Thursday, 27 September 2018

Lots of budgeting work today, planning for October and the Christmas season.  I made new forms to try, and am getting closer to my single notebook goal... something I can look at every morning or evening to plan ahead.

It was a long project.

Now, it's late, and I'm having a cup of coffee, hopefully before getting to bed for some sleep.  I got most of my morning to-do list done... didn't get to the ivy patch, though.  :-)  It must be one of those sub-conscious things, what do you think?  haha

I made a new page to try to figure out what "envelopes" I would want to have if I decided to do the envelope saving and budgeting approach.  I tried it once before, but the "sinking funds" have me wondering how to separate the funds in my situation... somehow it has to be done on paper, in a bank account, in an envelope, somehow.

So, I was looking at my budget and tithe records and making them more useable for these things.  I am finding that having the details on different pages is good in some ways, but a pain to keep track of in other ways.  Finding the "happy medium" is one of my goals.

The Open Office programs I use now do not work like Excel so I have to adapt my designs to their quirks... each file will only print in one direction, with the same headers and footers, and margins (I think, can't recall right now)… it make it a pain when you want one page to be portrait and one landscape.  I am getting use to it.

My efforts to use the Notepad program didn't work out as well as I wanted them to either.  Now, I have to decide if I want to move the designs and info to a better space... something that is easier to edit and format.

My PLANNING pages are really getting much better... more useable... less pages... and with more categories to remind me of all the options and requirements for my goals.  I've been getting clearer about doing things monthly, with a weekly and daily breakdown... which, I assume is what the expensive planners do.  :-)   My notebook effort will work just fine for me.

I think the BUDGET page is the hardest.  Trying to keep track of different categories of spending and saving without too many separate lines... one page gets so SMALL when you are trying to stay within its boundaries.  :-)


It is hard to keep track of all the details of my days.  I wonder how much to make notes about, and sometimes I use my notes to remember when I watered something, bought something, did something... they help.  Next  year I hope to get them all in one place, too.  It's hard to decide how many pages I would need looking forward.  I think that is why I like the flexibility of a 3-ring notebook for my projects.

My CHRISTMAS pages are getting printed now.  I have no idea how I can do presents for everyone at my income level.  I am hoping these planning efforts will help me to do that.

In the process of dissecting my income and creating a budget, lots of things come into the process.  Thoughts of the past, the present, the future... wondering about GOD and the things we expect Him to do... how to ever reach a decent goal.  Today I am wondering about GOD in my situation.  Today I was wondering about people who don't believe in Him and what my life looks like to them.  Today I think waiting is hard.  Today I want GOD to do more.  It's one of those hard days...

I had to find out where my money was at to see if I can make it to the next budget... food, etc.  It is why I spent so much time working on my revisions and updates.  I haven't been doing my end-of-th-month stuff for several months.  Today I finally got the records put away where they need to be for future reference.

I suppose tomorrow will be more of this, but I don't know if my aging body can take all this sitting.  I will have to think about it.

I did see some of the Kavanaugh hearing details online, via an NBC live link I found somewhere... and had to keep reloading because it would stop for no reason.  BUT... let's be thankful I was able to see any of it.

Personally, it made me so sad about America and our future... the process we have entrusted with our future is pretty much destroyed by party politics and greed.

I just want to build Working Together and let it go...  the Bible tells us that GOD leaves us when we don't want to listen... He tries and tries and tries, but then the Holy Spirit stops trying and leaves people to the consequences of their choices.

I was listening to sermons today and one of the things I was reminded of was how GOD works.  Now I remember... it was a sermon about how someone created a decision for someone else and then GOD turned that into a decision for or against them... I think it was the story of Haman that I heard today, the part where the King asked him how he would honor a man.  Haman thought the King was going to honor him so he created this amazing answer, what he wanted the King to do for him.  Then it turned out that the honor was for the enemy Haman wanted to kill.

