Sharing our journey.....

We began our Chapter 10 study of the Solar System, Stars, Time & Seasons. It's a 21 day study & we're on day 5 beginning tomorrow. I found this today & can't wait to watch it with the kids tomorrow. Please take the time to watch & hope you enjoy! Blessings & Love, Hollie

Stewardship Lesson #11 Learning Bookkeeping Parents & students need to understand bookkeeping principles & how - to's to be successful in managing finances. The following information is designed for a 3-4 day period, or longer of needed. During this time period the student will be keeping an entire set of books for a two-month period. Income Statement You are an Engineer for a major corporation. Your gross (that means before any taxes are taken or anything is paid from the money you earn) wages are $52,000 per year. To determine how much you will take home each month, you need to divide $52,000 by 12 (there are 12 months in a year). Your total should equal $4,333.33 per month. This is still considered your gross income. To determine your net income (taxes have to be taken from your gross income. A net income is the amount you really get to take home), subtract 18% of your gross monthly income. To do this take $4,333.33 times 18%. The subtract the ...

Stewardship Lesson #10 When discussing buying & living styles, you must always consider the dangers of debt. Is debt a sin? Or is it just not the wisest choice for our lives? Are there times we need to be in debt? Or should you do without necessities to be able to avoid debt? These are all questions that must be answered. The Dangers of Debt Debt is not a sin. The Bible discourages debt, but does not prohibit it. Debt is never the real problem; it is only symptomatic of the real problem – greed, self-indulgence, impatience, fear, poor self-image, lack of self-worth, lack of self-discipline. Debt can be defined in many ways. It is any money owed to anyone for anything. There Are Five Kinds of Debts Credit Card Debt Consumer Debt Mortgage Debt Investment Debt Business Debt Before purchasing an item, & before going in debt for it, there are four questions to ask: Does it make e...

Stewardship Lesson #9 How to Determine Life Style When discussing finances, the style of our living hits very close to home, for this tells exactly what our priorities are. How fancy of a house do you really need? How new a car? How fancy do the clothes that you wear need to be? Do you really need that new skateboard, or can the old one still work? These are all questions that, when we spend, reflect our priorities. We all approach finances similarly to our parents. Either we are attracted to their buying style in a positive way or in a negative way. When it comes to buying, there are some myths that need to be dispelled, especially if we wish to gain control of our finances. They are listed on the following chart for you.   Myths of Buying   Buying Myth The Truth Buy now because it will cost more later. Incorrect, because it presupposes that you will need the items you are buying in the fu...

Stewardship Lesson #8 Guaranteed Success Financially Do you remember the Biblical principles of finances? Recap them now. First, God owns it all. Second, money is never an end to itself, but is merely a resource to accomplish other goals & obligations. Third, if you spend less than you earn & do it for a long time, you will be financially successful. Time & consistency are the two words that are your friends in financial planning. If you can save the same amount every week & consistently do it, you will be financially successful. Look at the chart below. In it are listed the rates of accumulation of money using the principles of time & consistency. Suppose you have a goal to accumulate $65,000 for college. You have six years to do so. How much actual money do you need to be able to do this? As you look at this chart, consider the rate of accumulation by means of interest alone. Is this a wise use of money? In light of the parabl...

Stewardship Lesson #7 Integrated Planning To plan for the future you will need to do hour things: Summarize your present position. How much do you know have? List earnings from your job(s) & how much you need to spend. Write this information on a piece of paper. Next establish your financial goals. Do you want to go to college? If so, you will need about $65,000. Do you want to be able to travel when you graduate from high school? If so, determine how much you will need. Do you want to be able to start a business? If so, determine how much you will need. The point is, you must place monetary value on your goals. Write these down on the same sheet of paper you listed your current position. Plan to increase your cash-flow margin. If you want to reach your goal, you must increase how much money you have available to you. There are only two ways to do this: You must either cut back on your spending &/or make more money. List ways you c...

