Got fruit?

I was out in our garden last night and was inspired for today's post. I was looking at my squash plants and evaluating how some have squash already growing on them, and others are little, undernourished, scrawny plants. Yet they sit side by side with the healthy ones...it made me think of 'us'.

As a believer, the Bible calls us to 'bear much fruit', but are we? Are you?

Looking at these different plants, which one are you? You may be a little scrawny one because you just found the truth & have began your journey of following Christ and you have began the growing process.

You may be a larger one with a healthy fruit, growing and swelling in size with flavor. However, are you one who has been 'following the Lord' for many years, but remain fruitless? What is the fruit that God would have you bear?

According to Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit is:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-Control

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being worst, 10 being your best, how would you rate yourself on each of these? Have you had a lot of joy and peace lately? Or have you been filled with anxiety? Have you been frustrated with everyone around you? Or are you patient (and gracious) towards others, i.e. family members, coworkers, employer, employees, spouse, kids, other drivers on the road?

How are your relationships? Do you have any broken ones? Dysfunctional, resentment torn ones? Or are you being kind, and loving (and forgiving) toward others who have wronged you?

And where is your self-control at? Are you having self-control in your eating, drinking (sugary and/or alcohol drinks), your finances/spending, your argumentative conversations, your anger, your_______________(fill in the blank).

Here is the great thing about these fruits of the Spirit...they are NOT intended for you to muster up all on your own. They are the results of your soul being watered by the Word of God (Bible), fertilized by doses of church, consistent care and maintenance by the presence of the Lord in your life ushered in by prayer and worship!

Do you have these things in your life: the Word, prayer, worship, and church? They are the glue that keep your lives held together!!!

In Matthew 12:33, Jesus says, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit".

"No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it". - Hebrew 12:11

My garden will only survive when I ACTIVELY participate in its growth. I have to be disciplined to water it, fertilize it and pluck out the weeds. I have to be disciplined to take care of it. Just like our lives, we must be disciplined to say no to the things that spoil our fruit: the wreckless behaviors, the interfering relationships, the careless church absences, the obsessive overcommitments, the continual divisive conversations, and the complete negligence of God.

We want fruitful lives. We want to lead people down the path to eternal life with our actions of love, gentleness, kindness, and peace. The only way that others will enjoy our fruit is if we enjoy time with the LORD! We have to discipline ourselves to show up and let God speak to our hearts and submit to His guidance. We have to let Him nourish our souls to bear the fruit.

I want to be like this healthy rich-colored vine on my pumpkin plant. This thing is the healthiest one in the patch. I want to be the one that stands out next to the rest and shine for the Lord. I want people to see Christ in my life.

Are you willing to let God into your heart daily? Are you willing to turn on the music that sings of God and edifies your soul? Are you willing to rid your life of the unhealthy relationships that tear you out of God's will and presence? Are you willing to make it to church to hear the Word preached in a way that inspires you to change? Are you willing to make Jesus Lord of your life above all else so that you can bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, etc?

Choose this day to let Christ in your garden, your heart? Take out that dusty Bible and ask God to speak to you. Ask God to become real to you in your everyday life. Talk to Him about everything. Depend on Him for everything...but most importantly....love Him completely!

Pay Day = Budget Day

Yes, a budget! What is that? Do you have one? We do. We got it from a powerful/life-changing book and APPLIED IT! The book is: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. (You can get a copy for $10 @ www.daveramsey.com). (Young people get this book, you need it now, not later. Retirement is a real thing to plan 40 years in advance for!!!)

Here's the routine for our pay day here in our home: I get my husband's payroll check, STRAIGHT to the bank, deposit it, WITHOUT cashback at this point. Next, I go home, and double check my budget sheet that I created a couple days prior to pay day (just in case something has come up).

