Food, For the Love of Family

Sunday Night Ignite

Every Sunday evening, Gary and I host a group of  15-20 college-age students in our home. The impetus for these weekly events was a need Gary saw for creating a place for our church college-age kids. I admit, my first reaction was ‘no-way’ – yet the Holy Spirit has a way of confirming a calling to better His kingdom. Once decided, my one desire was to provide a home-made family-style meal. My prayer, “give me the energy and margin to do this Every. Sunday. Night.  I admit, there are Sundays when I would rather not….yet most of the time, I […]

Family, Finances, For the Love of Family

Do This. Checklists for First-Time Home Buyers

Recently one of my clients asked if I had a check-list for buying a home.  My answer was ‘no’, but what a great idea! Purchasing a home is exciting, especially your first one; yet it is also a bit overwhelming. Like anything else, though, you need to think through the ‘cost’ of owning your own home. As a financial coach, my first priority is to assure that the budget is working and good financial planning is in place. Having lived through home-buying mistakes, I desire to help others be wise in making a new home purchase so that the new home […]

For the Love of Family

She was a Bit-O-Honey

Today is Bit•O•Honey ® Day.  Why? It is Christine Newell Murphy’s birthday. My mom’s birthday. She would have been 90 today. Several years ago, when we said good-bye to our sweet mom, sister Pam wrote a beautiful story/tribute. She told of how during our once-a-week six-mile trip to town, mom would sometimes buy ONE Bit•O•Honey ® for us to share. There were six kids and six sections. Six kids. One adult. Six sections. Mom let each of us have one small piece of candy, and she went without. That’s the way she was. She was quiet and sometimes reserved, yet bold […]

For the Love of Family, Raw Footage

Facing Reality

Sometimes reality hits you in the face with a strong blow. My annual visit to the doctor did just that –  slapped me a good one! Certainly proud of my lifestyle choices, I answered the health questions with a bit of smugness: Yes, I brush my teeth twice a day; Yes, I floss; Yes, I participate in a variety of exercise throughout the week including Zumba, walking, and Essentrics. Reality, though, slowly moved into my psyche when asked more clarifying questions: How many times per week  do you exercise? I can’t lie, the average is  two though I want to believe […]

Finances, For the Love of Family

What is an Emergency? Four ways to define the REAL thing.

A big side benefit of my husband working in home remodel and construction business, is being the benefactors of items others throw away – sinks, dishwashers, etc. Mind you, these things are not thrown away because they don’t work, or are old, but because they don’t fit the new décor. We (Gary and I) are okay with old décor; family members – not so much. One of our sons asked, “can’t we ever buy something new?” The answer? “Apparently not”, but I digress… This is our current dishwasher – new to us about ten years ago, and it is time […]

Finances, For the Love of Family

6 EASY Steps to Creating a Sinking Fund

We all have expected, yet non-immediate expenses that seem to creep up and rob our emergency fund, and financial peace. When following the seven baby steps to financial stability, funding a sinking fund is recommended while simultaneously working on steps four through seven. Creating this fund will add another layer of financial security to cover known yet usually unplanned expenses.   Sinking Fund money set aside to cover expected, yet not immediate needs; can also be used for unforeseen needs (like a garage door repair!) A sinking fund will cover expenses like appliance repair and replacement, car replacement, major house […]