Offerings of Sacrifice

Tonight is the last night in our current house - our most amazing, gift from God house. Here was a picture of our sunset a few days ago. Several days a week we get these sunsets and they are breathtaking.

It is a bit hard to say good-bye, and yet I feel so at peace with our decision. It is truly the Will of the Lord for us to be gaining towards our goal of debt-free living. We have been pursuing this goal for 10 years, actively. We have stumbled along the way, we have had major circumstances and situations, many unforseen deaths in the family, including both maternal grandparents, maternal uncle, mother, paternal grandfather, birth of two children and 2 major moves all within the past 5 years. When we live so far away from immediate family, it can be expensive to travel. We have had a few poor decisions and some really great decisions, all with the intent to honor the Lord. It can be hard to know what the Lord's Will is in our lives, especially when it comes to purchases and making change, when we are young and without elders to guide us. We always weigh the pros and cons, the needs and wants. I can say we are not impulsive people, but do place pressure on ourselves to make decisions instead of waffling. The bottom-line is that we have major student-loan debt. Major. And we are a single-income family serving in the military. We have grown as a family along the way and are now a family with four children. It is time that we take the monkey off the back and get super-serious about paying down these student loans. So, we have made some drastic changes, but yet it was all in God's timing. He waited to reveal the truth about ourselves, waited patiently to see if we would come to the knowledge about our ugly selves. Nothing in this world will make us happy, nothing. Not even promised camping trips, get-aways, going here or there. What makes us happy is when we as a family chose to honor Him, where love is found in the home and is not sought after outside of the home. Where we get real and deep with ourselves and our kids. And most of all, we have learned that we can't plan for the future, that usually for us, things don't go as expected. We purchased a brand-new van once, and in 5 years, was worth a fraction of our investment - and the transmission went out. Life is unpredictable and we need to make choices for today, not for the future. I know that sounds totally wrong, but we need to live for the day and trust in God that our choices made smartly today will carry us through, instead of us saying "We know what will be best for the next 5 years". That does not mean reckless choices or not keeping in mind for the future. If we would have stopped worrying about the future, we would have had our debt paid off. There is no whining, but a good hard look at the facts. We are ready now. Ready to continue on, following his leading. Not ever having lived in something other than a house since having children, this seems to some like a step-backward, living in a townhome. But to us, it is a step-up. Jesus abode in humble dwellings, with simple food, and simple clothing. How should we expect to live - better than the King? Our needs are met, we are happy, and will soon be able to live fully in-line with biblical principles. By the way, we will still have a nice ocean view, when we take a short 100 ft walk. We might have a view from the upstairs corner bedroom, and every day we drive into our housing development we will have beautiful ocean views. We are now a block from the beach, where as before we were on a cliff and had to drive 1/2 mile down to the beach. We can walk now! And we can walk to the pool, gym, tennis courts - which we had to drive to before. There is a Youth Center with classes 4 days a week ranging from elementary music, to a toddler music class, to cooking class, to craft class to piano lessons. The kids can join for just $25 a year per child! Most of the kids that participate are homeschool kids, with a few from after-school programs. We will enjoy a new type of life, maybe a much more active one, in our new home. And our new place is the same size as our old house minus the garage. So, the Lord is truly blessing us beyond what we could have hoped for. I hope to continue actively posting on the blog, not taking as long as a break as I have had. I enjoy blogging, and sharing, and keeping in touch with those that mean so much to me. Some days are super busy, but whose life isn't? God Bless you until we meet again. Country Needles