March 18, 2016

So the year is 2016 and I haven’t blogged in 3 years! My new neighbour is starting a blog so she inspired me to pick this up again. Thanks Gloria!
In the last 3 years I have been learning many skills that I have used to become a fairly competent Budget Adviser for families in our community of Kawerau, New Zealand.

It all began 7 years ago with my prayer for God to help me overcome our lifestyle of having just enough to live week to week. I prayed for help to learn to manage our finances God’s way so that we could give our children the education they deserved and not just the one we could afford and He answered my prayers and sent me great resources to help me do just that. Somehow we were able to afford to send our children to school in Whakatane and one by one we followed through with actions that enabled us to pay off all our debts except the mortgage and we are slowly but surely reducing this as well. Although God also gave me the inspiration to invent something that has the potential to pay off our mortgage completely it seems the wheels on that mechanism must be quite a lot larger than the others we work with, as the timing for its production has had many delays. I will definitely keep you informed when I have something new to announce on that front.

So just to update;

Our son finished school in 2014 with enough level 2 credits to get him into the bike mechanics course he intended to do. However when he applied the course was no longer available in Tauranga where he had planned to attend. The alternative location was in Auckland which meant far greater expenses for accommodation and travel that it was no longer attractive to him. So after contemplating his options (using the Whanau Education Action Plan taught to us by Dawn Hill and her MOE team at one of our Whetu Marae courses) and praying for God to reveal His plan, my son decided to approach local bicycle shops with his C.V to see if they needed a Trainee. He chose about 5 that he knew of on Facebook and messaged them. Within days he got 3 responses saying “good on you for trying but no they had nothing available”. Then out of the blue he got an invitation for an interview in Rotorua. We were so excited that it was so close and that it happened to be the same shop our widowed friend’s husband used to run many years ago.
As we drove to Rotorua I was telling him “first impressions count, so don’t joke around, be on your best behaviour” and before he went in we prayed for open doors to his future and for God to be with him and help him answer any questions during the interview. I waited patiently outside until he returned followed by the female manager. They were interested in hiring him but wanted to check with me because he would be leaving home for the first time. Of course I was delighted for him to be finally doing the thing he had wanted to do since he was 10 years old. It seemed so perfect but it wasn’t until he got back in the car for our trip home that I realised how perfect!
When he sat down for the interview he remembered about first impressions and was very serious and professional, he was able to name all the bike parts shown to him and to demonstrate his experience with simple tasks. He answered all the questions honestly even confessing to be better with his hands than written work and to have recently been tested for epilepsy after some fainting spells. I thought for sure that would put them off! But the manager’s brother has epilepsy, so if it turned out that he had it too they would work around it!!!
Then one of the interviewer’s stopped and looked at him and said “Are you always like this?” My son got worried and wondered what he meant. “Are you always this serious? I don’t think you are” My son was looking around for the prank camera because everything had gone so well it must have been a set up and now the jig seemed to be up, they knew more about him that he had told them. The guy smiled and said “I think you’re a bit of a clown” My son replied “yeah I like a laugh and I can be a bit of an idiot sometimes” “Well that’s good” replied the guy “because everyone in this shop is a bit of an idiot and you have to be an idiot if you want to fit in here, it’s good if you can make the customers laugh they’ll come back” I couldn’t believe he said that! No one but God could have chosen a more perfect job for my son who loves making people laugh. I was amazed!
So he got the job and left home and he’s now earning more money than me!

Also in that time our daughter went from being in trouble at school and running away to becoming an amazing youth group leader and achieving Merit level academic results and this year being elected Deputy Head Girl at her school and a week ago her Aunty gave her a car for when she moves to Tauranga next year to begin her Primary Teacher Training. Amazing!!!
So although we are not so flush that we can afford to renovate the way we’d like without borrowing, our finances have never been better. And, even if we do borrow to renovate we will still only have the mortgage debt.
None of my clients at the Budget Service are as fortunate yet but I’m praying for them too :).

Feeling truly blessed as I recount these few wonderful memories from recent years.

Feel free to comment or message about anything I’ve written. Thanks for reading.

 

Are you Living or Doin’ Life?

Are you Living or Doin’ Life?.

