Why is it so difficult to say no?

Erik and I have been going through a ton of exciting changes lately and couldn't be more excited about them!  :)

To start off the new year, dear husband and I decided to shed the uh...marriage weight have accumulated!  So on came the diet with about 150lbs between the two of us that we aspire to lose.  Yikes!  But less than two weeks into it we are doing well!  25lbs cumulatively!  Woohoo!  Thank you, South Beach diet!

So there is the beginning of us saying no.  No thank you, we would not like to grab some pizza after the game.  No self, you do not need those tasty looking dinner rolls.  No I do not like those vegetables...what else on this blasted diet can I eat?! 

Whole big bunch of no. 

But honestly that isn't the most difficult no we have been faced with.  So here comes the second big change!
We are getting out of debt!  I know that isn't the most exciting news...but it is for us!  We came to the very sobering realization that we were limiting the blessings that God could provide if we were constantly struggling trying to pay off things that should have been taken care of LONG ago!  So it is our goal to pay off everything we owe (with the exception of our house...we don't make nearly that much!) over the course of the next year.  Which it will definitely be a challenge -- we have cut back our budget to only the bare minimum.  Bye bye cable!  But we are so excited about it that it feels more like an adventure than a burden. 

But that brings us to the difficult part of the 'no' process.  Saying it to other people.  Erik and I have gotten pretty good about telling ourselves no...but when it comes to saying to other people, "No, we just really can't afford it" it seems like we are having trouble.  It isn't because we are embarrased to say it...I really don't care what people think...lol.  But it is the dissapointment that is becoming so hard to deal with.  Somehow it is offensive to people that we are choosing to buckle down for a year.  A year.  I mean we aren't being so crazy as to run around like bandits snatching lightbulbs from their sockets in an effort so save money on our electric bill and no we aren't sitting in the dark.  We aren't abiding by the philosophy that showering every third day is a viable option to free up some extra cash.  Neither are we forsaking our obligation to Tithe or cut any money from the giving that we enjoy so much.  But somehow...when we say "no, we can't go the movies" or "no, we can't afford to go out to dinner" it is coming across as insulting to the recipient of said phrase.  I so hate dissapointing people.  But I really wish there were more people that were excited for us and could understand that just because we can't go out and blow the equivalent of a weeks worth of groceries on one meal doesn't mean that we don't want to spend time with them.  When did the world become so that you can't spend time together unless it costs?  Hm.  Something to ponder.

I know that it is not everyones conviction to spend less and save/pay off more.  But it is ours.  How could God possibly bless us with a child (through adoption or biological means) or the ability to move to a new home if we can't even work with what we have now?  So we are clearing a path.  :)
And hopefully by next year, we will be a clean slate for God to open up all kinds of opportunity for us!  For the very first time I am so over joyed about the possible changes to come rather than being reserved about it.  So yay!

Prayers on all "no" fronts would be appreciated!

If only, if only!

Precious precious little boys!  If it were a year from now, these adorable babies would be coming home to me.  What sweet little faces these babies have!  I pray they find loving homes soon.  :)

Happy Birthday, Erik...yesterday!

Yesterday was my dear sweet husbands birthday.  He is now the ripe old age of 24!  I know, he is ancient right?  Hehe...
It has been a milestone I have been looking towards since we started seriously talking about adopting.  365 (now 364) more days until the magic 25; the age that at least one of us has to be before we can actually make a commitment to bring a child into our life through the gift of adoption.  :)
It is a scary thought.  We both know that we have heard the call of adoption.  We have been directed to a ministry and know the long road we have ahead of us.  But wow!  In a year...it could all begin.  All of the requirements on the blessed preliminary "list" will have been satisfied and there we will be...waiting for God to reveal a specific child.  Our child.  It may be a year from now, it may be ten years.  But just to know that the possibility is out there...it makes me so anxious.  I know that Erik and I will never feel financially ready, or feel like it is the perfect time...but isn't that the wonder of God?  He knows better.  He knows how it will all work.  And he will give us the means in which to bring it all together.  We have already started an adoption fund.  :)  Right now, it is just a piggy bank...but I know that through prayer, sacrifice, and diligence that it will grow into more. 
So here we are...(unofficially) counting down!  Hooray!