LIFE.MONEY.HOPE Part 3

Today was the last day of Dave Ramsey, a little sad, yet exciting because next week we start ONE PRAYER!! I am super pumped! Last year I loved being a part of it, and this year even more churches across the world are participating. It is an awesome time to be united with other Christians, and actually work together and not against each other, like some do. So back to Dave...

Here are the notes for this week...

The #1 Myth About Money
*A steward is a manager- Ps. 24:1
*The tithe is 10% of your income to your local church- Deut. 26:12
*Ultimately, to be Christlike, you must be a giver- Gen. 1:27
*Giving is a reminder of ownership- Ps. 24:1
*Giving is praise and worship- 2 Cor. 2:9
*Giving is spiritual warfare- Mal. 3:8

Some other little notes
*We are not owners of our money, we are just managing it for God
*A tithe literally means a tenth
*Tithing is not a salvation issue, just an instruction from God
*We have God in our spiritual DNA
*To be a cheerful giver you must give, then forget about it
*Teach your kids to be a giver by being one yourself

I really enjoyed watching Dave for these last 3 weeks. I know it gave Eric and Mark a much needed break, and time to get reved up for One Prayer. I know you all think I am goofy for being so excited about it, but seriously, it is awesome. We are having 2 guest speakers at our church, and Mark is going to speak at their churches. Then we are watching a video one week, and then of course Mark will be preaching one week. Just to see the impact it had on our church body last year was incredible. I feel honored and humbled that God allowed me to participate with these wonderful people. Please be praying for all the churches involved. May we reach more people together then apart.

LIFE.MONEY.HOPE Part 2

The next part in Dave Ramsey's videos talked about getting out of debt. Yet again, I doubted that I would learn anything. This is not bragging, just careful financial planning, Eric and I have no debt, never had debt, and will never have debt (other then a house payment). We have committed to staying out of debt, and work very hard at it. I guess I shouldn't say we will never have debt, but we have carefully planned for if something comes up. I encourage you all to do the same. We have an emergency fund, and trust me it is hard not to spend it! I would love to have a nice, new car, but instead I drive a Ford Taurus that Eric and I saved all of our money to buy. It's nice, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't compare to the ones I see when I drive by the lot. But I also don't like owing anyone money, therefore we won't have a car payment, and we will drive like no one else right now, so when we have money we can drive like no one else.

Here are my notes from Week 2 of LIFE.MONEY.HOPE
Bondage is broken with:
1. Gazelle Intensity
2. Debt Snowball-attack the littlest one first
*You need to watch the video to better understand the two above

Steps Out of Debt
1. You must save money
2. Quit borrowing more money
3. Prayer really works
4. Sell something
5. Take a part-time job, or work over-time

For some reason this week I didn't really jot anything else down on my notes. He was still funny, and I still came away with something. I think you really need to watch the video to get a lot of this. Plus he spent a lot of time on the first two-gazelles, debt snowball.

Life.Money.Hope Part 1

The Ridge is doing a 3 week series about life, money, and hope. We are watching some videos that LifeChurch.tv shot of Dave Ramsey. I will admit, at first I was a little skeptical that I would get anything out of these videos. Eric and I saw him at a conference a couple years ago, and I honestly thought there was nothing new to learn. How wrong I was!

He doesn't have any new, brain busting ideas then before, but he has gotten a lot funnier. I swear, if it wasn't for his humor, I probably would be dreading going to church. But good'ole Dave is pretty funny. This coming Sunday (the31st) is our last week of Dave Ramsey. Then after that, all of the videos will be posted here.

Here are some of the notes that I took during the first week.

