Ramsey and Flylady

A homemaker really should grow to be a terrific multi-tasker.   As you  know, I love Dave Ramsey (for money help) and Flylady (for house help)    What I can tell you is this, if you want to follow Dave, you need to follow Flylady.

Good homemaking is, at its very core, very economical. Properly caring for your laundry, planning menus, and avoiding clutter are the practical ways a homemaker saves and makes money.  Homemakers of the past knew this to be true.  They knew that waste and sloth were bad for the pocketbook.  They were hard workers with a weekly and yearly plan.  For some, this allowed for a few luxuries, for others, it meant survival.

 There are two paths toward having more money.  One, make money.  Two, making your money stretch farther that before.  A really smart person does both.  Some people are blessed with an innate desire to frugality.  I am not one of those people.  With me, like the weight loss, it has to be very intentional.  If you are not intentional with your money or your weight, you will end up in debt and overweight.

I am, by nature, very practical, and I appreciate practical real-world advice.  So here's my two cents.  Dave Ramsey and Flylady.

For your benefit, some links.     Dave Ramsey     Flylady

For His Glory

Isn't that a great thought?  What a relief!  Always for my good!  Always for His glory!  I can rest in knowing that whatever comes my way come from Him and it's for my good.  Pessimistic, negative thoughts about my circumstances have no place in my mind.  Why should they?  I am in Christ. 

I know this to be true, but where is my responsibility?  Am I doing my all for God's glory?
It's so easy to coast while in ministry.  I mean, everything you do "pleases" God.  But there is more to it than that, and that is precisely what I need to keep in mind.  It's not about what I do, but who and what I am that matters most. When I am what I need to be, then I do what I should do the right way and with the right motive.   For His glory.

Want to see some of our past?

http://missionary-mom.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-tour-of-homes.html

This is from my old blog.  I would have kept it, but I can't remember the log-in information!

Next year I am going to paint my windows like I used to.   There in Chile, we had hundreds of people walk in front of my house every day.

Thoughts on the New Year

I kept one of my New Year's resolutions this year, so I thought about making another resolution.  I lost the weight that I intended and more.  My new goal is 15 pounds less in 2017.  But you already knew that.  I have been thinking about stuff and reading articles and watching documentaries about stuff.  I would like to find a realistic resolution about getting rid of, and not acquiring more stuff.

I saw 'The Minimalists" on netflix, and it was completely secular but really pointed out how sadly desperate people are to get more stuff.  It's never enough, and it never fills the void that only Jesus can fill.  That thing that they thought would bring so much joy is now lost in a pile of junk.

On another facet of the issue, you can't organize and clean clutter.  Our homes are often messy and dirty because there is just too much stuff.   We buy stuff that we think we will enjoy, but when it is added to all the junk we already have, it's not as nice as we thought it would be.

We don't want to entertain, because we don't want to have to face the mess.  Well, some of us.  Some of you are really organized.

So, I am just thinking.....about stuff.

Don't want to exercise?

Weight loss without the gym?
  So, I read this article, and I agree with all its advice.  Except for the fact that you need exercise.  Even if you did lose weight, you won't look as good, and you are more likely to gain it back.

There is no magic bullet, but I have found that exercise and diet must go hand in hand.  Exercise also helps with your discipline.  I find that when I am tempted, it is easy to remember that I got up before 6 am to go to the gym.  I am not going to waste that effort!

  There is no shortcut, and there is no pixie dust for weight loss.  There is just hard work.  It is so very much worth it.

Truth

This also applies to spirituality and godliness.  Everyday is a new day, with choices to be made, resolutions to be kept or broken.   I wish I could just coast along and enjoy my weight loss, but I can't.  It's either lose weight or gain weight.  There is no holding point.   I am either headed forward or backward.

This is tiring.  I wish I could give up and give in.   I wish I didn't have to focus on this anymore.  I want/need this to continue to work, so I must keep on.

Keeping up the exercise has been relatively easy.  Mostly because of the fact that my husband and I workout at the same time.  We don't workout together, he does his stuff, I do mine.  But we go together.  Then, my other workout is with friends.

If it were just about the exercise, it would be easy, but it's about the food. I am not a binger.  I am a grazer.  The problem is that bingeing seems really bad and grazing is unnoticeable. Both pack in way too many calories.

I must never, never, never give up.

Why do we gain it back?

  This week in the news, Ali Vincent, one-time winner of the Biggest Loser admitted that she had gained back the weight.  This is not unusual, in fact, quite the opposite.  Many, if not most of us gain it back.  This is a tremendous source of discouragement for those of us in this struggle.

  Why do we gain it back?
1.  We revert to our "normal" behavior.   This means that our changes were temporary. We stuck with the program, any program, as long as we could. Then, as if released from some form of torture, we revert to our original way of life.  We never really made a change that could stick.  Why?

2.  The changes that we made were not realistic or sustainable.  Honestly, we didn't didn't like the diet food.  We didn't like the protein-style burger.  We really didn't want to go to the gym five times a week.  We didn't like that meal-replacement shake. We didn't like measuring our food.  We did all these things to get to a goal, but as soon as that goal was achieved, we reverted to our pre-diet lifestyle.

3.  We didn't deal with the issues that made over-eating a real thing in our lives.  Why did we ever let ourselves get this way?  Don't we have anything better to do than eat? How did food become so important to us?  Didn't we understand that overeating is sinful? Why didn't I care?   Honestly, I don't know that answers to these questions.  I do know this, if I don't figure it out, I will be doomed to regaining the weight eventually and that is a scary thought.