Hope for your financial life and beyond

On My Birthday, I Have So Much to Be Thankful For

March 7, 2014 by 13 Comments

Hidden Nuggets #31 - “Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” - Psalm 107:8

“I remember like it was only yesterday when you were born…”

Some time today, I’ll get a phone call from my mom who will start the conversation with the above sentence. She usually does call to say “Happy Birthday”, so I’m not expecting this year to be any different. Mom, if you are reading this, I’m waiting.

I don’t know how you feel when that annual day comes around. Some are more unique than others I suppose. Last year was a big one for me. Now, I’m just treading water again, slowly inching upwards for nine years to the next important milestone.

I do reflect a little on my birthday to see where I’ve been and how I’ve grown in the last year. I also project, thinking about what lies ahead in the months down the road. However, the biggest thing I do every year is spend a few moments in silent reflection thanking God for all the blessings He has poured out on my life.

Things to Be Thankful For

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Filed Under: Current Events, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: , , , ,

How Do You Handle Life’s Most Embarrassing Moments?

February 28, 2014 by 8 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #30 - “O my God, I trust in you; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.” - Psalms 25:2

embarrassing moments

Wonder if Larry Legend every had an embarrassing basketball moment?

My teammates and I are playing defense in the second quarter of our private school state championship basketball game. Suddenly a player from our team steals the ball. Noticing an opening, I move from my defensive position up the floor. In a split second, I find myself on the receiving end of a pass with nothing but hardwood and our basket in front of me.

Pounding the ball into the floor, I streak forward, gaining speed with each step. All of their team’s defenders are trailing behind me as I hear the crowd’s cheering begin to swell. This is clearly leading to two points as an open lay-up awaits.

Then, as I approached the goal and jumped with the ball extended in one hand, the unthinkable occurred…

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Inspiration Tagged With: , , ,

Giving to Charity in Secret…Because It’s Not About Me

February 21, 2014 by 15 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #29 - “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory before me. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their rewards. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” - Matthew 6:2-4

giving to charityJesus was calling out some pretty crusty characters in the Bible verses I quoted above. The “hypocrites” he mentioned were actually the religious teachers of the time known as the Pharisees. Even though they were the church leaders, they were actually very poor spiritual role models. On this occasion, Jesus was blasting them for their practice of giving to charity openly for all to see.

The Pharisees would give only to get noticed. They would make sure people were watching them at church when they put their offering in the collection box. They looked down on people who didn’t give as much. One could even find them on the street corners bragging about how much they had given, even though it was a small percentage compared to their overall wealth.

To an outsider, their giving to charity looked very religious and sacrificial. Jesus saw right through the motives and exposed their hypocrisy. In reality, he said their purpose in giving was to gain status, power and the favor of men. Needless to say, they didn’t like Jesus much for saying this.

Think this still applies to us today? I do. It’s not like human nature has changed. We battle against the same self-seeking motivations that characterized the Pharisees.

Giving to Charity Privately

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Now That’s What I Call Love

February 14, 2014 by 17 Comments

Hidden Nuggets #28 - “Love never fails.” - I Corinthians 13:8

These hands have seen many years.

Time has not been kind to the physical features. These once vibrant hands have aged into a wrinkled shadow. The attempt to elude time’s impact on the body has failed. Time ages us, one and all.

The belief we can escape time’s impact is folly. Yet it is not all-powerful. In this picture, I find three evidences of time’s failure:

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The “If Only” Game Creates Liars Of Us All

February 7, 2014 by 6 Comments

Hidden Nuggets #27 - “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.” - Proverbs 3:13-14

“If only I had this car then I’d be happy.”

Ever heard of the “if only” game? It’s played like this:

Step 1: Look at your current life situation.

Step 2: Figure out all the junk going on that you don’t like.

Step 3: Use the information from Step 2 to fill in this statement, “If only I could change ________ then my life would be great.”

Step 4: Repeat Step 3 as new negative circumstances warrant.

We play this game all the time:

“If only I were out of debt then I’d be happy.”

“If only I had a bigger house then I’d be happy.”

“If only I were in better shape then I’d be happy.”

“If only my kids would behave then I’d be happy.”

“If only my boss would get off my back then I’d be happy.”

“If only…If only…If only…”

The “if-only” game promotes a lie - the lie being that circumstances produce happiness. The dangerous aspect of this lie is that we project into the future and base our happiness level on a hypothetical situation. In other words, we dream of happy life scenarios based on events that have not and may never occur.

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Vices Tagged With: , , , ,

What Ritz Crackers ‘n Cheese Dip Taught Me About Breaking Routines

January 31, 2014 by 25 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #26 - “And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.” - II Kings 6:17

Ritz 1I have a guilty snack pleasure confession to make. I love Kraft Handi-Snacks Ritz Crackers ‘n Cheese Dip. Four crackers…compartment of processed cheese…sealed together in perfect harmony. Simply pull the plastic tab off the top and enjoy the yummy cheese ‘n cracker goodness. And only 100 calories to boot.

