To Our Home...

We have had a very blessed, yet a very exhausting last 2 months  6 months.  Admittedly, it might be our fault.  After all Brandon and I are the go, go, go type.  I think I laid out a pretty good synopsis of it all in the last post, but in case you missed it... We put our house on the market, it sold, we lived nomadic lifestyles for 2 months, we closed on the house and then we went to Disney World.  But here we are in the house, and I can honestly say... every time I walk in the door I'm so thankful it is ours!

We moved into our last house with the "starter" house mentality.  Don't get me wrong, it was a great house.  I just had a hard time settling in and feeling like it was really home. So with this house, I'm starting it out right. 

To Our Home,

Hey, I just met you... and this is crazy...

I know we just met and my sweet husband and I rushed and put piles of our stuff in you, along with our toddler and dog.  I see how some houses might view that as rude, but you seem to be okay with it.  I have been dreaming for the last several weeks about what our time together will be like.  Let me just say... the plans are huge!  I'm dreaming of built-ins, paint colors, kitchen functionality... you name it, and I'm dreaming it! And don't worry, it's not because I think you're inadequate - you're not, trust me. It's because when I look at you, I see the blessings God has bestowed on us, and I know we have a long future together.  

So let me just throw it out there as a little heads up.  I'm 99% certain my daughter will collide her crayons with your walls.  I'm 99% certain cups will spill, messes will be made, and if a new puppy ever comes into our home "accidents" will occur.  But as our home, I promise to make you the best that I can.  Maybe not always with chores, but with appreciation.  It is my prayer to make you a place where our whole little family wants to be.  It is our prayer that God will use your walls as a place for people to know Him and to know they are loved.  

I don't want you to be generic.  I want you to be mine.  I don't want you to be HGTV-style either... cause you know, then you wouldn't be mine.  But it is my intention to work with you, to make you the utmost functional and personal home that you can be for the Family Frosch. 

Trust me, we are going to have a good time!

~The Family Frosch

Father, thank you for this blessing.  Please don't let us ever forget the prayers and effort it took to get this house.

Resolved: 2013

I have never been a big fan of New Years Resolutions. In fact, my lack of enthusiasm inspired one of our second semester senior shirts in high school. At Wednesday night Bible study, everyone was going around sharing their resolutions. I simply stated that I don't make them since I have zero intention of keeping them. Insert Katie with a spot on comment: Overachiever... Set your goals low.

But something so frustrating happened in 2011, that it only seem logical to embrace the tradition. In the dreaded 2011, I found myself going to Walmart... On Sundays... A lot. There is some sort of black magic that surrounds Walmarts on Sundays that causes people to lose all sense of self awareness. People stop mid-parking lot aisle to dig through their purse for their shopping list, or gum, or something else super important. People drop phrase like "excuse me," "please," and "thank you," from their vocabulary and stare at you blankly when the passive politeness escapes your lips. And while you walked in with a smile, you invariably come out like you lost the battle, the war, and your mind. Ok, I think maybe you are starting to get the picture. So in December of 2011, I proclaimed to Brandon and Summer that under no circumstance will I go into Walmart on a Sunday in 2012. (At this point, Brandon added that I will also not send him to Walmart in my place.)

Well today, my friends, is December 31, 2012. Yesterday was the 52nd Sunday of 2012. And I stayed out of that nightmare of a place every one of those Sundays! (Come on, celebrate the small things!)

So with that, I am changing my outlook on New Years resolutions. It is illogical for me to assume that I will suddenly develop a workout routine and commit to it for the next 365 days. It is foolish to think that I will instantaneously love veggies and hate chocolate for the next 52 weeks.

However - there are things that I can resolve to do in my life that will leave a lasting impression on who I am.
In 2013, I resolve to run a 5k.
In 2013, I resolve to be the best wife and mother that I can be.
In 2013, I resolve to further seek out Christ and to live for him unashamedly.
In 2013, I resolve to love people, more than I love being right.
In 2013, I resolve to make our house a home.

How about you? What does 2013 hold for you?

