Finances, blegh

In light of not shooting a whole lot the last few weeks I have had a lot of time to catch up on the news and do some soul searching. Two things which I was far behind in doing.

Sadly, the news isn't providing much encouragement these days, especially with the constant reminder that our economy is going down the tubes. At first I wanted to be one of those individuals that said, "It will be okay, things will turn around" but after hearing my husband come home week after week saying that it will be a long time before things get better, it has given me reason to start re-evaluating the things I deem important when it comes to finances. Admittedly I engage in a lot of "retail therapy". What woman doesn't right? But after watching so many families not be able to pay their mortgage, or not make an insurance premium payment I have realized as of lately how important it is to be financially secure, especially as a woman. Up until this point I have never thought about investments, 401k's, retirement etc; it just seemed too far away and out of my ability to understand. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that life doesn't always turn out the way we'd like, and God forbid something were to happen to my husband, how would I take care of myself and Jaxson?

As I lay awake this morning at 4:00, which is typically when I do my best thinking, I made a committment to myself to get financially sound. To get out of debt with the exception of school loans that will follow me to my grave probably. It's silly to think that having credit cards with 15% interest is doing me any benefit. If I don't have the cashfor it, I don't need it, and even if I do have the cash, do I REALLY need it?

Secondly, and this point should have probably been first, is that I want to be able to give back to the Lord who has blessed me so incredibly. All of you who know me are aware that I am at the heart of my soul a God loving woman, but I have been neglecting my relationship and committment where tithing is concerned. I certainly don't want to get into a debate about how much and when people should tithe, I myself am not convinced the 10% is all that accurate. However, I do know from first hand experience that when I give God the "first fruits" of what I have, He blesses me a dozen times over. Not necessarily financially, but in all areas of my life. Like any other relationship, mine with God needs to be fed and worked on. Lately though, it seems there is a lot of work to be done on my part. I seem to always have an excuse for why church doesn't fit into my schedule or why sitting down and spending time reading His word is taking away from other things I should be doing. When in reality all these other things I'm doing are taking away time from Him!

Why am I bearing my soul to all of you right now? To be honest, I'm not really sure. Part of me misses writing, immensely. It's been years since I have sat down to write like I used to, so blogging gives me a litle of that release. I want to be real with everyone, and the above things I just talked about aren't anything I'm ashamed of, just things I'm journeying through in my life.

But, more than that, since most of my blog readers are of the female persuasion, I want to challenge all of you (guys can be challenged too) to really evaluate your life and focus on what is TRULY important. And, to try and become a financially savvy woman. I read an article the other day that said women are 75% more likely to spend their elder years in poverty than man. A lotof that is because women don't spend as much time in the work force and the married women rely on thehusbands to handle the investing. But, as science shows, women typically live longer than men. How amazing woud it be if we, as women, could come to a place where we took charge of our money, invested it wisely, had a 401k for our retirement years, and on top of all of that, STILL have money to pay bills, and *ehem* maybe shop? As overwhelming as it sounds, I know it can be done.

Some other photographer friends of mine have started blogging about wanting to lose weight and getting their blog readers on board to get physically healthy. I'm all fr that, and am on that journey riht now myself.(I encourage you toget started too). But, what if we all started journeying towards being financially healthy?! How much less stressed would we feel if money weren't an issue, if we knew 100% our bills would be payed,and ontop of that we were saving money. That's my goal for 2009.

The Lord has blessed me somuch with making my busines explode. I am loving every minute of this, and want even MORE. I know, I'm greedy, but I can't get enough of seeing amazing couples and taking FABULOUS photographs of them. So, getting all areas of my life on the right path to freedom and to honor God I think is the only way. In retrospect I feel I have lived my financial life a little disrespectful to the Lord: putting material things above what Ishould be concentrating on. And, with the success of my businessthis year, I know have the ability to bring my life back to center and reclaim the blessings God is throwing at me.

Whether you are a Christian or not, I invite you to take this journey with me. (I'll need all the support I can get, as I love shoppin!).

Thanks for reading today, I know it's pretty bland and not anythin to do with photography, but thinking about this, this morning I felt compelled to share this because maybe some of you are going through the same thing.

Coming soon: some sassy engagements. I'm so glad wedding season is approaching, how I have missed shooting over the last couple of months.

Til next time,
J