Stewardship Lesson #6 The First Step: Short Range Objectives There is a Chinese proverb which says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” The same is true with finances. We have to take the first short-term “now” steps before we can make it to our final goals. In the short term there are only five ways money can be spent: Given away Spent to support a lifestyle Used for the repayment of debt Used to meet tax obligations Accumulated or saved Every spending decision will fit into one of these five categories. How you allocate the money you have been given by God is determined by two factors: The commitments you already have & your priorities. If you have bought a house, then you must pay for that house. That is a commitment. You also have a commitment to feed & clothe your family. You have a commitment to pay the government the taxes due it (“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's & unto God the thi...

Stewardship Lesson #5   As mentioned earlier, there are some natural laws involved with finances. When we understand those natural laws, decisions in spending become easier. It is easier for us to make spiritual decisions regarding money when we realize the principles God has already set into place. Financial planning is allocating limited financial resources among various unlimited alternatives. As we have discussed, there are always more ways to spend money than there is money, regardless of how much money you have at your disposal. Financial planning is simply determining before you spend the money how that money will be spent. It is a map, if you will, of your spending for the future. There is a cliche that says, “People don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan.” This is very true with finances. No one says, “I want to be broke all the time. I think I'll go spend every penny I have & then borrow more to spend so that I can be broke. Being without money is ...

Stewardship Lesson #4 Principle #4: “Faith requires action” – Matthew 25:24-30 ; “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ The def...

Stewardship Lesson #3 Principle #3: “The quantity of money I have is not important” – Matthew 25:23 ; “His servant replied, 'Well done, good &faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come & share your master's happiness!' This concept shocks most people because it goes against the training of the world. The world tells us that quantity of money is always important. This philosophy is summed up on the bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” We are taught that to be successful in life, we must make “a lot” of money. The amount is important, & we play a game with others in relationship to it. Sometimes we try to act like we have more money than we have. And other times we think we should act like we have less. But always, the quantity of money is a priority. Yet, Jesus taught that it was not the amount of money or possessions that were important, but the attitude tow...

Stewardship Lesson #2 Principle #2: “We are all growing” – Matthew 25:21 ; “His master replied, 'Well done, good & faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come & share your master's happiness!' In lesson #1, we learned that God owns everything. It is He who has the rights to it. We are stewards & have the responsibility for what He gives us. Because God is God, & because He chooses the best for us, God uses money & material possessions in this life to teach us. In the above Scripture reference, we can clearly see that God uses money & possessions in three ways: God uses money & possessions as a tool. It is through the means of money that God often accomplishes His work. It is also through the means of money that God provides for His children. Because this world is material, we have to operate in a material way, & we, therefore, need an amount of money or pr...

We began a new chapter today in our Weaver curriculum & I'm excited about it! The more I seek to draw closer to Him the more He shares. Most times it's extremely difficult because that means changes are coming. For the next 11 days, we will undergo an intense study about money, stewardship & wars according to Scripture. I will do my best to post for the next 11 days what we learned that day. Included are food for thought & some personal questions. I pray that you benefit from these 11 lessons as well! It really makes you look at yourself & your relationship with the Lord. Am I truly honoring, praising & glorifying Him or myself?! My prayer is that as we listen to the Spirit. Allow Him to lead us more closer to Him when dealing with our finances, & that He continue to share His ways through Scripture. I'm ready Lord, be gentle! Stewardship Lesson #1 How much money do you have? Do you have enough? Will this be enough for you la...

It's been a while since my last post, I've been just a little busy......lol Allot has gone on in the last 4 months! Homeschool is very enjoyable most days, but we have had some tough ones too. It's to be expected when your children have always been in public school & they've learned completely different then what you're teaching them now. It's a learning experience for us all! We're getting better at it. I doubt myself allot! More than I'd like to admit! I struggle with "am I doing the right thing", "am I strong/smart enough", "will they get to go to college", "how am I suppose to balance this all" & I could go on......! You know these questions all to well yourself! These are doubts & fears you hear consistently from the Accuser! I mean, that's his full time job, he's great at it & he never rest! No matter how discouraged I've gotten in the last 4 months, God has been SO faithful ...