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“Freedom isn’t being able to have whatever we crave. Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it.” Rob Bell

In my last post, I talked about how Clint and I are taking steps to being debt free. Clint was trying to sell his new car that he just bought a few weeks ago in favor of something a little older with some miles on it. Well, God definitely heard our prayer. On the way home from work yesterday, Clint stopped by Jim Tidwell Ford (shop there) and they bought his 2008 Ford Edge and he bought their 2006 Ford Explorer. In the process, he lowered our debt by over $12,000 and we should have the Explorer paid off shortly after the first of the year. At that point, we’ll go back to being in debt only for our house, which some say isn’t really debt if you are making all the monthly payments. I have thoughts about that both ways, but let’s just say that we’ll have more money to give to God and to others when this house is paid off!

Thank you for praying for us and we are looking forward to finding more ways to save money to use to make the name of Christ famous in Acworth, GA! Don’t forget about Blake and Emily. Buy his truck…buy their house!!

Our church is getting ready to do a series in September about getting out of debt.  It is amazing how many people are in debt that is suffocating them.  Clint has really done a great job of putting together a plan for us to be good stewards of the money God has given us.  We both work full-time and both do consulting type things on the side every once in a while for a little extra money.  We paid off my car a year ago and Clint had a car that was paid off for several years.  We are big fans of Dave Ramsey and Joe Sangl and have learned a lot about wise financial decisions from their ministries.

A few months ago Clint’s car starting making some crazy noises and we realized that we were starting to spend more for repairs than it would cost to get another car.

Clint did a ton of research and got a great deal on a 2008 Ford Edge.  We have really enjoyed the car for the past few weeks.  We just have our house and car payment…no credit card debt or anything.  However, we realize that there is a lot more we could do with that money and so Clint has decided he wants to sell his car and get into something a few years older that costs less.  Therefore, we are selling the Edge.  There is nothing wrong with it, still has the new car smell…just want to get out of debt.  If you know anyone who wants to buy it…here are all the details, please pass it along.

Post on Atlanta Craig’s List

Our pastor wrote about folks getting out of debt today on his blog.  Two of our good friends are doing the same thing and have had some great success so far.  Will you partner with us for a debt free Acworth?  Can you imagine what God could do among a community of folks that aren’t tied down to what they owe?

Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

At church we have been going through a series called “Let Freedom Ring”.  J.R. has been sharing with our church family what it’s going to take for us to reach the 90,000 people in a five mile radius of our church for the glory of God.  I have also been reading a book called “The Peacemaker” by Ken Sande in preparation for teaching that class to our seniors this year.  God is really surrounding me by the knowledge that people will be won or lost for the kingdom based on how they are treated.  What if the only way they experience God’s love is the way that I love them as I drive past them or walk past them in Wal-Mart?  What if the only Jesus they see is the way I treat my server when the food is slow or wrong?  What if their salvation rests on if I call to see how they are doing?

I ran across this quote today by Francis Shaffer that really sums it up for me…

“Yet, without true Christians loving one another, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done this very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of men who are about us. But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.” Francis Schaffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, pgs. 164-165

I’ve been hearing great things about Orthodoxy by Eddie Kirkland since it dropped in January.  I just downloaded it the other day and have been checking it out today on a rainy Thursday.  Great stuff from start to finish.  “How He Loves Us” and “Lift High” are definitely my favorites right now.

Ready for what? Ready for one of these…We are getting to church super early on Sunday just to snag one

I am totally going to suggest this for our next Administrative Council meeting.  Amazing!

I am so pumped…we are heading to the beach!

We are leaving this evening and driving part of the way and spending the night in Dothan, AL.  Tomorrow morning we’ll get up early and cruise the last 100 miles into Cape San Blas, FL.  We are going with some friends and are looking forward to 5 days of relaxing and hanging out.  Just the other day, we found out my brother has a long weekend off from work, and is going to come and join us.  It’ll be great to see Kevin and he is always a blast to hang out with.

We are coming back late Monday evening.  I’ve heard that cell reception is spotty and internet is non-existent where we are staying.  Even better for a technology junkie like me!

See you next week!

Today was a really cool day.   Did something really amazing happen?  Did I win a prize?  Did I find something I’ve been looking for a long time?  Nope…none of those.  It was actually kind of a regular day, but I am realizing more and more that most of my “regular” days are really quite amazing.  God is teaching me to listen and to reflect a bit more…so here goes.

Got up around 7:30 this morning…not all that early, but still later than normal.

Packed my lunch and got ready for the day.

Headed up to school for a Student Government meeting.  We have a great crew lined up for 0809…I can tell already that we are going to have a blast together!

From 11-12:30 went to a Creative Planning meeting with JR, Todd, and Corey to talk about this Sunday at Freedom Church.  Good times…make plans to be there.  We had a blast today.  I love the creative process and it is always fun to brainstorm with some new folks.

After that went back up to school for the rest of the SG planning.  I spent an hour with them brainstorming for the retreat.  I sat on a stool and wrote things on the whiteboard.  They are a sharp bunch…great ideas, really challenging stuff!

After the meeting, hung out with some staff friends at school catching up on everyone’s summer.

Wandered around Kohl’s for a little bit with Clint.  We looked at some baby clothes…just a bit overwhelming.  Friday we have a dr. appt and hopefully will find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  That will make some of this looking around a little more real and manageable!

We ate dinner at Shane’s Rib Shack.  Clint and I started a new restaurant budget this month.  He is so great with money and I am not.  I don’t spend much, neither of us do, but we are both awful about eating out too much…and he has been tracking it.  When he told me what we’ve spent at restaurants since the beginning of the year…I thought I was going to be sick!  No wonder we are tired of eating out :)  However, we did have some free coupons to Shane’s…thus the splurge tonight.  Other than that, we have both been packing our lunches and eating at home a lot more!  I think I could definitely get used to this!  Good news…for the first half of the month, we came in under budget on eating out!  That even includes being out of town for 7 days.  Thanks Mom for cooking most of the time we were in Memphis!  Now…if we could just find someone to cook for us here!

Clint had a late softball game tonight.  We came home after dinner and bummed around the house.  He took off about an hour ago.  I have just been finishing up a few things and working on some stuff for our beach vacation with some good friends next week.

For the past 2 hours, I’ve been sitting out on the deck of our house that I love…the deck and the house.  I’m working on my MacBook Pro sitting next to my iPhone and a glorious bottle of Kroger water.  Thank you Lord for a really amazing “regular” day!