Learning What's Really Important Can Result In Drastic Life Changes

A screenshot from our "Penny Pinching Rap"
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Blogging. It's a never-ending saga. Jake and I try to make each post stand on its own, but sometimes you may need to do a little catch-up reading to really know what we're talking about. So if you missed my post about being "house poor" you might want to check it out here before you continue reading. Or not. It's your choice. I'm just saying, it's what awesome people do.

Anyway. Moving on.

In our quest to be debt free as soon as possible, the hubby and I have chosen to put a lot more money toward our mortgage than what the bill calls for. Our plan was to get that bad boy paid off in about five years. And, honestly, we were doing quite well at that. We don't have kids yet. We've both been working hard. So things seemed to be going along beautifully.

And then life happened.

It was around the end of winter that we had multiple unexpected financial burdens heaped upon us, not the least of which was the fact that our mortgage company had screwed up our escrow account BIG TIME! It upped our monthly house payment by $400, which took our whole "pay off the house in five years" plan by the throat, shoved it under water, and held it there until it choked and died.

Then came hurricane Obamacare which demanded every free penny we had and then some.

Moreover, Jake and I have spent the last couple of years realizing just how much time and money it's really going to take to manage our house, even after the mortgage is paid. I mean, the house is huge. It's 150 years old. It needs a new everything. Heating costs are astronomical, not to mention the taxes that show no sign of ever going down. Both my dad and Jake's dad would have a field day in this house, but neither of us are our fathers. We don't know the first thing about renovating. More's the pity.

After two years in this house we now have a better idea of what we want in a home, what we need. We've also learned a lot about each other, what our capabilities are and what's important to us.

On that list of importance is:

1. Being closer to our church in order to be more actively involved in it.


2. Being closer to Jake's job because the hope is that one day I'll be able to stay home with the kids and homeschool, and I know Jake would love not to have to spend five hours a week commuting.


3. Being able to enjoy our home instead of always feeling overwhelmed with a long list of repair jobs.


4. Being closer to family is important to us, especially when we have kids.


5. Being able to free up some money for adoption, which is something Jake and I have always dreamed of doing.

So, we have decided to pray about doing something drastic, and putting what we once thought was our forever home on the market. It's time to find a smaller place, a cheaper place, that will help us out financially and get us more in-line with what we now know to be the things that are really important to us. We want to be done with being "house poor." (Again, if you need that defined check out my previous post on this topic like all the other awesome people do!)

If we do decide to put the house on the market we know it will only sell by a miracle from God, and we are trusting that if this is what He would have for us at this time in our lives than He will do that miracle.

In the meantime, we've begun renovating the upstairs, which will either serve our future family, or perhaps serve as a space we can rent out to earn a little extra money.

Keep pinchin' ;-)

PS. We do plan to fix the basement, unless you all think an indoor pool would help in the selling process!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Recently as I was out enjoying the beautiful weather I started to wander down the road of "I wish I could do this... Oh, but why does this have to cost money? ... Can't we be like everyone else and just..."

This is a dangerous path to start down, and oftentimes is not one that we can quickly backtrack from. I decided to instead think of some of my favorite things. Of course this line of thinking was triggered by just a few lines from that infamous Rodgers and Hammerstein song:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles with warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

While that was Maria's list, I will create my own:

Laughter. It really is one of the best medicines. Laughter can take my saddest self and make it merry again. My favorite laughter is definitely a good belly laugh from a baby or the laughter of little girls.

Games. One thing that both the hubby and my family have in common is playing games. We enjoy getting together with family and friends and playing all sorts of games. Have you ever heard of Telestrations? If not check it out! It has quickly become one of our favorite go-to games.

Sunshine. I LOVE the sun! I hate wasting a beautiful sunny day indoors. In fact, I have been known—if I've worked a third shift and am desperately tired but it's gorgeous out—to drag a mattress out on the back deck so I can sleep and still enjoy the day.

