Category Archives: Christianity

Day 1381 – Do You Love Money?

Posted on by
Reply

As I was reading through my bible this morning, I came across this verse:

“Keep your life free from love of money,
and be content with what you have,
for he has said,
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’
So we can confidently say,
‘The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?'”
Hebrews 13:5-6

This stuck out to me today because of the last year and a half and all that has happened to us. I’ve shared a few times about our financial situation, how it’s been tough and how we’ve grown through it. I would definitely admit to you that we had a love of money at the beginning of our marriage and my full-time photography journey. Not the “normal” love….but the trust in money….that if we have JUST the right amount, we’ll be ok. If we sold enough stuff, if we got one more wedding, if we didn’t go out to eat one more time. But God has a way of looking to our deepest core and saying, um, no, that’s not the issue here. Our biggest issue was that we didn’t trust that God would take care of us. Now, I’m not saying sit on your butt and wait for God to pour buckets of money out…that’s not how it works. You have to work for things. What I’m saying is that our trust and hope were in US to take care of things.

Thankfully, God didn’t leave us in that state. He broke us down to our knees, again and again…giving us JUST enough money to pay the bills, sometimes down to the penny…until we let go of the reigns and could honestly say “not our will but yours.” It has been such an amazing change that could only come from a loving God. Trust me, you would NOT believe the arguments (i.e. shouting matches) we would have about money and work. Whew! Glad those days are gone! A few months back, when we were having car troubles, I remember a specific conversation with Bret where I said, dang, I think I need to take the car in, we cannot afford that right now! Also, mind you, we were SOOOO close to paying off our debt. And in one breath, we let it go and said, BUT God is in control. Fast forward another week and we had taken in my car twice and Bret’s truck once.

I remember being so discouraged. We had just about tripled what we owed. I didn’t really have too many leads (at the time) for weddings. Bret hadn’t booked any clients either. But we still trusted.

Then something happened, almost overnight. We started booking a lot of clients. I have booked 3 weddings and Bret has booked 3 clients since then! We started being able to chip away at the loan and credit card debt, and then, it was gone. We are now at the point where we can put money in SAVINGS! I can’t remember the last time I was able to do that! We are able to budget money for hanging out with our friends and going out to dinner.

I truly believe it’s because we have taken hold of the second verse, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

So take heart, dear reader, there is hope. It isn’t an easy journey, trust me. But what good thing has ever come easy?

day_01381

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget.
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 1375 – Six Months Living At My Parents’ House…

Posted on by
Reply

6 months ago, we moved in with my parents. The reasoning was a combination of Bret losing his job, photography not picking up as quickly as we expected and really just God’s timing. Now, most people raise an eyebrow when you’re 30 years old, married and move back in with your parents. I totally get this, I do. But, the thing that kept repeating in our minds was this quote “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Already, we’ve experienced:
– being debt free for the first time in our marriage
– 5 weddings shot and 6 more booked

But there are other benefits to living here:

Biking/workout buddies

day_01369

Dogs that joke around with you

day_01315d

Models

day_01315a

The best coffee maker in the world

day_01375

Snowmen makers

day_01263c

And of course, paper towel Christmas trees

day_01262

Day 1370 – Wow, It’s So Unreal

Posted on by
2

Today, I paid the last payment on our debt. We have no loans, no credit card balances. I have been in debt for almost half my life. To say this is a happy day is an understatement. I’ve been trying not to cry for a while.

To also realize that as of right now, I’m 2/3 of the way to making what I made last year in my business….To further realize that I have 9 weddings in 2013, the most I’ve ever had in one year, and know that I will more than likely still book more…

To know that my husband is willing to sacrifice so much that I can pursue my photography career….From moving in with my parents, to working 5 jobs, to telling me the things I NEED to hear about my business and not the things I WANT to hear.

Well, I’m completely undone.

Thank you to all of you who have supported me, whether through being my client, sharing hard advice, encouraging me when I’m down or just being an ear.

This isn’t an easy career (despite what some may think) but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

Since I can’t really take a picture of the $0.00 on things….I figured I’d share a few pictures that capture how we’re feeling right now…

day_01370a

day_01370b

Day 1359 – How I Spent My Easter Morning

Posted on by
Reply

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4

Every year, we try to go to the sunrise service at Beachmont Christian Camp. It is truly one of my favorite times of the year. Every year it’s the same routine…

Alarm goes off at 4:30/5 and I think…ahhhh, how many people actually know I’m going and will they truly miss me? I hit the snooze and repeat. I do finally get up and throw on some clothes and down some coffee.
Once I get on the road, there is a magical time driving when most others are asleep.
Arriving at the camp and walking down to the service site, I think, ooo, it’s warmer this year!
The trumpet plays as actors carry the cross to the top of the hill (one of which was my brother!) I always get teary eyed and goosebumped at this point.
I snuggle up and listen to the songs and the message.
Sometime around the middle, I realize one part of my body is not covered as much it could be….then I’m freezing in that one spot.
The service ends, I grab a doughnut and coffee and catch up with friends.
I love this time. At this point, I am SO thankful I dragged my lazy butt out of bed. 🙂

He Has Risen!!

day_01359

Day 1356 – Even When I’m Angry, There Is Something To Learn

Posted on by
Reply

For the last few weeks, I’ve had an issue with my outgoing email via Outlook. I’ve been emailing my provider when I can, but since I’ve been so busy, it’s something that had to wait. I was, however, getting more and more angry as time went on. I felt like my provider wasn’t really listening to what was wrong and not treating me like I should be treated. I have to say, when you work for yourself and strive to have awesome customer service, you notice when you DON’T get that level of service….and when you DO! I even considered switching providers.

I finally got an email that basically said, um, yea, maybe you should call us about this. I will say the woman I spoke with was AWESOME! Definitely made me feel better about things. Figured out the email problem pretty much right away. But there was a little catch…see, one thing the company suggested was upgrading to this other email thing….only cost about $20….when we realized I shouldn’t have done that, she tried to get me a refund. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the authority to do that…but she made a big discovery…..I’ve been overpaying, more than double, for my service with them!! I was so thankful that she caught that and helped me change my account. I asked if I could get a refund for overpaying. She basically said that since it’s online, I should have known…..at first I got upset about that. Namely, because I had to pay for a full year of my service up front.

But then, after I got off the phone and cooled down a bit, I realized something….

If I hadn’t had an issue with my email, I wouldn’t have gone through the weeks of contacting customer service…
I wouldn’t have upgraded my email…
I wouldn’t have talked to the woman who caught my mistake in billing…
I wouldn’t have saved myself over $100…

So even in our mistakes and angry days, God is working it all out for our good. It also showed me I still have quite the temper!! 🙂

day_01356