Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Small Group
Small group has really been a blessing for me in the past couple of weeks since we started. We're looking at money, stewardship, tithing, etc. etc. and it's totally applicable for me right now. As many of you know, this past month I really had to struggle to pay off my credit card--which I came really close to maxxing out, and that's AFTER raising my credit limit by $500. ^^;; Yes, I realize you should NEVER raise your credit limit voluntarily, but it's done.
*sigh* Anyway, I've got to get rolling with Purpose Driven Life again. Since last Monday I think I've read one more day, and that's it. ^^;; And I've gotten out of the habit of bringing it to school with me too, which definitely doesn't help the situation.
I think that's one thing I was really forced to think about in small group on Monday: discipline. The reading for chapter three talked about how tithing is God's practical way of helping us deal with materialism, greed, etc. etc. Even calculating how much to give serves to remind us just how much God's blessed us with. That was an idea which really struck me, because most of the time when I think about offering, I'm always like "man, do I really have to give so much?"
So yeah, as part of our study, for this month we're all going to try keeping track of where our money goes--and for me, how much money I get as well. I tried to restart this on my own in February, but I only got through six days. Just those six days were pretty scary to look at though. I spent >$100 on hockey, $40 on anime, a little on food and some other things, and nothing went back to the church. Oh, and in that time I made around $70 as well. ^^;; Unfortunately I think that was a pretty accurate reflection of my finances, even though it was only the first six days of the month. Hopefully this month I will be more responsible, and more faithful to God--and I will trust him with as little as I have as I didn't last month when I was worrying about paying off my Visa bill.
Small group has really been a blessing for me in the past couple of weeks since we started. We're looking at money, stewardship, tithing, etc. etc. and it's totally applicable for me right now. As many of you know, this past month I really had to struggle to pay off my credit card--which I came really close to maxxing out, and that's AFTER raising my credit limit by $500. ^^;; Yes, I realize you should NEVER raise your credit limit voluntarily, but it's done.
*sigh* Anyway, I've got to get rolling with Purpose Driven Life again. Since last Monday I think I've read one more day, and that's it. ^^;; And I've gotten out of the habit of bringing it to school with me too, which definitely doesn't help the situation.
I think that's one thing I was really forced to think about in small group on Monday: discipline. The reading for chapter three talked about how tithing is God's practical way of helping us deal with materialism, greed, etc. etc. Even calculating how much to give serves to remind us just how much God's blessed us with. That was an idea which really struck me, because most of the time when I think about offering, I'm always like "man, do I really have to give so much?"
So yeah, as part of our study, for this month we're all going to try keeping track of where our money goes--and for me, how much money I get as well. I tried to restart this on my own in February, but I only got through six days. Just those six days were pretty scary to look at though. I spent >$100 on hockey, $40 on anime, a little on food and some other things, and nothing went back to the church. Oh, and in that time I made around $70 as well. ^^;; Unfortunately I think that was a pretty accurate reflection of my finances, even though it was only the first six days of the month. Hopefully this month I will be more responsible, and more faithful to God--and I will trust him with as little as I have as I didn't last month when I was worrying about paying off my Visa bill.