Talking. I love to talk. I have proudly worn nicknames including Chattabox! If I am home all day by myself I am bursting at the seems when the hubby walks through the door. Thankfully he knows this and is very gracious to listen.

Walking. Whenever I go out for a walk it energizes me, and if it's with a good friend it gives me opportunity to actually get in my million words for the day.

Heat. Ask anyone who knows me where they will find me all winter, the answer will be about three feet from the woods stove. I love the warmth so much I had the hubby help me completely rearrange what is supposed to be our dining room to make it a nice sitting area in order to be close to the wood stove.

Hugs. I love me a good bear hug. When the world seems upside down, and I really want to go live in that cave outback, a hug usually does wonders in making me feel better.

So, there you have it, a few of my favorite things. What are some things that are free that you love? Let me know so I can add them to my list!

Keep pinchin' ;-)

Trusting Him Without Borders: Part Two

Yesterday I talked about my need to choose whether I'm really serious about my relationship with Christ and will I choose to stand firm no matter what I might face, or will I run at the first sign of hardship. Today I wanted to share a few specific things that I have been thinking about in relation to this.

• Finances. Honestly the road to becoming debt free hasn't been that hard yet. Sure we have given up more than we probably would have wanted, and definitely more than we thought we would, but compared to most of the world we are still living very well. The part that I struggle with the most concerning our finances is whether we will be able to get out of debt soon enough so I can stay home and raise the imaginary kiddos. This has been the desire of my heart since I was just a child myself, and sometimes it looks like it will never happen. Even if we get out of debt can we survive on one salary? I have to choose to believe the truth though, and that is that God wants to give us the desires of our hearts. He has never failed me and He's not going to start now. He has good things planned for my life. Notice I said "good" and not "easy" :-)


• Adoption. When the hubby and I first started dating, one of the first life goals we found we had in common was a desire to adopt. Since being married, we've talked about this desire a lot, and each night when we pray together I pray that we will be able to adopt little babies from other countries someday. As we get closer to making that a reality I find that it's easy to get overwhelmed by the costs involved with adoption, the challenges it will bring to our lives, and the logistics of it all. Part of me thinks it will never happen, but that's not what I want, and I believe our Father put this in both of our hearts for a reason. I have to trust that He will provide, that He will make a way for it to happen. He is very clear in scripture that we are to take care of orphans, and I believe that He will honor our desires in this area.


• The Future. It's scary to think where our country is heading. It feels like it won't be long until the freedoms that I have grown to take for granted may be stripped away from me. There are times I think I was born in the wrong era, and I wish I could raise my imaginary kiddos in the past where life seemed simpler. I've contemplated building an underground home to hide in, or finding an island to purchase, but I have to trust that God chose to put me here on Earth at this time for a reason, just as He did Esther. I have a purpose today, and my job is to fulfill that purpose. I have to trust that He will take care of us, give us wisdom as we raise children in a world we couldn't have imagined as children, and guide and direct us on this journey.

The greatest thing I've realized this past week is that I have to trust Him in the good and bad. I have to expect trials, temptations, tribulation and hardship, and know that I'm not spared from these things just because I'm His child. If God chose to protect His children from everything then the New Testament would have looked very different. I need to be prepared to follow Him out on the waters, into the scary places, farther than I would have ever imagined. I need to rest in His embrace even when that's the only thing I have left.

I want to sing:

I will call upon Your Name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine

—Hillsong United

Keep pinchin' :-)

Trusting Him Without Borders: Part One

Hey! Dani here. Lately the idea of going through trials or testings has been on my mind a lot. Between a sermon at our church, and then having some dear family go through a rather difficult ordeal, it's been hard not to think about the difficulties of life.

In my selfish, finite mind I don't want any part of suffering, trials, tribulation or testings. It probably doesn't help that I've been born and raised in the USA where we have freedoms and riches in abundance, where trials that are a normal part of every day life for the rest of the world just don't exist. So does that mean I should expect not to suffer? I would like to say yes, but unfortunately I can't say that anymore.

