So our church put together a series of seminars concerning money. It's a push to help the families in the church understand their budget and the economy. Some things they stated on Sunday night really shocked me and, surprisingly, applied to my family. For one, many households have less than $2,500 in savings at any moment. Another, seminaries are not teaching upcoming pastors how to budget money. And still another, 40% of members of churches give absolutely nothing to their home church. Wow! Many of the stats thoroughly surprised me on Sunday night. Though we semi-have a budget in our household we rarely stick strictly to it. Ever since I was bedridden in December, I have given the budget to Jared. Sometimes I wonder what he has done with it, but I tell myself that I need to start trusting him as the head of our house. He has never learned how to budget money which makes me feel sorry for him on one hand, but makes me frustrated with him all the same. Part of me wants to yell, "You have a wife, three kids, and a mortgage! You can't cop out of things anymore! You need to man up!" So attending the budget seminars will hopefully be informative and helpful for him and us.
On another note, I start work on Tuesday. I am dreading every minute that I have to be there. For the first time in my life I feel content not to work. I always spoke against staying at home with kids and being a housewife, but here I am. I feel that God has changed my every thought about the matter in the past few months. I see evidence in Joshua that it is good for me to stay at home. I see evidence in myself that I enjoy being at home. And for the first time in our four-year marriage, I have been able to cook dinner for my husband every night. I don't know. I love my job and it's only two days a week. I pray that God will give me answers and give me the guts to follow through with the answers he has given me. When I was working, I saw how selfish I could be: with hours, with money, with my time, and with the disregard for other people. I feel like God has given me the ability to change someone's life. And though I don't know who or when, I really don't want my schedule to get in the way.
On a happier note, the boys sat in their bumbo chairs today! As a mom, you wait and wait for months for your babies to do something. "It's beginning" is all I can think. We had my birthday last week and I was thinking ahead to my next birthday when it occurred to me that the twins will be one by that time and probably walking. It happens so fast. I just pray that my impatience will not get in the way of enjoying their baby time. After all, they are my last babies.
I also want to pray for our country, that God would have mercy on us. I am so completely frustrated I have no more words to say concerning our economy or our president.
