I have been watching videos about retirement issues on YouTube tonight... several. I think I started with titles about the Middle Class... struggling in some, having too many things in another. It was very interesting, most were a bit dated, from the years following the housing crisis in 2008.
We have a lot of problems in America, and I don't know if we have any way to solve them. Crisis seems to be the "opportunity" the government likes.
I don't know if I will be around for the crash of the Social Security program. I hope not. What happens between now and the estimated time of bankruptcy is the real issue. We never know what the future will hold. Who knew we would have a global shutdown, which has become a death toll for business and jobs... increased the debt beyond reason so we are now looking at higher taxes again.
PBS News Hour, which I only watched in segments for today's report, talked about the increasing number of retail stores that are ending in bankruptcy or quitting the effort to stay open. I watched it twice, at least.
In some of the other videos I watched on related topics, the loss of work with no hope for new employment was changing the dreams of many people. I was struck by how many years some of the example stories worked for twenty, thirty, or more years before one day seeing their company go away. One person had the company she worked for disappear twice (two jobs went away) and was looking for work again.
Millions of people... no work. The older people, still needing to have income to meet their current expenses, could not find work. The devastation it had on families was included in the interviews. Blaming someone was the answer for one family, and it was the dad without the big wages anymore. The kids not understanding what was happening, and fearing it would happen again.
It's strange how crises affect family dynamics. It's the money that seems to create your value. I don't think that is a good value system. In families with addictions, the person who gets blamed for everything that happens is called the "scapegoat." In crisis, I suppose that is how we seem to see the world... we need to find someone to blame.
These financial issues are high on my list of things I'm thinking of these days. The debt, the stability of Social Security, life challenges, hopes for the future. My life has always been poor, so it is always hard to see the effects of economic disasters on people who have always had large amounts of money to live on.
One woman had a salary near $100K each year... yet she had no savings for an emergency. It was just spending money. I think she went on food benefits, but I can't remember for sure, I know they went from a large (nice) house (a rental, not a mortgage!) to a basement apartment. It is hard for me to even think about wasting that much money in their lives. We think life will always be the same. She said she planned to retire from the company that died.
I didn't learn any money lessons in my childhood, I had to learn them on my own. I never had that much to budget so I don't know what I would have done if I did have a lot of money.... then. Now I would be better able to deal with a large amount of money.
When you have nothing, or just a little, and you see pictures of the lives others lead, what they have compared to what they need, it is a serious problem. We are a consumer driven economy, and that is why our nation is falling apart. The News Hour segment, or maybe it was another video on retail, said that our consumer spending is down by half and that the normal level of consumer spending as part of our economy was 70%... Imagine if your monthly budget depended on what people spent... I guess that is why retail is being devastated right now.
What will replace those jobs? I have no idea. Food, shelter, and work-related necessities... those will need to survive. Shelves and shelves of toys, clothes, and other things we consume will go away.
This might be a good thing.
Change is hard... it will be painful... but the President is right when he says we will get through this. It will pass. That is what life is. We suffer through hard times and find a way to the future. My personal saying on the process is something that helps me remember everything goes away, eventually.
I have shared this before, but it is a good thing to share again. I was watching a river one day, as a homeless person, and I realized that life is like a river... no matter what happens, it just keeps going. Whether we like it or not, it just keeps going forward.
I hope this won't be a long hardship.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
and more...
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
22 May, 2020
27 March, 2020
Friday Update :: Here I am again
Sorry about this week, but "things happen."
What is there to say... I am not sure right now.
Getting organized is always a challenge...
for #My2020PatreonChallenge it is a really big challenge... but I love it... it is helping me keep going with all the things I need to learn.
Today I have been checking my planning pages. I had to do them all over because a soda spilled on my last set...
Also updated some other forms I am working on to keep me informed about my goals. I think I will be going with ONE set of planning pages at a time... some of my other efforts are short versions, but the updating is a challenge. ONE set to reference is enough for me. I have it in my daily notebook now... which seems to be working out good.