I’ve loved these all my life despite one annoying feature about the product…the little red stick. The 2” red stick has never worked for me. My irritation revolves around two things: cheese distribution and cracker stability.

First off, if you want the same amount of cheese on all the crackers you have to control how much cheese is spread onto each cracker. The stick makes this difficult. I usually end up putting too much cheese on the first cracker and then having none left for the last one.

The stick is also renowned for breaking the cracker in half, unless you hold it daintily with your pinky up like you are sipping a cup of tea. The cracker must be laid out on a completely flat surface or there is a greater than average chance the cracker splits when the stick spreads on the cheese glob. Don’t try to hold the cracker in the palm of your hand or between your thumb and index finger either. Neither of those methods solves the soft cracker vs. hard stick problem.

Clearly I have issues.

I’ve put up with that red stick for 25+ years, resigned to the fact I have to use it. That all changed recently, when I had a Handi-Snacks revelation.

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Random Fun Tagged With: , ,

Providing For Your Own Is Always Right

January 24, 2014 by 20 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #25 - “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” - I Timothy 5:8

Let it go

I was saddened the other day when I went to visit the site of a personal finance blogger I had begun to read and saw that as of December 31st he had discontinued writing. I wouldn’t say we were close blogging friends or anything but he had commented here and I had commented at his site. Plus we were social on Twitter, so I guess that counts for some connection, right?

He left a really nice closing letter explaining why he was going on an indefinite blogging hiatus. That’s a really nice touch. Nothing says “I don’t care” to your readers like suddenly disappearing into thin air without leaving so much as a whisper as to why.

His reason for stopping - personal issues.

Blogging has become an integral part of my life. I have loved connecting with people online, sharing my story and hearing theirs. Outside of my family and faith, nothing is giving me as much pleasure right now as building this site and being social with people online.

But if I came across some personal issues or my family needed more of me for some reason, I would gladly give it up.

Well…reluctantly…sadly…but gladly.

So I say “Kudos” to my colleague for being responsible and recognizing what held more value.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Hidden Nuggets Series, Relationships Tagged With: , , , ,

Feed Your Pleasures and Break the Bank

January 17, 2014 by 10 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #24 - “He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.” - Proverbs 21:17

I’ll bet they really knew how to throw a party in King Solomon’s day.

His reign ushered in the peak of ancient Israel’s wealth and prosperity. Buoyed by the successful reign of his father King David and endowed with special wisdom from God, Solomon’s kingdom produced so much wealth, the Bible has this to say about it in I Kings 10:27:

“The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem…”

How’s that for wealthy? And everyone, rich and poor, was able to benefit.

The rising tide lifted all boats.

So you can see why I think parties were commonplace, especially at the palace. At the minimum they lived in extreme opulence. We know Solomon’s throne was made of gold and overlaid with ivory. That’s pretty sweet.

With all this wealth at his fingertips Solomon could pleasure himself with anything he wanted.

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Spending, Vices Tagged With: , , ,

If You Do Anything This Year, Please Consider Receiving This Gift

January 10, 2014 by 12 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #23 - “…the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23

How are those Christmas gifts working out for you? What level of satisfaction are you receiving from them?

Gifts are awesome! My wife and I just purchased a 100+ yr. old oak pedestal table for our kitchen eating area. We’ve been looking for a larger kitchen table for the family because the six of us were sitting so close we were knocking knees under the old one. Some nights it was just easier for me to eat standing up, plate in hand.

We are already receiving satisfaction from that table. We have physical space so we can breathe now. Our dinners are more relaxed. After only several meals, I can’t imagine eating dinner in the kitchen without it.

While it’s a great gift we’ve given ourselves and does provide a convenience, it’s just a thing.

A possession that won’t last.

An asset that does not fulfill any deep emotional need inside our soul.

People are always looking for assets - something to fill that void in their life.

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Filed Under: God's Provision, Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: , , , ,

The Value of Repetition - As Witnessed Through My Daughter

December 20, 2013 by 25 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #22 - “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Repetition is the key to learning.

Repeat things consistently, day in and day out, and patterns will develop that are extremely difficult to break. These patterns could be positive or negative depending on what has been repeated. Either way, they get hard wired into the brain and influence our behavior.

As a parent, I serve as the default pattern developer for my children. They will pick up on what I routinely say and do and begin to express those things in their life (both consciously and subconsciously). Nothing serves to be more encouraging and/or terrifying as seeing your children turn into you.

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Kids and Money Tagged With: , , ,

The Lustful Spending Desires I Routinely Battle

December 13, 2013 by 18 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #21 - “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” - James 1:14

What consumer products seduce you?

We all have our weaknesses when it comes to spending. There are certain consumer items that routinely tempt us to purchase them. For the longest time I refused to believe that I had an issue giving in to these temptations.

However, I began to notice certain behavior patterns emerging that forced me to admit to the truth. Certain consumer products are very attractive to me and I have to continually fight my spirit’s desire for them.

What Are the Signs of Desire?

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Spending Tagged With: ,