Random Thoughts on The Reformation, Dalmations, and Tax Problems.

A few random thoughts for you today.

And literally, they are very random.

1. I hope you had a wonderful Reformation Day yesterday. I felt blessed as I sat down to read my bible, easily accessible for me to read and study in my own language. It's easy to forget that many Saints have died defending the blessings we take for granted, such as this.

If you are a Protestant Christian (that is, in vague terms, not Catholic) than you may have also celebrated Reformation Day - a day us Christians take to remember the the Protestant Reformation and separation from the Roman Catholic Church.  

While this giant movement is far too complex for me to address in one post on my silly 'ol blog there is great wonder to be found in the 'five solae' that reformers, including Martin Luther, celebrated and defended:

Sola Scriptura, "Scripture Alone":  The truth that scripture alone is the word of God, inspired and infallible.  We hold to the truth that this is the only true source of information for the basis of our faith.  

Sola deo Gloria, "Glory to God Alone":  The truth that all glory is to be due to God alone, since He alone is responsible for our calling us unto salvation and giving us new life in Jesus Christ.

Sola Christus, "Christ Alone":  The truth that Christ is the only mediator between God and man and that the atoning work of Christ's death and resurrection is our only hope of salvation. 

Sola Fide, "Faith Alone":  The truth that celebrates by faith alone we are saved.  Not through works or merit, but through belief in Christ.

Sola Gratia, "Grace Alone":  The truth that salvation comes by God's grace (unmerited favor).  My salvation has been earned completely and fully by Christ and given to me, as a gift (not a reward) by God the Father.

I could celebrate these great truths all day!  What joy can be found in them!

In my dream blog world, I had a beautiful post typed up about Reformation Day and all the detailed goodness it celebrated in the Protestant Church...but as you may have noticed, it never made it to the 'ol world wide web.  

It was just one of those days.

Regardless, Reformation Day was still a wonderful day to remember and pray for the Saints that have fought and defended our faith, as well as the Biblical truths that have been revealed to us through such struggle.

Booya, Mr. Luther.

2. And speaking of faith, have you ever wondered what the Lord is working in your life?

And questioned the current circumstances you're facing?
I really wonder what the Lord is teaching me here.

Have you ever wanted to say:
Enough Lord! That's all I can take! I don't want to learn this lesson any more!

...me neither...

I joke, I joke. In all honesty, I'm having one of those moments as I type this.  

Turns out (as those who follow me on Facebook already know), there was a mix-up in the amount of Federal Tax being taken out of our paycheck. Which means that (oops!) our paychecks are actually supposed to be for $130 less than we've been getting them for.

So even though yesterday was payday, well...I wasn't exactly beaming when the check was deposited. In fact, I was downright angry.

The Lord has taught me more about finance management and budgeting and spending and frugal living in the past four months than I'd hoped to learn in a lifetime. And just when I thought we'd widdled everything in our life down to it's breaking point...

...I still have to find something else to cut. Or some other way to creatively bring in more.

...Mind you, this news came the day after Stuart's student loan repayment booklets arrived in the mailbox. Gag.

I am very much trying to not feeling anxious about this news. As a bible study recently reminded me, "Anxiousness comes from calculating the future without God". I have taken it to the Lord in prayer half-a-dozen times already today, in hopes that it will ease my achy heart. I know, believe, and trust that God is sovereign - He is in all things for good. I can trust, though I may not understand at this very moment how, this $130 less per month is for His glory. In some way.  

To me, the worst part isn't even the money. It's the fact that Stuart works so hard and faithfully in his work. He loves it. He loves the students. He loves the school. And to have to break the news to him about our budget just kills me. I desperately want him to feel like what he's doing is enough. And I desperately want to feel like I'm managing things responsibly here at home with our finances.

Has anyone else out there experienced these moments?

Lawdy, help me.

3.  In spite of the paycheck-fiasco, I was still able to slightly celebrate payday by making an all important trip to Sam's Club for the month. I've been busy stocking the freezer for when baby arrives (attempting, rather) and needed to replenish some of my supplies. Because I've had a few readers ask about what items we find to be of good value from Sam's Club, I'll share today's purchases:

 - Walnuts, 2 pounds, $11.74
 - Almonds, 3 pounds, $10.98
 - Whole-bean Coffee, 2.5 pounds, $14.98
 - Kerrygold Grass-fed Butter, 2.5 pounds, $13.00
 - Cheddar Cheese, 4 pounds, $12
 - Bananas, 9 pounds, $4.40
 - White vinegar, 2 gallons (for cleaning, laundry, and hair rinse), $3.98
 - Organic green tea, 160 bags (for Kombucha making), $7.98
 - Sweet onions, 10 pounds, $5.98
 - Pork sausage, 2 pounds, $4.48

You're welcome for all that detailed, seemingly-unimportant information.

I also stopped by our egg-supplier and picked up four dozen pastured eggs for $10.  Just in case you were wondering.

With this large (by our standards) shopping trip to Sam's and our CSA basket of local fruit and veggies being delivered each Monday, we should be set for the month on food (except for the weekly run to a local market for a gallon of raw milk ($5.99/gallon) and one more trip to our egg supplier).  

If there's any leftover grocery money, I'm hoping to stock up on some more grass-fed ground beef from our local supplier.  But we shall see.

I could talk about seemingly-unimportant-detailed-food information all day with you, if you'd like.

I'll stop now.

4.  As you may have noticed, Georgia was a dalmation for Halloween:

Thank you, Kate, for letting us borrow the costume! Her BFFs Lydia and Gwen were a Princess and an owl.  Sweet little munckins, anyway.

Kate and Matt were nice enough to invite us over for chili, biscuits, and trick-or-treating. I was very thankful for this because had she not had it together, we probably wouldn't have done anything.  And G looked way too cute as a dalmation to miss.

5.  Next week I will be writing a "Ask Me Any Question You Have For Me" post.  So if you've been needing a follow up on something I've written on previously, or if you just have a completely random question for me, now's the time to ask it! 

6.  I'm pretty positive this is the most random post I have written to date.

7.  I think I'll stop now. There's no telling where this could end up if I keep going.

There is, after all, still so much to share!

Like how my fermenting lemons are doing.

And how the baby's renovated dresser turned out.

And my experiences with dry brushing.

All in time, Shaye, all in time.

Have a great day, my friends!