Are you Living or Doin’ Life?

Are you Living Life or Doin’ Life?

If you feel that every day brings something good, you have so much more to be grateful for than others, you care deeply about the wellbeing of others and go out of your way to give of your energy, resources and time – then you are Living the Life God has prepared for you and there are greater blessings in store for you.

However,
If you feel that every day brings a new punishment with little to be grateful for and you deserve something better – then you are in for a surprise.

You have achieved the exact outcome your choices resulted in.

You’re Doin’ Life in a worldly prison.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, there’s some Good News for those who are currently residents in this prison. There is a “get out of jail free card” available. . . it’s free but it means you have to have a willingness to make some changes.

You have to start seeing what you have to be grateful for and thanking the people who help you.

You have to start putting the well-being of others before yourself and say sorry to the people you have hurt in the past.

You have to accept that everything you have experienced up until now was given to you for the purpose of bringing more truth, more love and more Light into the world.

If you are willing to make these changes you have the opportunity now to begin Living the Abundant Life God has prepared for you.

On the other hand,
If you have no desire or intention to change then you will probably be content to continue an eternity of miserable punishment.

Either way your future is up to you, it’s your choice now. . .

Joyful Abundance!

So here I am still living in the same place but doing slightly different things and slowly getting out of the financial mire we had been in.

I have just listened to Greg Habstritt video http://www.simplewealth.com/2011/07/27/how-passive-income-can-cripple-you/ and how he has divided Cash into 3 groups; Cash Today for our immediate survival expenses; Cash Tomorrow for future requirements and Play Cash the overflow after fulfilling the first 2 categories.

I now have a part time job helping friends with their growing produce business so our Cash Today is covered as long as we don’t suddenly need major repairs to anything however according to the latest rates notice our house has increased in value so although the mortgage is a current debt overall we now have a net worth of well over $100,000 so we are finally beginning to build a financial foundation above ground!
Hallelujah! We are on track and overcoming the symptoms of success annorexia!

That being said this new level of confidence has also come with challenges namely the cost of further progress which we can only trust will be fruitful. A business mentoring program which although exciting is tending to consume all my time rather obsessively in recent days and I am neglecting things around the house again. SO before I carry on I will stop doing this and go and do the things which need my attention more urgently!

A Path To Success

SO it’s Easter and it’s raining again. The world continues to turn despite the natural disasters that have impacted the first part of the year and we are settling back into normality.

What does that mean?

It means we continue encouraging our children to become the best they are capable of being. . . . by being the best we are capable of.

As I look back at what I first wrote as a new blogger in October last year I mentioned establishing a measure of personal success and making my own contribution to the world. I had enrolled in the Visionary Business University with this in mind and took their advice establishing an internet presence with facebook, twitter and a wordpress blog.

I continued to work around my statement “Our deepest wounds are our greatest opportunities to bring More Light, More Truth and More Love into the world”. Within a week I had invented something which is now patent pending.

It is very clear that I am well on my way to achieving what I set out to do 6 months ago. It is also possible that with the same momentum the next 6 months could dramatically change the direction of my life and my family’s lives and I may actually have made the world a better place for people who struggle with maths.

The other day I was facilitating a group of young people to establish a vision for their group and I heard myself say that “to have a different picture of the future they need to have a different vision. . . and they can achieve more in a short time with goals than they ever could without them”. I was quoting Greg Habstritt’ goal setting info that had set me on my current path. Along with this I used the power of Afformations (empowering questions) as taught  by Noah St John in this same Visionary Business University info to further guide the process.

Noting this I now feel it is important to acknowledge how positively the Visionary Business University has impacted my life so far.

I also want to encourage others to make use of the information available through this resource. Keep it up V.B.U!

http://vbu2010.com/

http://www.facebook.com/VisionaryBusinessUniversity

Hello world!

I am passionate about proving that

“Our deepest wounds are our greatest opportunities to bring More Love, More Truth and More Light into the world”. – Debbie Henton

Join me as I journey to bring More Love, More Truth and More Light into the world and let’s see what a difference we can make together.

If you agree with my opening statement post a comment on your own experience of why this is true for you.

Until my next post I look forward to reading your replies.