How I Almost Won $10,000

We all have had that moment. The moment where you hear what the Powerball amount is, or the moment where someone is giving away $500 if you just enter their drawing. Really, whether the dollar amount is $500 or $500 million is irrelevant. Admit it, you mind goes there. "What would I do with all that money?" You can't help but hope you win.

Every Christmas, Financial Rockstar, Dave Ramsey gives away tons of free goodies and money on his website (www.daveramsey.com). And not just on Christmas, but he gives money away for the whole six weeks leading up to it. This year is bigger than ever - he is giving away $10,000 every week. Stick with me, this isn't a commercial. Well I entered every day for a while, but when I am truly honest with myself, I know that Brandon is the one with magic in his name. Brandon has some special mojo when it comes to drawings, Bingo, and the like, so I decided he needs to be the one to represent our household in the contest. With that, I told him if he gets a call from the Nashville area code, he better stop, drop, and answer that call!

Well at about 1:40 this afternoon, 615-xxx-xxxx came across my cell phone and my heart stopped. My mind zoned in on one simple fact: The Dave Ramsey Show is live RIGHT NOW! So I answer, "This is Lisa..." A man's voice is on the other line. "Hi! This is Jeremy with the Dave Ramsey Show..." My mind: NO WAY! My voice: NO WAY! Yes, I was a bit excited hearing those words over the line. I don't know if Jeremy has ever been greeted with such zeal. In fact, my cheerfulness quite possibly made his day!

My heart was pounding. Blood pressure was rising. And my feet were pacing...fast.

So here I am, waiting for the next words. "Dave wants to talk to you" or "Please be near your phone in 20 minutes." But those aren't the words I heard. No, the words I heard were much more logical and probably should have been what I expected... "We are so excited for your Financial Peace Class that you are coordinating in January!"

WHAT? Not what I was hoping for, and it was pretty hard to concentrate during the remainder of the call since I was trying to get my heart at a more normal pace. Oh, and just a small tip for the Dave Ramsey staff - maybe make your excellent customer service calls at a time when your diehard listeners aren't hoping to win $10,000.

Have you ever "almost" won something?

Days 1-30

**Post entered on the iPad. // indicates a new paragraph**

//Ok, I admit I haven't been remotely as consistent as I wanted to be. The director of the Wesley Foundation at Tech always said, "You will never be as busy in your life as you are right now... it will always be more." With 18 course hours, wedding planning, friends, and everything else going on in life... I certainly had my doubts. But now with a marriage, a baby, a job, and a bedtime, I have to admit that he knew what he was talking about. Busy, busy, busy! But that's no different from you.

//So here is the thing. You know how they say life has it's seasons? I really like life having seasons, I just don't like them changing. But God wires us in a way that we are not designed to stay the same; instead we grow. And growing seems overrated after a while, but I never look back and regret it. All of this to say, that I have some changes to update you on! I haven't been super forthcoming on some of it simply because I wanted to see how it played out. But God has been faithful time and time again, and it is such a waste if I don't share the things He has done in our lives!

//First up - Roughly a month after we mounted a TV to our wall, Brandon and I decided it was time to move. We had always planned on moving after being in the house for 5 years or so, and I honestly don't remember what triggered it, but we knew it was our time. If you have never done it before, let me tell you - selling a house is exhausting. All the dishes go in the dishwasher right away since someone could show up in 10 minutes for a "just looking" session. Never mind if the baby is sleeping... And then to think you spend all this time keeping the house up, and people track mud onto the carpet, leave the toilet seat up, and put who-knows-what on the bathroom counters. Seriously?? Oh, and babies don't love being disrupted at random so you can sit in the car down the street waiting for people to leave their house. The only people who hate it more than babies are babies who just turned into toddlers. All that to say... stressful. Yes indeed, stressful. Anyway - our house was on the market for roughly a week. It took a month for the "buyer" to back out and then back on the market for another week and a half. We officially sold a couple weeks ago... yay and praise God! We knew He was watching out for us through the whole process!!