Here's what I do to prep for my budget:
Step 1: Gather up all bills from my special "Current Bills Due" folder at my desk.
Step 2: Fill in the dollar amounts in these catagories:

First are the things we pay by check:

• TBBC (money insurance, first right?...for some who don't know what this is: tithe)
• Additional Giving
• Life Insurance
• Mortgage pmt.
• PG&E
• Gas Co.
• Water Co.
• ATT
• Gardener
• Car Insurance
• Gym fees
• Debt (which we've wiped 1/2 to 2/3 out in the last couple years by sticking to a budget)
• Shakeology/BB Biz (now paying for itself, I may add)

These are the catagories that I get cash out for. The thought Dave Ramsey has is, take the cash out, don't use your debit card because, when you walk into Target w/ only $40 for the baby's diapers & formula, there's no cash leftover to buy that cute tank top 'on sale'. If it's not budgeted for, then don't buy it. Now if you NEED clothes, make a catagory & give yourself a budgeted amount & STICK TO IT! Here are the catagories that we pay cash & avoid debit card use on:

• Gas (a certain amt. for me/a certain amt. for husband)
• Groceries
• Toiletries
• Jacob's needs
• Daniel's meds/needs
• "Allowance for husband"
• Jen's phone (I seriously live on a pay-as-you-go phone. I use my home phone 99% of the time & save)

And that's it. There are times like this week, we have to add: Car Maintenance, and Clothing for Daniel. And month to month, there may be a Kaiser catagory, or a special thing like: Air Duct Cleaning, like we did this week.

The beauty of a budget is that you can start a catagory for an expense you know is coming in a month or two. Like this month, I'm saving for my suburban tags for July. I haven't received the bill, but I quickly look at my tags to see that they expire in July. So, I plan. This way a bill that is expected, is NOT a financial emergency.

I add up all the expenses, minus it from the income to confirm that I have enough. I always know what we have left over after all our needs are filled in. What to do w/ this money? Throw it at the debt, save for something you're going to need like: car, appliances, furniture. Why finance those things, when you can save & pay cash, get a better deal because people make deals for cash...and save yourself a ton on interest right? (GET THE BOOK & READ IT!)

So the budget sheet is filled in & the check is in the bank.

Step 3: Balance checkbook before I even begin paying out.
Step 4: Write out/pay bills.
Step 5: Make 'cash item list'.
Step 6: Go to bank for cash.
Step 7: Go shopping with my lists for Target/Walmart, Costco, etc!
Step 8: STICK TO THE LISTS! :)

This is how we live. Pretty simple & basic math. You don't need a BS in Accounting to live on a budget.

Now the key is to NOT spend all my grocery money at the store the first day I get paid so that in a week when we need fresh produce, I have CASH for that. There will be times that there's a little miscalculation in what I need, but I try so hard to NOT use my debit card.

The philosophy behind using the card is 'it's unlimited'. Oh, I have the extra $50 in the bank so I can buy this - thing I absolutely don't need & will only use/wear once.

If you do this budget, you will find that you DO have the money you need for the month typically. You tell your kids/employees what to do, why not tell your money where to go & what to do so that you control your spending!

I might point out that I am strategic w/ my bill paying too. Say we get paid the 1st, so the bills due from the 9th thru the 23rd, I pay the first week of the month. The bills due from the 23rd to the 8th of the next month, I pay at our mid-month pay day. This way my bills are ON TIME. The wonder of this is, I only sit down & balance my checkbook 2X/mo., always aware of what I have - this avoids ISF fees, right? And I only pay my bills 2X a month, never wondering when a bill is coming in or if I'll have enough. This provides me peace of mind, and more time w/ my kids. I avoid: paying as I go, trying to always find time every couple days to sit alone & scream at the kids as I try to crunch number to make sure some money is there for this one bill, right? Who wants to do that 2-3 times per week? This budget system keeps my time managed better too. I know what days are pay days, so I build time into my schedule to do all this in advanced.

This is how we live and we live pretty stress-free over finances. We know we make enough to live on. Now, if we are broke & in a bind, who's responsible? It's easy to figure out in a quick discussion :) So I try my hardest to tell myself & KIDS "NO" so that we can have some peace & liberty in our lives.