Financial Wisdom

I am a firm believer that you cannot take someone where you have not been. Sometimes, the very word that you speak from your mouth is the same word that you are tried by. So, in the mist of financial struggles two years ago, a word of wisdom came to me that I would like to share with my readers. I trust that you will be blessed by them as well.

1. Live on less than you earn.
2. Give tithes and offerings to your place of worship first.
3. Pay yourself something next. Put at least 10% into a retirement account. You can’t do this is you are living on more than you earn.
4. Save for a rainy day. Trust me, there will be rainy days. Your vehicle will need repairs. Some appliance is bound to fail when you least expect it. In this economy, lay offs are a normal thing. A good formula to stand by is having a least 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund. Replenish it as you pull from it.
5. Get yearly physical exams to stay on top of your health.
6. Pay cash for everything! This includes your vehicles. Credit card companies are making a killing off of our need to have something right now. We end up paying a whole lot more for it. If you have to use the cards, pay them in full each month before the interest accrues.
7. If you are swallowed in debt, try downsizing your lifestyle until you are debt-free.
8. Put clothes that you don’t wear in consignment. Shop for new clothes in consignment stores or discount stores. Give things to the poor.
9. Instead of buying a new wardrobe when it gets drab, try buying new accesories to go with what you already have, such as a scarf, a belt, a new blouse, earrings, or a hat.
I hope you all found these helpful. I pray financial peace in your households.

Given

I was talking on the phone to a really good friend of mine. As always, she encouraged me in my walk with the Lord and the work that He has called me to do. We were talking about all of the trials that my husband and I have been through since 2007. We have not had a break yet, but we are still trusting God that our Jordan is very near. She reminded me of the scriptures where Jesus was with the disciples and they were having the last supper. He blessed them. He broke the bread. And, He gave. That is what she said He was doing for us. He already blessed us when He went to the cross. I thank God He chose us. He broke us by allowing us to go through what we are going through to prepare us for the work we are called to do. And, He gave us to the cause. I am married to the work that He has called for me to do in ministry. I don’t need financial compensation from it to feel successful. I would do it for free if it meant changing a life for the better. I have been challenged by the need for finances to get to the women who need my services the most, but somehow He makes it happen. So, I say to the Lord, “Here I am. Give me away to those who need me. Use me for Your glory. And I will give You all the glory, in Jesus Name, Amen.”

My Vision

God is faithful, awesome, wonderful, magnificent, and everything else that is better than good. He has brought me through and through and has always been right there with me. I thank Him over and over again. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the hospital for a minor surgical procedure that went very well. I had no complications and the surgeon accomplished what we needed her to do. I am well! Much of that day is a blur to me, as was my vision right after I regained consciousness. Everything was blurry and I did not think anything of it, except that the anesthesia just needed more time to wear off. The next day, I was up and about, but my vision was still blurry. I wear a weak prescription lens for reading, but I had recently lost them. I could not see anything on the computer screen, nor could I see clearly in the distance. It so happened that I spent time with a sister friend who is an opthomologist and she suggested that I come and see her the following Monday. My pastor prayed for me at church on Sunday and by the following Monday, my distance vision had been restored. Today, almost two weeks later, my reading vision is better than it was before.
I say this to say, vision is important. We take it for granted. When it is compromised we see how it can hinder the progress that we intend to make on a day-to-day basis. It is more difficult to navigate through our world not being able to see clearly. The same is true with our spiritual vision. The bible tell us that “without a vision, the people perish.” When we have no direction in life, we are subject to wander aimlessly and have to endure bumping into obstacles that are along the way. When we have the vision that God has ordained for our lives hidden in our hearts and written on paper, He will illuminate the path that we need to take in order to secure the dream seed on the inside. When we have this secret in our hearts, the enemy will come to steal it and try to blind us from our purpose. I say, get in position, and take it back, by force. When we have no vision, we cannot see where we are going. Get the vision, write it down, and run with it!

Transitions

Life is filled with journeys. When one ends, another begins. Different lessons are learned along the path. Sometimes a journey has to be repeated until the lesson is learned. I have been through a lot these past five years. In 2005, I went on my first mission trip to Nigeria where I met my husband. We married in early 2006, but had to wait a year and a half before he was able to join me in the United States. In late 2007, we lost a baby, which was harder on me than I thought it would be. Shortly after, we conceived again, but was told to terminate our pregnancy at 20 weeks, because of a malformation of the cerebellum in our little boy’s brain. We stood on the word of God and decided against it. His brain was normal 4 weeks later, which the doctors told us would never happen. We delivered a perfectly healthy baby boy later that year. During this time, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and had to go on short term disability. I had difficulty walking and holding things. When the disability ran out, so did my job and medical and dental benefits in 2009. During this time, the Lord showed himself as Jehovah raphe. Yes! He healed my body and I was able to function without the medications that were prescribed. I received my certification as a Christian Life Coach during this time of waiting. Later in 2009, we sold our home and relocated to New Orleans. I began a graduate program at Walden University online in Mental Health Counseling in 2010. Before I knew it, we were pregnant again and my studies became a challenge. On top of all of the pregnancy sickness, my teenage son began to have some challenges which really put my faith in God to test. It tested my marriage, parenting, and family structure. We continued to pray and trust God.