//Next up - I came home from a bachelorette party for a girlfriend one night. Brandon and I were lounging about, and he brought up that I needed a consistent income. Now let me be clear - he chose his words carefully, was kind and sensitive to what I had been doing. Well I simply breathed out and with that breath escaped, "I just want a job." Instantly I knew all the things that God had been working on my heart the previous weeks were in preparation for that breath. You see, I hadn't even admitted that to myself yet. I knew the Holy Spirit worked in my husband to prepare his words for a conversation that could have been very difficult. I knew the Holy Spirit worked in my heart to not be defensive but to simply be honest. This is why my God is good. Even when I deceive myself - He knows my heart. I told Brandon that while I love Thirty-One, it isn't for me. And like he does, he supported that decision too.

//Batter up - Did you notice how we sold our house but I didn't mention anything about the new house? Oh yeah, about that. See here is the thing. There are some people (well 2 people) who won the Powerball. They can afford to have two mortgage payments - but for Brandon and myself, that would be utterly irresponsible. So we made the decision to sell our house prior purchasing a home. We looked here and there with not much avail. We thought we found *the one* but found out earlier this week that there are too many issues to make it worth our time. So with that - we are starting our search over. We have friends who have very graciously offered to let us stay in a spare room. Seriously - they let us take part of their daily lives... who does that? Our awesome friends, that's who. So we are on the hunt and hopefully *the one* will come up soon. Till then, we appreciate your prayers for patience and wisdom. More house shopping on Sunday... so if ya know of any...!!

//Next again - Man, I really like bouncing this post all over the place sorry about that. So you know how I said I wanted a job? I applied for one that night. I texted a friend who seems to like her job. She told me where to apply and so I did. That was a Saturday after midnight... not the best response time during those hours. Monday morning 9am, I had an email asking for a phone interview. Phone interview Wednesday, in person interview the following Monday. Job was offered and accepted that Friday. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That's how big my God is. I couldn't believe it. I was so blown away. Blessed. Honored. Humbled. The things that I barely knew in my heart, God was already preparing the way.

//Sorry for the novel, I just needed to give credit where credit was due. So this is the last day of November. Everyone has been doing the Day 1-30 that they are thankful for. I'm thankful for so much: my relationship with my Savior, for Brandon, Summer, friends, jobs... so many things. I'm thankful that God knows me better than I do.

//I hope everyone had an incredible Thanksgiving and is getting ready for an amazing Christmas season!

Financial Rockstars

I don't think this will come as a major shock to people when I say I view life a little differently.  I get excited about campaigns, government, business, and how things work.  For instance, this past Tuesday, an old friend posted pics of an "Election Party" on Facebook.  Now, maybe it is because he is in the epi-center of government and living life serving the public sector in D.C., but I couldn't help be a little bit jealous! I mean, I want to wage guesses on who will win various elections and by what margin! Ok, have I lost you? Reel it in... reel it in.

I guess all this to say, that when I think of the finer things in life, I gravitate toward the nerdier things in life. So when I received an email with the opportunity to meet and greet with Dave Ramsey (for free!) I had to jump! It wasn't one of those, sure let me check my schedule type things.  You see, Dave Ramsey isn't just a DJ.  He isn't just an author.  I guess he is more like my version of Bono. Yup, Dave Ramsey is my Bono - a financial rockstar on a mission. Dave is on mission to remind us that God didn't create us to be enslaved to debt and money.  In fact, God desired us to be the master over money and use it as a tool to serve Him.  One of my favorite Brandon Quotes is, "Christianity isn't a pauper's vow."  He says that in full recognition that there isn't a prosperity gospel waiting for us either.  God created us to give, love, serve, and worship Him.   Those things are a lot easier to do when you're not adding 18% interest each month.

Anyway, all of this to say I got to meet one of my earthly superheros and I didn't even think to get an autograph!  For those who are local, Brandon and I will be coordinating another Financial Peace University class in January.  Dave just released an updated version that is only 9 weeks long.  Let me know if you want to participate!

My Journey to Staying Home: Part 2

I have been sitting on this post for a bit. I would love your feedback!
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When I graduated from Texas Tech in 2008, you could say that I lived in a state of naivety. You see, I was one of the students who thought diplomas were handed out on gold platters, and that employers would be lining up for graduates, graduates like me. Sure, there was this nagging thought in my mind that maybe a finance degree wasn't quite the magic fairy dust that it was in 2006, but that didn't discourage me. I finally landed the job from Hades as a property/casualty insurance adjuster for catastrophic events. I won't go into that... but let's just say it was slightly more jolting than a severe reality check.