The tiny notebook forces me to limit my pages. Since I created my planning pages (18 pages right now, and more in the planning stage) it has really helped. That is why I am moving toward just using that set. I pretty much have one page for each activity or site I need to track.
I haven't gotten back into tracking site statistics again... that is a job on its own... AND will need some place to be recorded. Patreon is my main interest, but Etsy and Ebay need some kind of tracking page.
Finding the right "flow" for my work is seriously important. I use my notebooks to help me. I am not sure what other people do.
I think I am going to be using LARGE size text now... it really is a lot easier to read. (It will mean I don't have to write as much, too... won't it??? haha)
I guess I will get back to my list for today.
It's the Sabbath tonight... I have to find a way to "REST" for a whole night and day... I'm not sure I will win the battle, but I keep trying. I have movies to watch, letters to write, and I can take as many naps as I want. :-)
Take care of yourselves...
enjoy your families, help others, trust GOD...
We can find a way through anything...
we just have to look for the answers in places we never knew existed.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan
etsy.com/shop/work2gather
more to come :-)
What is there to say... I am not sure right now.
Getting organized is always a challenge...
for #My2020PatreonChallenge it is a really big challenge... but I love it... it is helping me keep going with all the things I need to learn.
Today I have been checking my planning pages. I had to do them all over because a soda spilled on my last set...
Also updated some other forms I am working on to keep me informed about my goals. I think I will be going with ONE set of planning pages at a time... some of my other efforts are short versions, but the updating is a challenge. ONE set to reference is enough for me. I have it in my daily notebook now... which seems to be working out good.
The tiny notebook forces me to limit my pages. Since I created my planning pages (18 pages right now, and more in the planning stage) it has really helped. That is why I am moving toward just using that set. I pretty much have one page for each activity or site I need to track.
I haven't gotten back into tracking site statistics again... that is a job on its own... AND will need some place to be recorded. Patreon is my main interest, but Etsy and Ebay need some kind of tracking page.
Finding the right "flow" for my work is seriously important. I use my notebooks to help me. I am not sure what other people do.
I think I am going to be using LARGE size text now... it really is a lot easier to read. (It will mean I don't have to write as much, too... won't it??? haha)
I guess I will get back to my list for today.
It's the Sabbath tonight... I have to find a way to "REST" for a whole night and day... I'm not sure I will win the battle, but I keep trying. I have movies to watch, letters to write, and I can take as many naps as I want. :-)
Take care of yourselves...
enjoy your families, help others, trust GOD...
We can find a way through anything...
we just have to look for the answers in places we never knew existed.
In Christ,
Deborah Martin
work2gather.us
patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan
etsy.com/shop/work2gather
more to come :-)
18 June, 2016
Today is the Sabbath - what does that mean?
Saturday, 18 June 2016 - about 10:15am my time
It is another day of "rest" and I still don't know how to define that in my life. I believe the Sabbath is a commandment so it isn't just an "if I want to" activity. The Ten Commandments didn't go away when Christ died and salvation through Him started.
Here is the part about the Sabbath from the link above ::
The great controversy between Saturday and Sunday is solved in my mind by the fact that we are adopted into the Jewish family when we become saved and cease to be Gentiles. There are only two people groups in GOD's eyes, I believe.... the Jews and everyone else, called the Gentiles. The biblical Sabbath is evening and morning according to Creation... so for the Jews it is Friday evening at sundown through sundown on Saturday.
I find this change of "days" to be a pain in the bottom, but that is how GOD decreed it. I once had the thought that we get to rest at the first part of the "day" (sleep at night and get refreshed), then we have all day to do real Sabbath things (whatever they may be).
