What would be your dream vacation? (Week 10)

December 18, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: 50 fridays, Marriage

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – C.S. Lewis

What would be your dream vacation? (Don’t worry about the cost or any logistics … remember, it’s a dream vacation!)

One of my children, Jacob, recently had a school project that required planning a vacation out of the country and he chose Madrid, Spain as his destination. For the project, he had to create a PowerPoint presentation that included how he would get there, where he would stay, the restaurants he would eat in, and the attractions that he would visit. As I was watching him practice his presentation on the night before he turned it in, I found myself wanting to go to Spain! Later that night I started looking at other places on the web that I would like to visit. With the help of Google Earth I visited the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. I had a blast.

The reality is that most of the time I’m pretty practical about where I’d like to go or what I’d like to do. I rarely take the time to dream big. Not just about vacation locations, but about a lot of things in life. It’s easy to become very practical and responsible. But there’s a place for dreaming, especially in our marriages. Sometimes the dreaming can be just for fun (like today’s question). Sometimes the dreaming can help us prepare for the future (financial savings, house changes, serving opportunities, etc.). Sometimes the dreaming allows us to envision what our marriages can become and where we can grow together.

As we dream, we arouse hope. When hope is awakened, it provides the opportunity for us to trust, not merely in our dreams, but to trust that God’s plan for our lives and marriage is better than anything that we can ask, think or even dream. In Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, he writes: “God can do anything you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:21, The Message).

So as you dream together this week, be reminded that God is at work to see His good purposes accomplished. Dream and allow hope to rise. As that happens, watch as God accomplishes His good and perfect plan in your life.

Jeff Helton
Marriage and Family Pastor
+ Fellowship Bible Church
+ 50 Fridays Challenge

Tags: dreams, hope, vacation

Creating Goals to Obtain my Vision

November 17, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Family

Dave Ramsey writes: “Goals are the building blocks of vision, vision in work clothes.”

Here are my goals, in order of what must happen first:

We must be debt-free, with the exception of our mortgage (debt snowball must be complete).
We have to finish our emergency fund (6 months expenses).
We have to begin saving for retirement (15% gross income).
We have to begin saving for our daughters’ college education (this is the MOST important step for me).
We have to save enough money for a down payment on the shop (house in Franklin), renovations on the house, equipment and inventory. I can only imagine this will be a minimum of $100k.

As you can tell, I’m pretty far away from my vision right now. If we continue to pay roughly the same amount down on our debt every month, it will take us 2 years. We can accelerate that greatly by selling our Durango and picking up odd jobs for extra money (which we’re already doing). Examples of odd jobs range from marketing contract work to landscaping projects.

I also recently developed a product, my Clean Hands sign, that I’m hoping will be a catalyst for reaching my goals – and vision – a little quicker. In adherence to my values (being generous with my time, talent and treasure), I’m pledging to donate 10% of all sales to a charity, which will change periodically. In November and December, I’m donating to Operation Shower.

If you like my vision and want to help me reach my goals, there are a few things you can do to help:

Forward the link to my blog to your friends.
Buy a sign for a new mom or mom-to-be.
If you know of anyone looking to make a vehicle purchase, send them the link to our Craig’s List ad.
If you live in Middle TN and are looking for someone to do some work around your house (my husband is pretty darn handy), or your company needs some marketing assistance (on a contract/outsource basis), give us a shout!

We’re seeking out every opportunity to reach our goals and obtain our vision. Do you have a vision? What are your goals? I encourage you to write them down and begin working towards them.

Tags: clean hands sign, dreams, goals, Nashville, Operation Shower, vision

My Vision for the Future

November 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Family

Right now, I’m reading “More Than Enough” by Dave Ramsey. I just finished chapter 3 on Vision and I’m going to pause (before the next chapter) and do what he suggests: write down my vision. And I’m going to share it with you.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
(Proverbs 29:18)

I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, to own my own business, be my own boss. But I never knew what type of business until now. In this first post, I’m going to share my vision. In the next couple of days, I’ll share with you the goals I need to accomplish first to reach my vision.

Dave Ramsey writes: “Vision that is rooted in values is the only vision that will last.”

It’s only recently that I realized the pure joy in being generous with my time, talent and treasure. And there lies the value system in which I’m basing my vision on. Right now, we’re focusing on getting out of debt, so we’re not able to be as generous financially as I’d like. But we give when we can and instead I focus my energy on being generous with the other two and am looking forward to the day when my family can regularly be generous in every way.

Here it is, in black and white. There’s no turning back now!

I want to start a gift shop. But not just any gift shop. I want to purchase a quaint old home near the square in downtown Franklin. Yes, there will be a room or two full of cute, handmade gifts to purchase (preferably by local artisans including myself ~ and let me state for the record I use the term “artisan” loosely when referring to myself). I also want to host a custom embroidery business within the shop. This is how I’ll finance what I REALLY want to do…

I will have one room set up like a comfy living space, with big overstuffed couches and chairs, books and magazines to read, and coffee and fresh baked goodies. This will be a gathering place for women to get together for fellowship with one another. I would love to offer Faithful Provisions classes and Financial Peace University(among others), and will open the space to any group that wants to meet or gather informally. I want the room next door to be a playroom, for my kids and others who stop in. And I will have free “childcare” available during classes so parents don’t have to struggle to attend a function that will improve their family life.

I want to be a financial counselor and work with local couples (and singles) to obtain the same financial peace that my family will have been blessed with. My hope is to make this my ministry to the Franklin community.

Finally, I want this to be a family business, and I want a nice kitchen in the back so that on “late” nights, I can cook dinner at the shop and when we close, my family can still sit down to a nice meal together. This will also be where all the fresh baked goodies come from.

So there you have it. I have a vision for how I can be an intentional wife, mom and member of the Middle Tennessee community by being generous with my time, talent and treasure. But there are MANY smaller goals that I have to reach before this vision becomes reality.

Tags: dreams, goals, vision