LIFE.MONEY.HOPE
Week 1
The Basics of Biblical Finance

1. Get out of debt..."The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." Prov. 22:7
2. Act your wage..."A foolish man devours all he has." Prov. 21:20
3. Get on a budget..."For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?" Luke 14:20
4. Save and Invest..."In the house of the wise are stores of choice and oil." Prov. 21:20
5. GIVE..."Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house." Malachi 3:10

Here are some other little notes that I jotted down during the video...
*God doesn't bless stupid
*Slaves aren't generous
*Debt is not a sin, it's Biblical stupideness
*Debt is financial whining
*Live on less then you make
*You can't out earn stupid
*You should have-
1. Emergency Fund (3-6 months worth of income saved)
2. Pay cash, for EVERYTHING!
3. Invest

Like I said earlier, Dave Ramsey was funny to listen to, and even though I saw him before, and he talked about the same stuff before, it was a nice refresher.

The Zoo

On Wednesday, Molly and I met some friends at the zoo. We are trying to use up our zoo pass before it expires. Here are some quick pictures from the day. We are still working on Molly caring about the animals there, but she doesn't! She is too much of a people watcher! Enjoy!

Kickin' it Old Skool

Hey everyone! I hope you are able to enjoy this wonderful, warm weather we are having, and hopefully you are having too. I just wanted to send a couple of updates/prayer requests your way!

*We had to move back to our "old" theater, the largest one the theater has to offer we have been using since Jan, but now it's Summer, they want it back. They run movies in the Summer in the larger one starting at 11am. Clearly that doesn't work with our last service starting at 10:30am. So we had to move back to the second largest one they have. Lets just say, we all will be nice and close on Sunday mornings. We have been running a little more then 450 and the theater just doesn't hold that many. Obviously, we don't all come to the same service, but it is still a tight squeeze. Plus we just bought brand new equipment for the larger theater, and now we are trying to scale back for the smaller one. So please pray this move does not discourage ANYONE to not come. We will make it work, we still have some kinks to workout, but it will be wonderful once we get in our groove.

*We just started a 3 week series about money. We are watching Dave Ramsey videos that were filmed at LifeChurch.TV. The first one was actually a lot better then I thought it would be! I have seen him at a conference before, and my negative Nelly attitude crept in on Saturday night, and I was dreading Sunday. Thanks be to God, because it was so much better then I ever imagined, and I still managed to learn something. Please pray for everyone, not just people at The Ridge for their finances. It's tough times out there, and working at a church we can feel it in the giving. Let this economy turn around, but more importantly let people learn to not be stupid with their money!

*We are looking to hire a full-time student minister! Yea, finally! Eric is in charge of the students right now, and it's not that he doesn't like doing it, lets just say its more like a dog taking him for a walk every week. He is so spread out at church, that if we could take one thing away, he would be so much better off. But we haven't found the right person yet. This hire is going to be a slow one, and a for sure one. This area of ministry needs a lot of expanding at The Ridge, and Eric has a done a great job, so far (a little biast, he's my husband!) but we really need someone who can devote their time 100% to it. So if you know anyone, like someone good please :) Please refer them to us!

*Lastly, please pray that Satan stops attacking us! All Christians out there, but also at The Ridge. We have had a couple rough times dealing with people, and also Satan loves to attack people who devote their lives to ministry full time. These attacks include sickness, bad attitudes, jealousy, the list goes on. And it doesn't just effect the person, but their families too. Please pray that Satan leaves us all alone, perfect world, I know, but we can still pray!

Thanks for praying with us and for us. Let us know what we can be praying about for you! And if you all are ever in Milwaukee, look us up!

Go Brewers!

Welcome to the Ball Park!

Sitting in the hot sun, but we had fun!

Prince Fielder hitting a homerun!

The racing Sausages, seriously, they are cool!

Yesterday Eric and I went to the Brewers game with our children's minister, Becky, and her boyfriend, Jason. Jason works at Miller Park, he is in charge of lighting and security, so he gets free tickets to the games. It was a lot of fun, and it was really hot. The temperature outside was only like 66, but we sat in the direct sun the whole game. I forgot sunscreen, so Eric made me wear my sweatshirt the whole time. I did think at times I was going to die of heat stroke, but at least I didn't get burnt like the other 3 people with me. Eric has the face sunburn that goes right around his hairline, so he better wear his hair like he did yesterday until it clears up!