Scripture makes it clear that testing and trials are part of our faith. At times God allows Satan to test, try and tempt us in order for us to grow stronger, for our true self to be revealed. Like Job.

In the book of James it goes so far to say that we should count it a joy when we face trials because it produces patience, and we are to let patience have it's perfect work in us that we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

If you look at the lives of the men in the New Testament that were followers of Jesus they had some of the most horrific things happen to them—they were thrown in jail, stoned, run out of towns, and many of them were ultimately martyred for their faith in Christ. But they never wavered in that faith, no matter what they faced.

I feel like right now I'm at a crossroad where I have to decide if I'm really serious about my relationship with Christ. Will I choose to stand firm no matter what I might face, or will I run at the first sign of hardship?

The song Oceans by Hillsong United has been on my heart and mind for over a week now. Check it out below.

This is what I want to be true of me, to allow Christ to lead me wherever He wants, knowing it will be further than I would ever choose to go on my own, but also knowing it will make my faith stronger and make my trust in Him to have no borders. When trials and testings come I want my first response to be to rest in His embrace, not to run for the hills and build an underground bunker.

Come back tomorrow to learn about some of the specific ways I want to allow Christ to lead me beyond where I would choose to go.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Yearning for the Good Old Days of "Old Fashioned" Living

The hubby and I often talk about our imaginary kiddos and how we want to raise them amidst this crazy world we live in. We look around and see that most kids aren't living like we did growing up and we think it's detrimental to their development. It's not uncommon to see children—and I'm talking, like, 10 and under—pulling out iPhones or iPods when they're out of the house and glued to the TV when they're in the house. That's not what we want for our kids. We want a bit more simplicity, fewer electronics, more games of tag and Kick the Can, all of which, by today's standards, is pretty old fashioned.

Not only do I want this for the kiddos we will one day have, but it's what I want for us too. It's so easy to get home from work and for each of us to hop onto our laptops in separate rooms and spend most of the evening catching up on Facebook, Pinterest, or checking out the latest movie trailers. I'm not saying there is necessarily anything wrong with this, but sometimes it makes me wish for the past, before my life revolved around the internet.

I have to be intentional though, as the internet has become such a part of my daily life. It's where I catch up with friends and family, check out crafts and recipes, look at the weather, and get the news. But I know that if I don't start being intentional about cutting back now, then how can I expect to be able to teach my kids to slow down and enjoy life, to spend more quality time with the people in their lives.

I guess it's like that in a lot of areas of my life, areas that I hope will be different when we have kids. Without even realizing it I've convinced myself that I'm going to be this whole different person with lots of patience, wisdom, kindness, gentleness, self-control... You know, the fruits of the spirit thing?

Who am I kidding though? If anything all of those things will be even harder to cultivate in my life when those little bundles of joy arrive. I must begin now. Things must change. I have to decide what I want and move in that direction.

Recently I've begun reading a lot, and while I have a kindle, I really enjoy going to the library and picking up a real book, something I fear future generations will only read about in history. As a child I loved reading, but as an adult I've allowed the busyness of life to take that love away from me.

But, you know, there is something really special about curling up by a fire and diving into a good story that can take you to another world. I don't want to miss out on that anymore. I am hopeful that this is just one small step in moving back to my roots, to life before the internet. I'm not saying I won't use the internet at all anymore, but I want it to become something that I don't have to do, something that, on some days, I'm just too busy enjoying life to pay any attention to.

I want to begin the journey to old fashioned living, so that someday I can take my kids on a journey there with me, and share in the joy of being together, slowing down, and having the time of our lives!

Keep pinchin' :-)

The Crazy Story of Our Lawnmower

In our pursuit of the "American Dream" Dani and I bought about four acres of property. About one whole acre of that is occupied by two things: buildings and lawn. Lots, and lots of lawn. The lawn isn't flat by any means, and, moreover, it's interrupted in numerous spots by trees, bushes, stones, and other large objects. So when it comes to mowing it can be quite a chore.

