Months ago I read an article from Matt at Becoming Last. The article suggested that readers take a time inventory of their lives to determine how much time they spent on work, sleep, preparing and eating book, etc. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate if the way we spend our time matches what we claim to value.
For an entire week I wrote down everything I spent my time on. I discovered that I spent much of my free time with friends and doing bible studies. This matched two of the four priorities of my life (read about those here). I spent much more time on those two things than I did the top two things on my list (loving and serving my family, and loving and serving others). I realized my free time was being spent on the four areas of my life that were important, just not in the order I desired! I came to two conclusions from this exercise.
Schedule Change
We had a few conversations about our desire to love and serve other people. We were able to do this on the rare occasion a girl from church needed someone to go to an appointment with her because her mother lived out of town, or helping a family move who didn’t own a car. But we realized we needed to be much more intentional in this area.
We also realized we needed to drop a few commitments to spend time working on our marriage. We started limiting our time on church related activities to twice a week instead of three or four. We started picking up and doing housework for 5-10 minutes at breakfast and lunch so we had time in the evening together. I stopped spending as much time online, and as you have probably noticed, on this blog.
Continued Evaluation
In a short time, this exercise opened my eyes. I realized that I don’t always spend my time in a way that matches what I say I value. I get so busy with life and the things that I have scheduled that I neglect the things that are the most important to me! This was very helpful to Mr. DFx40 and I, and we plan on doing this again.
Conclusion
It was a looong 6 months away from this blog, but it was well worth it. Mr. DFx40 is graduated and finally starting to settle in at his new job. My job has had a major schedule change. And we have added another member to our household. But we can catch up about life a little later!
What about you…what are the priorities in your life? Do you consistently spend your time in a way that reflects that?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Money Proverbs - A Prudent Son
Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.
Many proverbs have negative and positive statements. Today’s is not different.
4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
Proverbs 10:4-5
Negative. We’ve all heard the story of the grasshopper and the ant. We’ve also all heard stories of grasshoppers that came into money without earning it themselves. Unfortunately, the proverb below holds true even in those situations. Many people who inherit money or win the lottery end up in worse shape that they started out in because they didn’t change their ways.
Positive. This verse brought to my mind a worker with variable income. These people know that they must save during months of plenty (gather in summer) to survive the months of want. They will be rewarded with peace of mind, a cared for family, and a wise reputation.
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
*******************************************************
Many proverbs have negative and positive statements. Today’s is not different.
4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
Proverbs 10:4-5
Negative. We’ve all heard the story of the grasshopper and the ant. We’ve also all heard stories of grasshoppers that came into money without earning it themselves. Unfortunately, the proverb below holds true even in those situations. Many people who inherit money or win the lottery end up in worse shape that they started out in because they didn’t change their ways.
Positive. This verse brought to my mind a worker with variable income. These people know that they must save during months of plenty (gather in summer) to survive the months of want. They will be rewarded with peace of mind, a cared for family, and a wise reputation.
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Money Proverbs - Riches and Honor
Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.
I don’t have much to say about today’s verses except, boy was it timely. Sometimes its hard to not get caught up in the love of money. This reminds me that His blessings are better than anything I can imagine!
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:18-21
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
*******************************************************
I don’t have much to say about today’s verses except, boy was it timely. Sometimes its hard to not get caught up in the love of money. This reminds me that His blessings are better than anything I can imagine!
18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:18-21
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Money Proverbs - Practical Warnings
Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers he food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:9, 10
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
*******************************************************
I titled today’s verses after the section title from my bible. If the following passage seems like common sense, that’s because it is! And honestly, the bluntness of it really makes me chuckle.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers he food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:9, 10
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
March Firm Determinations Update
At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.
Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $4096.00 towards this goal. That’s 82% towards our goal!
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2726.70 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!
Health
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 2 miles this month. Yikes. I guess it is an improvement over last month, which didn’t see any miles. It looks like I need to reevaluate this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bike
one time in March, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. Maybe April will be the first successful month.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’m still only doing this about once a week. Sigh.
Try one new meatless meal a month –Here is a picture of the surprisingly yummy black bean taco I had for dinner last week. Mr. DFx40 wasn’t excited about meatless tacos so I had to take my portion of the beans out before I added his beef.
Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month –This has been more difficult to fulfill lately. We had to make the very sad decision to stop volunteering on Wednesday nights. Maybe I’ll talk more about this later, but I’m still pretty upset, so I’m not going to go into it now.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging only 2 hours each week this month.
Blog
Post a new article once a week – I barely met this goal this month. I think I need to work on a schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.
Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month. Maybe it’s the warm sunny days we’ve been having, but I am very optimistic for April.
What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?
Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $4096.00 towards this goal. That’s 82% towards our goal!
