October 7, 2013
11:03pm
You've been so involved in Jay's homeschooling over the last month. How do you maintain balance in other areas of your life?
It's tough. I admit it. Stephan and I had a long discussion prior to finalizing the decision to homeschool. We discussed our marriage, finances, how it affects Madison, and my personal goals. We also discussed having time to ourselves which is a big thing for us. I'll explain each of these areas.
Marriage- It's mind-blowing all the hundreds of reasons why people file for divorce-adultery, finances, disinterest, and so on. Children can be added to that list. Sometimes parents place more attention on their children than they do their own spouses. Pretty soon, one spouse begins to feel neglected and we all know where those feelings can lead to. Stephan and I consider ourselves a rock-solid couple, but we are fully aware that we're capable of falling into traps set up by the enemy. We are always in prayer, together and separately. I am always praying for him, his safety when he goes out everyday, his health, and our marriage. We tell one another that we love each other everyday and I always greet him with a smile when he comes home. Sounds foofy doesn't it? Well, I don't care. It works. I love him. Most importantly, I love God. Ephesians 5 tells wives to revere their husbands as they do the Lord. And that's what I do, ladies and gentlemen. I try to honor the Lord in everything I do. Marriage included.
Finances- Yeah, sometimes it blows not having enough money to buy myself a new purse or some cute earrings whenever I want. Stephan is a hardcore gamer, so he wants to be able to purchase all the latest games. We are a one-income military family, so a lot of that's out. But, by the grace of the Lord we get by. In spite of what many people think, unless you're an E-7, or higher, you're scratching for pennies. OK. That was a bit over-the-top. But, a lot of military families struggle just like everyone else. We seek out WIC benefits to ensure our children are receiving the proper nutrition. We grab cans from food pantries on post or out in town. Sometimes, if the situation is dire, we tap into the state's food stamp program.
Stephan and I were blessed. Extremely blessed. We have regular bills, such as cell phones, internet services, groceries, car note, insurance, etc. We also have other debt we both individually brought into the marriage. At first, our prayer was to have more money. The Lord gaveth and the Lord tooketh away. So, we learned to budget the money Stephan was bringing in. We came up with strategies to make our money stretch and to make sure every bill was getting paid on time. For example, I like to get gas from H-E-B (the major grocery chain in Texas), so we budget $100 every two weeks for gas only. I load the money onto an H-E-B gift card and will use that! Two perks of doing that are a) there are no pending $1 transactions reflected on my bank account if I use my debit card and b) H-E-B has perks for customers who use gift cards at their gas stations: you save 4 cents on every gallon! Win! Also, I'm a cook. A BIG cook. In addition to wanting my family to eat healthier, I started fixing just about everything homemade. I keep all kinds of ingredients in the pantry for whatever I need it for. It saves from having to spend money over and over on the same product. You know, I may have to blog about money-saving tips at a later date. *Lol*
Madison- We didn't have too many concerns about her. There's five and a half years between our children, so we are able to give Jay all the focus and attention he needs without slighting Mad, and vice versa. When she becomes school-aged, then she'll be homeschooled, too. By then, Jay will be 10 (Boo Hoo!!!!) and will be able to do more independent study, while I focus on her Kindergarten curriculum.
My Personal Goals- I'm a wife. A mom. A teacher. And a student of the Lord's word. I LOVE what I do! But, I do have goals of my own. One day, I'd love to go back to obtain my undergrad degree. I had the chance many times before, but the time has come and gone. It'll be back later, but now, I have other focuses. I'd also love to have a small catering business one day, just to have a couple of dollars in my pocket. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind taking a couple of non-credit financing courses. I don't care for numbers, but I do like coming up with different strategies for money-saving or money-investing. I'm no financing expert, but I'd like to help out low-income families in some way. I'd also like to volunteer with the USO. OK. I'm type-rambling, but I do have things I'd like to do. My time to do them will come. Right now, I receive joy and fulfillment from the blessings that are my husband and children!