As I got into the Sabbath challenge I could understand why there were so many problems surrounding it... and still are. I finally got to the question, "How does GOD rest?" and am still there. I also realized that babies needed to be cared for, old people needed to be cared for, some things had to be done to eat (just not making a fire, which was a LOT of work). Servants were resting, too. That means everyone had to do things differently... feed themselves, and things like that. :-)
I haven't decided about the animal questions... they could "save" animals in distress, so I call that the "emergency clause" -- we can do emergency activities... but how to separate them from regular work activities, I'm not sure. Shelters, hospitals, police, military... these things don't go away because it is the Sabbath... how do we deal with the needs of that one day a week ?? I'm not sure.
The whole idea of the Sabbath rest is that GOD is able to deal with those details when we honor Him with our commitment not to do "work" on that day. That includes earning the income from our regular labor, which we rely on for our survival. For the farmer that is the crops in the fields. For the rancher, it is the animals that create their income. For those in urban areas, where there is a lot of crime, that includes the safety of our lives. All of these details are the kinds of things that make the Sabbath an act of faith, like tithing.
It isn't an easy question to answer. GOD is involved in all the parts of our lives. The Bible tells us that GOD is able to make one field prosper and another to whither. It tells us that GOD controls the womb. We discover that GOD protects those who rely on Him, and uses the evil to bring judgment on those who go against the things He has decreed, including the wayward Jew.
Christians seem to have a Sabbath of going to church and eating out afterwards. I don't know what else happens in other people's houses, but I'm not sure rest is the theme of the day. If our servants are also to rest, does that mean we really shouldn't go out to eat? Is gardening work, or is it a recreational part of our lives, something we do to relax, a hobby, not really a job to us? That question came up in my mind. What can we do on the Sabbath that isn't considered work? Did potlucks start as the Sabbath rest meal? :-)
I remember a news story about orthodox Jews trying to claim that pushing the elevator button was work and they couldn't do that on the Sabbath. It must have been on Facebook (FB) because I remember commenting that if you can't push the elevator button, you also can't open a door, the frig, the microwave, the toilet, or anything we use in day-to-day life. I don't remember exactly what I wrote for examples, but you get the idea by the ones I shared here. I don't think pushing an elevator button is what GOD was concerned about.
I continue to search for my own answers to my Sabbath rest. I decided it had to be between GOD and me because that is how we are finally judged. Everyone else won't be with me when I reach the Great White Throne Judgment... I need to find my own answers. I think GOD understands the process and will help me find His Truth about the matter.
If you have any thoughts on the matter, please use the comments section to share them. We all have different lives and when we share some of the better details about them, others are helped. We can search for the answers together. Thanks.
It is another day of "rest" and I still don't know how to define that in my life. I believe the Sabbath is a commandment so it isn't just an "if I want to" activity. The Ten Commandments didn't go away when Christ died and salvation through Him started.
Here is the part about the Sabbath from the link above ::
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The great controversy between Saturday and Sunday is solved in my mind by the fact that we are adopted into the Jewish family when we become saved and cease to be Gentiles. There are only two people groups in GOD's eyes, I believe.... the Jews and everyone else, called the Gentiles. The biblical Sabbath is evening and morning according to Creation... so for the Jews it is Friday evening at sundown through sundown on Saturday.
I find this change of "days" to be a pain in the bottom, but that is how GOD decreed it. I once had the thought that we get to rest at the first part of the "day" (sleep at night and get refreshed), then we have all day to do real Sabbath things (whatever they may be).
As I got into the Sabbath challenge I could understand why there were so many problems surrounding it... and still are. I finally got to the question, "How does GOD rest?" and am still there. I also realized that babies needed to be cared for, old people needed to be cared for, some things had to be done to eat (just not making a fire, which was a LOT of work). Servants were resting, too. That means everyone had to do things differently... feed themselves, and things like that. :-)
I haven't decided about the animal questions... they could "save" animals in distress, so I call that the "emergency clause" -- we can do emergency activities... but how to separate them from regular work activities, I'm not sure. Shelters, hospitals, police, military... these things don't go away because it is the Sabbath... how do we deal with the needs of that one day a week ?? I'm not sure.
