The One Thing You Hate to Shop For

If you ask people what is the top five things you hate to shop for, one of the answers would have to be a car.

The last few weeks the Preacher and I have been car shopping. It is not a fun process. The only fun part of car shopping is the test drive. 

As the Preacher drives it off of the dealership's lot, for the test drive, he pushes down the gas pedal to see just how fast it will take off; he does little swerves to see how it handles; he tries to turn it 'on a dime' to see how well it will make a U-turn. All the while I, the passenger, am pushing all the buttons and searching out all the little storage compartments and the drink holders. (you know the drink holders are the most important part)

Our vehicle, that we drive now, is getting a little worn down. It's tired and we're tired of it. It has more miles on it than any other car we have ever owned. The Preacher likes to trade in his vehicles every 2-3 years and we're on that three year mark now.

We have looked at and test drove several within the last few weeks. The Preacher decided that we could look outside of the world of the Jeep to see if there was something better suited for us, so we looked at the Ford Edge, which is our front runner as of the moment, but we also looked at Mini's and Toyota's. We also went back to the Jeeps to see how much they were priced.

BUT have you priced a new car lately? They are so expensive! And with the price of the vehicle being so high, that means your monthly payments are crazy high!

We can't afford that!!

So today we took our Jeep Compass into see the mechanic and ordered some parts that maybe will help the little guy run better. The cost of the parts verses the cost of a new car is so much less expensive.

Sometimes we have a problem with the need versus the want aspect of our lives. We want a new car. We want all the new bells and whistles that they come with. We want one with little to no mileage. We want something that would be fun to drive. 

BUT what do we need? We need a good car that will get us from point A to B, and our Jeep will do that just fine. We need to not go into more debt. 

So that's where we are at the moment. We'll keep the little guy and we'll thank the Lord for supplying all our needs. 

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:19

Love from the Preacher and I

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Mom's Secret Weapon

"Give ear to my prayer, O God..."

                                               Psalm 55:1

The above t-shirt says it all, doesn't it?

When you're a Military Mom, especially when they are deployed, this is what you do on a daily basis.

I belong to a Facebook group of Military Moms. We post pictures of our heroes, our sons and daughters. We celebrate our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Air Force kid's celebrations and struggles. Also, there are a lot of prayer request. Moms asking for prayers for illnesses, the passing of exams, physical and written exams. Prayers for deployments and new duty stations. Prayers for daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws, and the birth of grandchildren.

One mother had posted a concern about how her son has begun to pull away from her. She understood that it was probably just his way of coping with the military life and how hard it can be when you are in Basic Training. The mom had concluded her post saying that all she knew how to do at this point was to just keep praying for her son. 

I commented back to her, telling her that prayer was a Mom's secret weapon and to never stop using that weapon.

But it's just not Military Moms who need to use this secret weapon. All Moms eat. sleep. pray.

From the time you discover that you are pregnant, or when you find out that your adoption request has been finalized, you begin to pray for that little one.

You pray all through their growing up years. You pray that they will make the right choices as a teenager. You pray for the right college, the right career, and the right person for them to spend their lives with.

Prayer may not always stop painful things from happening to our children, but as C.S. Lewis said in his book, Through the Shadowlands, 

“I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless.I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.”

No matter what your son or daughter is going through right now in their life, whether it's a good time or bad, if they are a little one or in college, or if they are married and have families of their own, pray for your children. The Lord doesn't turn a deaf ear to those who love Him.

   "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee..." 

                                                                                                  Isaiah 26:3

Love from the Preacher and I

Rest and Relax

Back in February, the Preacher and I, went to a three day Leadership Conference in San Diego. Almost everyone there was a minister in a church and they all brought their wives too.

While there, we attended joint classes that were designed for both the men and the women, but on the second day, two of the classes were divided up. The men went to their class and the women went to a class designed specifically for minister's wives. 

The class was taught by a woman who had been a minister's wife for 40 some years. She gave us her testimony of how she and her husband began their ministry together and told us about all of the different roles she has had to play. She had a lot of wisdom and suggestions for the younger women. 

We as wives of ministers, and also wives of men in leadership positions in the church, feel like we do this thing all by ourselves. Sometimes it is a lonely position, sometimes you don't have very many friends and sometimes you feel so many expectations are on you.

While discussing these feelings, and also telling the Preacher some of the concerns that the other wives had, the Preacher said, "Why do you let all of this bother you so much? You need to just 

REST, RELAX

AND

BE YOURSELF!

I know this is such a simple thing to say and do, but I'm going to try and do just that!

Love from the Preacher and I