty looks from Dh anytime I mentioned Dave. Until.......

Until Neil's best friend, Pastor Julian, becomes a Dave Ramsey devotee. Chileans have a hard time with the name, so they call him "el peladito" in other words, "Baldy". Another pastor friend gave him the financial peace book, in Spanish, of course. Neil, who must have Scottish blood running through his veins, has taken to it all....with a vengeance! I just wanted us to get out of debt, not turn into frugal experts! We're already completely out of debt, as our debt was really small to begin with. In fact, I didn't even think it was worth it to call Dave and yell "We're debt free!"

Neil's already put full plastic bottles into the toilet tank, so as not to use as much water. I have been reading Crystal Paine for years, and Hillbilly Housewife is where I first learned about blogging. I guess now its time to really get into it. Too bad that there is no CVS or Aldi here! Also, no coupons!
I guess its true, be careful what you ask for!

Friday, February 06, 2009

A prayer request

My mom's property, which includes her house and the camp, is supplied of water by a hand -dug well. Since it is so rainy, she has more than enough water all year, except for December and January, and that includes camp. This year all of camp was great, except for a great water shortage. We ended up having to carry buckets of water from the pool just to flush the toilets. It was not pretty. Everyone had a good attitude about it, but it was not easy. So, Neil asked all the campers to pray about mom getting a new well. That could run anywhere from 4 to 10 thousand dollars. Thats a lot of cash.
I really think its necessary, but its not my money, nor my call. I am praying that the Lord will provide my mom the money for the well in a miraculous way, so that she will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants her to have the new well. We did some research yesterday, and she spoke to a company today who is willing to come out and give her a free estimate. Also, they might be willing just to extend the existing well, which would save her thousands. Her well is 14 meters deep and she needs to get to at least 18 meters. That costs 200 a meter.

Please pray with me that God might show and provide in a supernatural way.

Thanks

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Happy Missionary-versary to me!

26 years ago today, we arrived in Santiago Chile to start our lives as missionaries. I was 1o years old.
I thank God for my life. Not always peaceful, not without troubles. Never boring, never without purpose. Always in His hand.

This is what the camp looks like

Welcome to Rose of Sharon baptist camp! The first thing you see as you walk down from Mom's house is the chapel. It has a roof and floor, but as you can see, the sides are from an old revival tent. We open or close them according to the weather. On the far side of the chapel is the soccer field, cut into the side of the hill.


Looking down from in front of the chapel, you can see the kitchen and the dining terrace. Look over to the left and down and you'll see the pool








Looking up the other direction from the dining terrace, you see the two cabins. Beyond the cabins are the camp terraces, all the way to the top of the hill.








7 years ago, this land was just an over-grown forest, seemingly good for nothing. Now it is a special place used for the glory of God