The whole idea of the Sabbath rest is that GOD is able to deal with those details when we honor Him with our commitment not to do "work" on that day. That includes earning the income from our regular labor, which we rely on for our survival. For the farmer that is the crops in the fields. For the rancher, it is the animals that create their income. For those in urban areas, where there is a lot of crime, that includes the safety of our lives. All of these details are the kinds of things that make the Sabbath an act of faith, like tithing.
It isn't an easy question to answer. GOD is involved in all the parts of our lives. The Bible tells us that GOD is able to make one field prosper and another to whither. It tells us that GOD controls the womb. We discover that GOD protects those who rely on Him, and uses the evil to bring judgment on those who go against the things He has decreed, including the wayward Jew.
Christians seem to have a Sabbath of going to church and eating out afterwards. I don't know what else happens in other people's houses, but I'm not sure rest is the theme of the day. If our servants are also to rest, does that mean we really shouldn't go out to eat? Is gardening work, or is it a recreational part of our lives, something we do to relax, a hobby, not really a job to us? That question came up in my mind. What can we do on the Sabbath that isn't considered work? Did potlucks start as the Sabbath rest meal? :-)
I remember a news story about orthodox Jews trying to claim that pushing the elevator button was work and they couldn't do that on the Sabbath. It must have been on Facebook (FB) because I remember commenting that if you can't push the elevator button, you also can't open a door, the frig, the microwave, the toilet, or anything we use in day-to-day life. I don't remember exactly what I wrote for examples, but you get the idea by the ones I shared here. I don't think pushing an elevator button is what GOD was concerned about.
I continue to search for my own answers to my Sabbath rest. I decided it had to be between GOD and me because that is how we are finally judged. Everyone else won't be with me when I reach the Great White Throne Judgment... I need to find my own answers. I think GOD understands the process and will help me find His Truth about the matter.
If you have any thoughts on the matter, please use the comments section to share them. We all have different lives and when we share some of the better details about them, others are helped. We can search for the answers together. Thanks.
26 February, 2016
Friday, 26 FEB 2016 :: Still praying
My search for housing is again a major event in my life...
As a senior, the problems seem much worse... I am hoping that GOD will deal with the problems I can't change, and help me to find solutions that will last for the rest of my life... however long or short that will be.
I am still looking for ways to share my basic prayer request.
I am still trying to earn the money through online sales, through sales of WT Trial Memberships that will lead to wage income for me and others, through donation possibilities at my "crowd-funding" offer (my fiverr gift gig)... and letter, email, and other contacts with Christian resource possibilities.
I have been out of any "loops" for several years now, dealing with work problems, health issues, location issues, etc., so finding people who know me well is impossible. It makes me wonder what I can do, who to ask, where to search. And there are those other issues beyond my ability that I pray to GOD for resolutions for....
I hope you are still praying for my housing request. I think the official post is on this blog... entered on the 10th or 11th of FEB I think.
My life hasn't been what I thought it would be, but it has been the best I could do with my circumstances.
As a senior, the problems seem much worse... I am hoping that GOD will deal with the problems I can't change, and help me to find solutions that will last for the rest of my life... however long or short that will be.
I am still looking for ways to share my basic prayer request.
I am still trying to earn the money through online sales, through sales of WT Trial Memberships that will lead to wage income for me and others, through donation possibilities at my "crowd-funding" offer (my fiverr gift gig)... and letter, email, and other contacts with Christian resource possibilities.
I have been out of any "loops" for several years now, dealing with work problems, health issues, location issues, etc., so finding people who know me well is impossible. It makes me wonder what I can do, who to ask, where to search. And there are those other issues beyond my ability that I pray to GOD for resolutions for....
I hope you are still praying for my housing request. I think the official post is on this blog... entered on the 10th or 11th of FEB I think.
My life hasn't been what I thought it would be, but it has been the best I could do with my circumstances.
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