In the wake of that job, I struggled. I struggled with value. I struggled with time. I struggled with the fear of my alarm clock or a ringing telephone. Did I mention it was the job from Hades?

The struggle that has stayed with me the longest is the concept of money and how I can possibly relate to it as a Christian. To start with, I had the choice that so many other fresh graduates have: Do I choose to finance my lifestyle to live in the fashion I am used to? Or do I choose to live according to my means based on the actual dollars coming in? Conflicting messages are everywhere. Obviously advertisement and prime time tv leans toward buying everything you can. Then right when I start dreaming about the possibilities, I'll pick up a book like 7 by Jen Hatmaker, and I become disgusted by the American surplus. You can see how a girl's head can kind of get caught in a whirlwind.

So this struggle has continued, on some level, for the past 4 years. And then I read this:
The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39:2 ESV)
It was one of those moments where you're reading the word and you have a literal paradigm shift. I realized my question is bigger than currency. My question is, "It is ok to be successful? And what does that look like?"

Joseph, at this point in the game, is a slave. I'm guessing he isn't accumulating and building wealth. But nonetheless, he is successful. God wants all of us to be "successful." But we still must define success. I'm open to opinions, but in reading this... I understood success to mean "effectiveness." God wants us to be effective in our communications, in our business dealings, in our service to others, in our service to Him, and the list goes on! This is where my role shifts as well. My goal must be to effectively live in a way that glorifies God, and I am able to complete the missions He has set before me.

Brandon occasionally mentions that believing in Christ is not a "pauper's vow." On the other hand, it is not the key to millions and millions. This new idea of success - of living effectively for the glory of God - allows me to know it is ok to build wealth, if that's in God's plan, but to release the control and not be consumed by the notion. I've heard countless times that money is "amoral," but it is the way you utilize it that determines good or evil. It is my hope that with faithfulness and obedience, that God will allow us to be free from all debts so that we may better serve His kingdom.

I trust that God has our finances under control for the things that He wants for my little family. Meanwhile, it is my responsibility (more like: moral obligation) to handle our finances in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. That means budgeting, tithing, intentional spending, and giving. All of those things are... dare we say, counter-intuitive. But they marry together with faith and obedience to create a "successful" future.

What do you think? Are money and success concepts you have struggled with?

My Journey to Staying Home: Part 1

Well, it has been a couple weeks since I have blogged, and it is simply because I am trying to get my head around some stuff. I think we're going to have to go at it in parts. So below is My Journey to Staying Home: Part 1.

The question I get the most right now is, "So... how do you like staying home?" And the truth is, it is harder than I ever could have imagined. I feel less organized, less put together, less... a lot of things. BUT I have something that I never fully knew I was missing. I have more cherished memories with Summer. And I wouldn't trade those for anything.

There is something you have to understand about me, I never ever wanted to be a stay at home mom. Never ever, until I met Summer. I didn't understand how women did it. Surely, they are bored out of their minds. And it wasn't a condescending thought... I just didn't understand it. I grew up with two parents who were (and are) very successful in their careers. They wear suits. They go to seminars. They meet with people in large buildings. Obviously that is a simplified view, but that is what I planned to do. Most of my life I planned to go to law school and start a law career. My work would then propel me into local politics which would eventually escalate to a national level. So staying home with a baby is a far cry from what I planned to do.

The funny thing is, God knew all along that my "plans" did not align with His. And quite frankly (no surprise here), His plans are far superior! My Sunday school teacher often says, "There is no better feeling than being right where God wants you, right now." (Hey Vic - sorry I butchered that.) So right here, right now, I am walking in God's plan with the confidence that He will teach me how to do the things that I need to do. I'm surrounded by Super Moms (oh hey Ashlie!) who are so sweet and willing to teach. But most importantly, I get to hang out with this little girl who is so eager to learn.

There is more to come, but that's enough for now.