The Pharaoh with Moses was another example I was reminded of.  When the Pharaoh created the punishment for the Jews, GOD brought it back onto Egypt.  The death of the firstborn was meant for the Jews, but Pharaoh really sentenced himself and his whole country.

It was a serious day with lots of spiritual thoughts... trying to understand our present situations as a country and a world... and trying to see the purpose of small things in families and churches and cities.  

I watched a video "movie" about atheists the other day.  When you deal with college people, students and teachers, the idea that science is irrefutable and knowledge that is taught in secular spaces is without fault is really hard to combat.  Logical arguments, based on what the other person believes, is lost in words that really don't make sense.  It takes a lot of time and effort to break through the fog of the "educated" mind and argument.

In the film, as in most debates about the reality of GOD, the need for salvation, the existence of absolute truth, and other related topics, the stage is always many secular minds and attitudes against one or two Christians.  I don't know that I could even attempt to do that kind of battle.  I am glad some people are called to it... even if they are not the greatest actors in the play.

In the later part of the film, the man who had stopped the debate because they didn't like the efforts of the Christian man (which I didn't either... one line stated over and over again until it had no meaning and defeated the purpose of the debate)  followed the Christian speaker and tried to explain why he had done what he had done.  The detail/s that I noticed most were how he thought he was a Christian, the man who was trying to explain himself, but then said he did not believe the Bible was the Word of GOD.  The debating Christian tried to explain that they can't have a conversation about some things without the agreement that the BIBLE is GOD's Word...  that the basis of the conversation would be as a Christian to an unsaved person, not as a Christian with a Christian.

The opposing forces have made Christianity into one of many spiritual options, and all of them can be mixed to whatever you want to believe in... and that is just not true.  GOD is GOD, and the Bible is His letter to us about what matters to Him.  It isn't up for discussion or debate... it is His Law.  We obey because we love Him... because He is good... and because what He has shared leads to life, joy, happiness, faith, understanding, wisdom, peace, and more.

I think this mixed bag is generated by the gay community to make their choices seem more appropriate than they are.  It is a major farce to say you can be gay and still be Christian.  There might be a grey space in the short transition period of learning what GOD says in detail, but it is one of the most obvious "abominations" of sex to GOD.  It is why He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  There is no place in the Bible that says GOD accepts homosexuality... or promiscuity... or adultery... or pedophilia... or rape... or any sex outside of a loving marriage.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we accept all that is involved in the salvation commitment.  We instantly begin to leave our sins behind, the easiest ones first and the harder ones as we grow, but we continually move toward the righteousness that GOD says is true... until the day we die.

The problem with the power of the media, the purpose of debates, and the truth, is that we don't really hear what is being said.

I guess one of the college students in the film said it all when he said that evolution has been proven to be true... and it hasn't.  Creation is a theory, but the science they learn in school is fact.  What is under all this haziness is the desire to keep sinning, to be able to do what they want to do, and not to have to face the idea that what they choose might not be right, or good, or kind, or loving, or respectful.  No GOD means no accountability... except the laws and getting caught, and a good lawyer seems to work for the wealthy in those situations.

These would be the "good people" -- the ones that are not Christian...  Christians are suppose to be perfect people, but the "good people" are not... they are humane, benevolent, caring, intelligent, powerful.  The differences the Bible tells us exists between the saved (Christian) and the unsaved (good people) is wrapped up in this comparison.

I guess I am going into the Netherlands of thought myself...  it's like linking online... one leads to another, then another, then another...  It is one of my goals to learn how to separate these issues for writing books.  I hope I can get that done soon, just to be sure it's done before I die!!  :-)

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us
Working Together Inc
Building for the End Times

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May GOD make His presence known to those who want to find Him.
May our leaders care more about all of us than they do the next election.
May our lives become better than they are.
May we care about others and do what we can to make life better for as many as we can.
May we find the Truth so it can set us free, make our lives better, and discover how good we are and how important we are to the Body of Christ, the world, and life.
Amen.