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2726.70 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!
Health
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 2 miles this month. Yikes. I guess it is an improvement over last month, which didn’t see any miles. It looks like I need to reevaluate this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bike
one time in March, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. Maybe April will be the first successful month. Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’m still only doing this about once a week. Sigh.
Try one new meatless meal a month –Here is a picture of the surprisingly yummy black bean taco I had for dinner last week. Mr. DFx40 wasn’t excited about meatless tacos so I had to take my portion of the beans out before I added his beef.
Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month –This has been more difficult to fulfill lately. We had to make the very sad decision to stop volunteering on Wednesday nights. Maybe I’ll talk more about this later, but I’m still pretty upset, so I’m not going to go into it now.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging only 2 hours each week this month.
Blog
Post a new article once a week – I barely met this goal this month. I think I need to work on a schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.
Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month. Maybe it’s the warm sunny days we’ve been having, but I am very optimistic for April.
What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Time Management
Last week Matt at Becoming Last posted an interesting article about time management. First he suggested we take a time inventory of our lives. Write down how much time you spend on different areas of your life for a week: work, sleep, preparing and eating food, driving, leisure (tv, games, hobbies), working out, church activities/volunteering, internet, etc. Then he posed this question,
“Does the way we use our time match what we claim to value?”
I thought for a while and came up with a list of things I value in my life; things I want to be a priority. It was hard for me to put into words the things that I value. As I’ve said in previous posts, the main goal for my life is to live missionally. But that is a little broad for this list, so I broke it down a little. I managed to come up with 4 things that I want to be priorities in my life.
Loving and serving my family
This includes any quality time that I spend with my family; going for a walk, watching a movie with them, sitting and talking with them. It also includes any time I spend serving them: making their dinner, folding their clothes, giving them a massage.
Loving and serving others
This includes any time I spend serving other people; giving someone a ride, verbally affirming my friends, or serving at a soup kitchen.
Increasing my knowledge of God
This includes any time spent in prayer, reading my bible, attending church, or leading bible studies.
Taking care of my mind and body
This includes any time I spend doing things like exercising or gardening.
Starting this Sunday I am going to keep a rough estimate each day of how I spend my time. At the end of next week I will share my results, and see if how I spend my time matches what I value. If it doesn’t, I’ll try to determine what I can do to change that.
What about you…how do you think you spend your time? What do you want your life to reflect about your priorities?
“Does the way we use our time match what we claim to value?”
I thought for a while and came up with a list of things I value in my life; things I want to be a priority. It was hard for me to put into words the things that I value. As I’ve said in previous posts, the main goal for my life is to live missionally. But that is a little broad for this list, so I broke it down a little. I managed to come up with 4 things that I want to be priorities in my life.
Loving and serving my family
This includes any quality time that I spend with my family; going for a walk, watching a movie with them, sitting and talking with them. It also includes any time I spend serving them: making their dinner, folding their clothes, giving them a massage.
Loving and serving others
This includes any time I spend serving other people; giving someone a ride, verbally affirming my friends, or serving at a soup kitchen.
Increasing my knowledge of God
This includes any time spent in prayer, reading my bible, attending church, or leading bible studies.
Taking care of my mind and body
This includes any time I spend doing things like exercising or gardening.
Starting this Sunday I am going to keep a rough estimate each day of how I spend my time. At the end of next week I will share my results, and see if how I spend my time matches what I value. If it doesn’t, I’ll try to determine what I can do to change that.
What about you…how do you think you spend your time? What do you want your life to reflect about your priorities?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Money Proverbs - Weath and Plenty
Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.
Today’s verses are a subject that causes a lot of division within and outside of the church. But regardless of the arguments of either side, it is a passage that I have seen prove faithful in my own life. When Mr. DFx40 and I started honoring God with our money (and that means giving faithfully and willingly, not begrudgingly) our finances were blessed. We were able to sell a house we bought with my parents for a 55% profit, pay off my student loans, pay our car off 2 years early, and take our net worth from a negative $56,500 to a positive $18,000. And even though we were using most of our income to pay down debt and increase our savings, our giving has actually increased also.
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Proverbs 3:9, 10
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
*******************************************************
Today’s verses are a subject that causes a lot of division within and outside of the church. But regardless of the arguments of either side, it is a passage that I have seen prove faithful in my own life. When Mr. DFx40 and I started honoring God with our money (and that means giving faithfully and willingly, not begrudgingly) our finances were blessed. We were able to sell a house we bought with my parents for a 55% profit, pay off my student loans, pay our car off 2 years early, and take our net worth from a negative $56,500 to a positive $18,000. And even though we were using most of our income to pay down debt and increase our savings, our giving has actually increased also.
9 Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Proverbs 3:9, 10
What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?
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