Our new baby girl was born at the end of January 2011. She is the first girl in the Ojeabulu family and our last baby. My teenage son’s issues came to a head and drastic measures were put in place. According to the state of Louisiana, he is an adult at 17 years of age. So, he packed his clothes and moved in with a friend. I truly thought that I would not be able to bear what had happened to my first born child, but soon realized that I must turn the situation over to the Lord. I remembered that what I put in him from birth, he will come back to it.

I say all this to say that we must have the right mind during all of life’s transitions. The Lord showed me that He did not allow me to be consumed by all of my trials. I am still standing! Maya Angelou said that when you learn, teach. So, I now see that my mess is my ministry and I will be able to help others handle their life transitions. I never would have been able to do it without my Lord! Be encouraged.

Procrastination is Evil!!

I am convinced that procrastination is pure evil. Why? Because the enemy knows the activities that we need to get done in order to inch our way closer to the destiny that God has for us. He will pull out every stop in order to distract us and take our eyes off the vision. Procrastination could also be due to the fact that we are lazy and are in need of motivation. But, that is evil too. Lazy people have a tendency to be impoverished. Procrastination can be a result of poor planning and organization. Important things receive less priority for not-so important things. Procrastination could also be a result of self-sabotaging behavior, fear of success, fear of failure, or just a spirit of fear in general. So what do we do when we suffer with this problem?

Procrastination has to be handled in the spiritual realm first. You must take authority over it with the word of God and curse it at the root. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that “…God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We need to confess this over our lives with our mouth, especially when we are faced head on with the urge to put off what we should do right away. I would encourage everyone to search the scriptures for topics on fear and apply the word of God to their prayer lives.

There are some books that we can read that will help us deal with this issue as well. Brian Tracy’s “Eat that Frog” is an excellent resource for helping people to do the most difficult thing one bite at a time. Soliciting your life coach for help in this area will help bring accountability, but he/she won’t be at home or work with you when the rubber meets the road. Essentially, it is up to each of us to make a decision that we want God’s best for our lives. I pray that the Lord will strengthen each of you and move you to higher heights in Him. Amen!

What is the Best Way I Can Reach You?

I often ask this question of my clients. There is nothing more disappointing than to call someone and leave a voice message, but get no return call. The same applies for email, text messaging, or snail mail. Frankly, I think that some etiquette training around the topic would be in order. Much of the time, I think it is due to poor organization and time management. But, that is a different story.

There is no harm in asking this question of people, especially if you are doing business together or have to touch base often. For me, I don’t particularly care for voice messaging. I have a mobile and an office line and I find it to be a little tedious to have to check both. I also don’t like having to write down detailed information if the message is long. I prefer for people to contact me by text if they don’t reach me by phone. If someone is calling from a land line and don’t reach me, I ask for an email message, because I can retrieve it from my mobile phone if I am away from the computer. There are times when this is not possible because some people are not that savvy with technology. I understand completely. But, let the record show that they have been served notice about how to best reach me and get a quick response. People appreciate it when you have respect for their time and promptly respond to them when they call. So, what is the best way for you to be contacted?

Calendaring, Part I

I often come across clients who complain of feeling overwhelmed and not in control of their time. Most of the time I find that they are not using a system to manage their day-to-day activities. For the ones that are using a system, they are not using it effectively. I want to briefly touch on a few essentials that will give one a basic idea of how to get back in control of the day and the obligations that are in it:

1. You have to have a system. It can be a PDA, paper planner, or computer-based system, but you must have one.

2. Your system should be able to synchronize with another system as a back-up. For instance, if you are using a PDA, it should synchronize to your computer or another web-based program (I will give examples in Part II). You can also back it up to an SD card as well. If you are not using a PDA, your computer-based system should be printable to a paper planner system. You can also back up your computer system to another web-based system that can be retrieved from any computer.

3. You must put all scheduled appointments on your calendar when you make them. It is a good idea to use the alarms available for PDA and computer systems.

4. Any task or to-do item that is not associated with a specific time should go in the task list until a specific time can be scheduled or until you complete the task in between appointments.

5. Prioritize tasks by grouping them into A, B, C, and D categories. A is the most important and D is the least important.

6. In each category, prioritize numerically, with one being the first thing that should get accomplished.

7. When a task is finish, mark it complete.

8. Roll over uncompleted tasks to the next day each morning or evening before. Some computer-based applications will do it automatically.

9. Make sure that everything that needs to get done is on your calendar as an appointment or a task. Don’t commit to anything that is not there.

9. Synchronize your systems automatically if possible. If not, synchronize manually at least twice per day.

Stay tuned for specifics on the different types of systems that one can use to simplify time management. In the meantime, you are welcome to browse my webpage, at Heart to Heart Coaching to see other services that I offer.