Time for Ourselves- If I don't have time for myself to study the Lord's word and pray everyday, then EVERYTHING gets thrown off. I'm grumpy, irritable, and nothing seems to flow right. Stephan knows that I need that time to myself to ease my mind and decompress after a long day. Usually, once I've finished studying, Steph has long gone to sleep, and I open up the Netflix app on my phone to watch reruns of Scrubs or Psych (two of my favorite shows), play a game, or see who's doing what on Facebook. If I'm able to get a good book in, then that's always great. I also get great stress-relief when I'm cooking. Doing food prep gives me great focus on things other than all the goes on day in and day out. Peeling potatoes, dicing onions, sifting flour-all great ways. You know how some people sing best in the shower? Well, I sing my very best in the kitchen! *Lol*
So far, our challenges have remained pretty consistent. But, it shows that I need God every single day. You'd think we'd learn to manage these challenges, but we can't. We rely on Him everyday to get by. He balances me out.
Finances- Yeah, sometimes it blows not having enough money to buy myself a new purse or some cute earrings whenever I want. Stephan is a hardcore gamer, so he wants to be able to purchase all the latest games. We are a one-income military family, so a lot of that's out. But, by the grace of the Lord we get by. In spite of what many people think, unless you're an E-7, or higher, you're scratching for pennies. OK. That was a bit over-the-top. But, a lot of military families struggle just like everyone else. We seek out WIC benefits to ensure our children are receiving the proper nutrition. We grab cans from food pantries on post or out in town. Sometimes, if the situation is dire, we tap into the state's food stamp program.
Stephan and I were blessed. Extremely blessed. We have regular bills, such as cell phones, internet services, groceries, car note, insurance, etc. We also have other debt we both individually brought into the marriage. At first, our prayer was to have more money. The Lord gaveth and the Lord tooketh away. So, we learned to budget the money Stephan was bringing in. We came up with strategies to make our money stretch and to make sure every bill was getting paid on time. For example, I like to get gas from H-E-B (the major grocery chain in Texas), so we budget $100 every two weeks for gas only. I load the money onto an H-E-B gift card and will use that! Two perks of doing that are a) there are no pending $1 transactions reflected on my bank account if I use my debit card and b) H-E-B has perks for customers who use gift cards at their gas stations: you save 4 cents on every gallon! Win! Also, I'm a cook. A BIG cook. In addition to wanting my family to eat healthier, I started fixing just about everything homemade. I keep all kinds of ingredients in the pantry for whatever I need it for. It saves from having to spend money over and over on the same product. You know, I may have to blog about money-saving tips at a later date. *Lol*
Madison- We didn't have too many concerns about her. There's five and a half years between our children, so we are able to give Jay all the focus and attention he needs without slighting Mad, and vice versa. When she becomes school-aged, then she'll be homeschooled, too. By then, Jay will be 10 (Boo Hoo!!!!) and will be able to do more independent study, while I focus on her Kindergarten curriculum.
My Personal Goals- I'm a wife. A mom. A teacher. And a student of the Lord's word. I LOVE what I do! But, I do have goals of my own. One day, I'd love to go back to obtain my undergrad degree. I had the chance many times before, but the time has come and gone. It'll be back later, but now, I have other focuses. I'd also love to have a small catering business one day, just to have a couple of dollars in my pocket. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't mind taking a couple of non-credit financing courses. I don't care for numbers, but I do like coming up with different strategies for money-saving or money-investing. I'm no financing expert, but I'd like to help out low-income families in some way. I'd also like to volunteer with the USO. OK. I'm type-rambling, but I do have things I'd like to do. My time to do them will come. Right now, I receive joy and fulfillment from the blessings that are my husband and children!
Time for Ourselves- If I don't have time for myself to study the Lord's word and pray everyday, then EVERYTHING gets thrown off. I'm grumpy, irritable, and nothing seems to flow right. Stephan knows that I need that time to myself to ease my mind and decompress after a long day. Usually, once I've finished studying, Steph has long gone to sleep, and I open up the Netflix app on my phone to watch reruns of Scrubs or Psych (two of my favorite shows), play a game, or see who's doing what on Facebook. If I'm able to get a good book in, then that's always great. I also get great stress-relief when I'm cooking. Doing food prep gives me great focus on things other than all the goes on day in and day out. Peeling potatoes, dicing onions, sifting flour-all great ways. You know how some people sing best in the shower? Well, I sing my very best in the kitchen! *Lol*
So far, our challenges have remained pretty consistent. But, it shows that I need God every single day. You'd think we'd learn to manage these challenges, but we can't. We rely on Him everyday to get by. He balances me out.
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