The Brewers won! We swept the Marlins this series. Now they are off to St. Louis to play the Cardinals. Hopefully they win there too!

Growing up, too fast

Last night Eric, Molly and I were watching American Idol (Go Danny!!), and Molly's nose was a little runny. So Eric asked her if she needed a tissue, and before we could even get up to get her one, she had already went into the bathroom, got a tissue, blew her nose, and threw the tissue away. Eric and I just looked at each other, surprised, and a little proud of her. I was blown away that she knew what to do, and also I felt a little sad. My little girl isn't so little anymore. She is starting to be way more independent then other kids her age.

Just wanted to share what our little "big" girl is doing!

Happy Mother's Day!

Greetings from New York! I flew here on Wednesday with Molly to surprise my Mom. It worked! We surprised her at work, and have been able to spend a lot of memorable time together. We have had a blast!

I wanted to wish all you moms out there, and all you ladies (because you probably act like a mom sometimes) a Happy Mother's Day! I hope you felt appreciated today, and everyday! I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband, you may know him, he made me feel so special today, even so many miles away. He sent me some cards in the mail so when today came, I would have something to open. He is so great!

Happy Mother's Day!

A different kind of update

Usually at the beginning of each month I try to update you all on what is going on at The Ridge, and in our lives. My update is basically some facts, and some little details on our life. I wanted to do something a little different today, an update in a whole new way.

Here is an update on my spiritual life...

Before coming to Milwaukee, I definitely felt like I had a pretty good relationship with God, and I trusted him with everything. In Cincinnati, trusting God for me came to a whole new level. We had no clue what was going to happen with the church, our friends, I was pregnant and the thought that Eric was no longer going to have a job became more realistic every passing day. We trusted God to see us through, and he did. It was not easy, and at times, I doubted God. I never doubted his existence or power, but when things were at a stand still and I thought the worse, to me, I was doubting God.

But God provided this ministry in Milwaukee, with one "catch." We had to raise our salary to come here. Gasp, gulp! Eric and I had never done that before, and quiet frankly, I was terrified to ask people for money. Luckily (more like God), Molly was born by this time, and Eric took charge of putting the presentation together, meeting with people, and doing all the leg work for our support raising. He was awesome. He trusted God, he knew if we were coming to Milwaukee, then we would raise the money we needed. I think I still doubted a little at this time. We put our house on the market, even when the realtor told us it was an awful time to do so, and this was before it got really bad, and it sold in less then 24 hours. Thanks God, that was a huge sign to come to Milwaukee. I think at about that time, I started fully trusting again, and I really just left it all up to God.

Fast forward a little...we have been in Milwaukee for about a year and half now, and my life has been changed, drastically. It was a huge adjustment for me when we moved here. I was a new mom, Eric's job and what he needed from me were different then before, and I felt alone. In a city full of people, I was alone. I soon found some great friends, and more importantly, I am still trusting God. Here is a little tidbit of info...85% of people in Milwaukee do not attend church. Talk about a mission field. The people here are so wonderful, some look a little rough on the outside, and some are millionaires, but you would never know it. But we all have Jesus in common, and that's good enough for me.

I will spare you all of the details of our life here, that's another post, or more like series of post's. But since being here I have never been more challenged about my beliefs, never been more proud of my church, and I have grown so much in my faith with God. Nothing has really prepared for me for the people of Milwaukee, but I am blessed and humbled to be here. I am
still excited to go to church every week, how many of you can say that?

Thanks to all who have written your checks every month, who send us money when they have extra, and thanks for praying for us. Without you we wouldn't be here, and I mean that. Without you the people in Milwaukee would not be able to hear about Jesus. And without you, I might not have grown in my faith.

Be blessed!