When we first bought our property, my grandfather generously gave us an old Lawn-boy push-mower—the very same mower that I cut my teeth on as a teenager helping him take care of his grass. The thing was pretty old and it smoked like a chimney, and with only an 18-inch blade it took about four or five hours to mow all of our property. As hard as it was mowing everything on that ancient little push-mower, it was harder on my body. But that didn't matter, because a new lawnmower wasn't in the budget. So, alas, I resolved to just continue to use that little Lawn-boy until I had run it into the ground... that is, if I didn't have a heart attack first.

Dani and I had started to pray about our lawnmower situation, asking God to help us find a good deal on a lawnmower that would A) be large enough and durable enough to handle all of our property, and B) have a decent amount of horsepower to take care of some of the other tasks we had in mind, like gardening, hauling leaves and wood, and pushing snow.

Now, we're not sure which one of us prayed the following—Dani remembers praying it, but I also remember laying in bed next to her one night, staring up at the ceiling in our bedroom, just comically calling out to God, "And Lord, if you could just GIVE US a new lawnmower that would be awesome!"

Two weeks later.

I was sitting at my desk at work when I got a call from Lowe's. The gentleman on the other line said he apologized for the inconvenience, but they were very busy with deliveries and wouldn't be able to deliver my lawn mower until the following week.

"Um, but I didn't order a lawn mower," I said.

"Oh," came the reply. "Is this Jacob Grant?" He read off my address.

"Yeah."

"Well, I've got a brand new John Deere D-140 here with your name on it."

He went on to explain that the lawn mower had been bought and paid for, but he didn't know by whom. We arranged a delivery date and time and then I hung up, still a bit confused. I called Lowe's directly and asked to speak with the gentleman again just to be sure it wasn't some kind of scam, but, no, it wasn't. There was indeed a brand new $2,000 John Deere D-140 riding lawnmower, bought and paid for, sitting at Lowe's with my name on it. Twenty-two horse power. Forty-inch cutting radius. Full length welded steel frame. *insert Tim Allen grunting here* In short, it was a beautiful lawn mower, and it was more than enough to handle everything we had in mind.

We never found out who gave it to us, but we have our suspicions. Ultimately we decided that since the gift was given anonymously it would be disrespectful to the giver to attempt to find out who it was.

In the end, we have to give God the glory. We prayed, and He answered. What's interesting to note is that our prayers weren't any kind of long elegant discourse. We weren't bowed on our knees, and I don't even think my eyes were closed.

"Lord, if you could just GIVE US a new lawnmower that would be awesome!" That's what was said. We simply cast our cares upon Him, stepped back, and let Him work. As usual He chose to work through His servants by impressing upon someone's heart to meet this need for us. It was awesome to be the recipients of such a generous gift, but even more awesome to be able to tell this story again and again and give the glory to God the provider.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Diligence: Excellence Over Time

If I could pick two words to describe the American culture of 60 years ago it would be "hard-working" and "diligence"—two things I think we need a lot more of in today's world. Because if I could pick two words to describe the American culture of today it would be "laziness" and "convenience."

Our culture today has become one of immediacy, self-gratification, and ease. Our advertising campaigns are rife with slogans that make us think we need it bigger, better, faster, sooner, with more convenience, more easiness, more simplicity...

• Have it your way —Burger King
• Because I'm worth it —L'Oreal
• That was easy —Staples

GEICO's slogan from a few years ago, "It's so easy a caveman can do it," implies that if you don't get this insurance than you're dumb, you're behind the times, you're obsolete, you need to get with the modern program. And there are countless other slogans that suggest the same attitude.

Credit card companies suck is into believing that without a credit card we can't do anything...

