It just makes cents.

One of our family goals for the new year is to live by a better budget. Ryan and I went through one of Dave Ramsey's financial studies a few years ago and it taught us a lot about using a biblical perspective and wise guidelines for handling finances. The idea of following an established budget seems really great until you get all of your expenses down on paper (or computer) and realize what you actually have to work with. Blah. It is very easy to look at it  and think, "Do we really want to follow this?"

But our answer is yes. Yes, we want to live within our means. Yes, we want to remain debt free. Yes, we want to be wise stewards of the resources God has blessed us with. And most importantly, YES, we want to be content with what we have knowing that one day it will all pass away anyway.

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6

I truly want to be content. With more or with less. I want to be living thankfully within his daily provision. And sometimes that means making realistic sacrifices.

Spoiler alert - when your husband works for the church and you stay home, you will not likely ever be millionaires. That's okay, I knew that going into this thing. When I married a man that wanted to be a youth pastor, sharing with him my heart's desire to stay at home with our children, I knew full well that we probably wouldn't be jet setting between our homes on different contents or driving fancy cars. The joy and blessings in our life far outweigh the sacrifices. Really.

When I have those twinges of this-isn't-fair feelings in the moments where I can't spend frivolously, I want to remember that we are so much richer than most of the world. We have a home to live in. We have 2 cars that work. We have food on the table. Our closets are abundantly stuffed with clothes. We have insurance (that alone is a hidden blessing that many Americans are suffering without). I want to change my prospective about budgeting to think of it less as a restriction and more as an adventure. It can be a fun to look at what we have and find creative ways to live off less. Yep. Fun.

So here we are, finally in January, and ready to begin our budget. Time to cut back on the extras like eating out or shopping. Time to make wise decisions to start saving now for future expenses likes cars or babies or dental work. Time to check out hearts to make sure that we give generously as God calls us, for we have been generously given to.Woo-hoo! Our adventure begins.