• There are some things money can't buy —MasterCard
• It's all about you —All Hilal Bank
• Do more —American Express
• Take the waiting out of wanting —Access
• What matters most —Chase
  (What's really interesting about this one is if you read it this way: Chase: what matters most.)

Many people who don't have a lot of money are tricked into believing that if they can't walk into Walmart and buy a $1,500 flatscreen TV then they are not as cool as their friends. So they get a Visa card because, according to the commercial, "Life takes Visa."

As with almost anything in this world, this belief that we need to borrow money to live is contrary to Scripture. The Bible is clear that those who are faithful with their money will abound with blessings, but those who hasten to be rich will fall (Proverbs 28:20).

Millionaire Donald Trump once said, "Most people who try to get rich quick end up going broke instead." Granted, this is the same man who once also said, "It really doesn't matter what they say about you as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of a**," but, regardless, he's absolutely right about the first quote.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." —Hebrews 12:11

Thomas Jefferson, one of our most quotable presidents, once said, "If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done."

And that's the way it is with good money management—you've got to be willing to go against the grain of what's popular, step out on a limb, trust in God, and do something you maybe have never done before. And, guess what, it means you're not going to get everything you want right now, today, and with no effort, but that's ok because the best things in life are worth the diligence they require.

Keep pinchin' :-)

The Christmas Tree Dilemma

On our quest to be debt free we have found ourselves tip-toeing closer and closer to that question that every sane person secretly ponders on Christmas: "Can we really justify spending *insert insane amount of money here* on a tree that's just going to sit in our living room for a few weeks only to be tossed out?"

Last year we went with friends to Bethlehem's Rocks Estate tree farm and bought a beautiful tree for a rather pretty penny, even with a local resident discount. This year I couldn't justify the expense, but at the same time I couldn't go without having a tree.

So I came up with the brilliant plan to walk around our four tiny acres and find a tree absolutely free. A romantic walk through the snowy woods with my husband sounded like fun. And a free Christmas tree? Even better! Four minutes into our walk we were assaulted by the incessant barking of our neighbor's dog. It came bounding toward us through the woods, stopped about twenty feet away and barked. And barked. And barked. And barked. It followed us, and barked some more. Sigh. After a few minutes of "See any good trees?" "Bark!" "What?" "Bark!" "I said..." "Bark!" "...any..." "Bark!" "...trees?" we realized we weren't going to find any nicely shaped, full-looking Christmas trees that weren't 50-feet tall. So we... "Bark!" ...to... "Bark!" ...home. Happily, the previous owners of our property had begun to plant about four or five Christmas trees along the fence. Unfortunately no one had given the trees any lovin' over the past few years; they were surrounded by brambly bushes and were quite sparse and misshapen. They were better than the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but not by much. Jake took out the saw and cut one down. As we set up our tree in the living room and started decorating it, I expected the full majesty of the tree to come into being. I figured we'd just fill in the gaps with ornaments, shape the branches with clippers, and pile enough garland and lights on to make it look outstanding. After about ten minutes I realized this was not going to happen. I wanted to say, "Forget it! Let's just go buy one. What are our friends going to think when they see this tree?" But the more I thought about it, the more I fought the urge to give up and give in. It wasn't just because I didn't want to spend the money, but because I didn't want to be part of the rat race we call the "American Dream," always concerned with what the Jones' think of our house, or with what the Smith's have and we don't. I want to be more concerned with enjoying life with my fabulous husband, making memories that we will fondly look back on as we pave the way for a fun future with kiddos (who are currently just imaginary). It took a couple of days, but now I look at our crazy cylinder-shaped Christmas tree with its sparse boughs and uneven branches, and I love it! I love it because Jake and I hunted it down together, and we had fun laughing at ourselves as we put it up. I love it because we did what we thought was best for us at this time in our lives. I have every intention of purchasing a beautiful tree again some day, but for this year I'm not going to concern myself with what anyone else thinks of me. I'm just going to love what I have and I'm going to love our crazy tree! Keep pinchin' :-)