Update

Not much has happened since last time I posted. Like most other people right now, things are super tight. These next few months are going to be difficult financially for us..my income went down a bit because of insurance starting for me in April and people aren't spending as much money right now so Bills numbers at work aren't huge....But,he is working so hard. I love him and appreciate him so very much. He is such a great provider for our family! We had another appointment with our financial counselor and we are going to be changing up a couple things to bring in a few hundred more dollars a month for a while. With all that is going on, we cant complain. We both have jobs right now!
My new job is going OK. Bill asked me when am I going to say that it's going great? When I'm out of training!!! So, maybe not for another 5-9 months. About a month and a half ago, I was told that I was going to "hit a wall" at work. I was so determined not to hit that wall and prayed against it, but I realized last Tuesday, I in fact hit that wall. The last two or three weeks I've been feeling so burdened and dreading going to work. I've had stomach aches and have been on the verge of tears. I was feeling SO stretched and wondering if I was going to make it through training?? Last Tuesday I made a stupid mistake....and I was embarrassed and mad at myself because I knew that I messed up. I ended up crying. I'm not as an emotional person as I used to be....I rarely cry any more, especially around people I don't know real well yet. But I just lost it. My trainer and I went outside to get my head clear and after a while I went back in and did totally fine. I think I needed to get that out of my system! My biggest road block right now is myself. I beat myself up so badly over the mistakes I make. Everyone makes these mistakes-it's just a part of the process of learning this job. But I do have to say, that so far it's the hardest job I've ever had. This week has been better although my stomach was in knots a little today until I was there for about an hour. Not sure why?? I need to get over that because it affects my job when I'm like that.
So, I guess I could use some prayer for my job. Apparently I'm doing OK and there are not any major problems. I need to learn to let go of my mistakes and just move on.
I'm starting to fall asleep while typing so I'm going to end this. Hope you are all doing great. If there is anything I can be praying for any one reading, leave a comment and I will pray for you during the next weeks.

What a Week!

This has been one of those weeks! I dont know what is up...maybe the full moon this week? I had conflict with a couple people this week. I hate conflict and do what I can to live at peace with everyone, but am realizing that some things are totally out of my control. But still it is so frustrating and after realizing I have had conflict with 3 people...yes 3 people this week I felt so overwhelmed!! I have absolutely no control over any of it-cant do anything to fix any of it either. Anyway, at about the same time that I was having my pity party and feeling overwhelmed, Bill called me from the road. I knew something big had happened by the tone of his voice and I couldnt wait to hear what it was. By this point I was feeling that I needed to hear some good news. I couldnt prepare myself for what I was about to hear-Bill was offered a job in Spokane. What?? I was speechless! I couldnt tell if I was excited or scared or sad. So many mixed emotions went through my mind and when it really came down to it, I wasnt sure if I really wanted to move. Weird huh? I am in awe of how things have changed over the course of 3 years. On the 26th, it'll be 3 years since we've moved here. Time has flown by and we have gone through some major tough times but we have also grown individually, as a family and as a couple over here. God knew what He was doing when He moved us over here. Duh! But I remember when I wished for a job offer to happen...we would have jumped at any opportunity to move back! We miss our friends and church so much. But God has truly blessed us over here too. He has given us some wonderful friends a great church and a passion for our family that we've not had before. We have grown and are still growing and we dont feel that it what God wants us to do at this point, so Bill declined the offer. As I sit and contemplate all this, I cannot believe the change in me since we've been here. When we moved I came kicking and screaming. I was a brat! I cried a lot...probably too much and did not handle the move like I should have. God is so good. I am so thankful of all our friends-here and Spokane-that God has given us. I am so thankful that God is always at work in our hearts and can change us.
So even though we will not be moving, we do plan to make a weekend trip sometime this summer over to Spokane to visit all our friends. Ill keep my Spokane friends posted on when we are coming over. We miss you all!

Happy 7th Birthday Elliot

Make a Smilebox postcard

Being prepared

For years, we have half heartedly tried to build up a savings account. Since meeting with our financial counselor, our first baby step (Dave Ramsey) was to put $1000 into savings for EMERGENCY'S ONLY! We finally got our savings built up and then our water heater went out. For the first time in our married life, we didn't worry over how we were going to pay to get something fixed! There was no stress, no burden-we didn't have to borrow from family. We actually had the money to fix our problem! What an amazing feeling that was!!
Just a couple of weeks prior to this, we had a discussion of what an actual emergency would look like. It all came down to if something happens that is unforeseen it would be an emergency. I am pretty sure a hot water heater not working would count as an emergency!
I'm so thankful what God is doing in our lives. It's so great when we can see His hand at work.

One More Down!

Monday, we were able to pay off another credit card!! We are both so excited but know we still have a ways to go. So that's one down, 5 to go! (two more that will be gone by the end of April!) WooHoo!!

Things have been going pretty good lately. Another thing we were able to do is to get our yard cleaned up finally! This winter has been so hard on it, and I'm not much for yard work so we hired someone. I know, its an extra expense but it sure takes off a HUGE burden. I can now walk outside and not cringe at the sight of our yard!

My new job is going pretty well....I still have a lot more to learn and to master, but at least now I can talk on the radio and answer phones without shaking! There was a point were after a phone call my hands would be shaking so much. It must have been because of the adrenalin?? Thursday night I am taking a first aid course and next month I will be getting recertified for CPR.

The boys are doing great too. Brady is starting to get back in shape to prepare for football and Elliot will be playing base ball this year! He's so excited. Riley is opting for Kung Fu. Both Brady and Riley are playing an instrument. Riley is learning violin and Brady is taking drum lessons. They are actually doing pretty good.

Also, today is Elliot's birthday! My baby is 7 now. I still picture him as a 3 year old. He is growing up so very fast!! He's such a fun kid to have around-he has a great sense of humor and loves his brothers! He wants to be just like they are.

Happy Birthday Elliot!!

In Progress

I have been thinking about this blog lately and wondering if I should make a theme for it...for example, I've been reading other blogs, some are for updates on family life (which initially mine was going to do that) others are about tracking their pregnancies,health problems etc. So, since right now we are in the process of getting out of debt, I was thinking that I could track our journey, good and bad on here. If it bores you, you don't have to read it. :) This will be good for Bill and I to look back and remember our journey. Where we are now, where we came from and where we hope to be. My greatest hope would be that God would use this process to help someone else through a similar situation.
Finances have been our biggest struggle throughout our whole marriage. It's amazing to see how destructive debt and bad spending habits can be to a family. We started our marriage off with debt and have been going deeper and deeper since then. Over the years we have tried different budgets and programs but have been unable to stay on track for more than one week. I think that Bill and I had to go through a process in our marriage to get to where we are now. We have had some really tough times where one or both of us didn't think we'd make it through, but miraculously God brought us through those times. It wasn't until last year that we really started working together on things. We are finally on the same page! It took a lot to get us here, but we are here.....I know we have a lot of work to do still, but this is a good starting point.
If you've read my earlier posts, you know we are seeing a financial counselor certified through Dave Ramsey-it is so great for us to have someone that we are accountable to and that guides us through some decisions and helps us stay realistic with our finances.
About a year ago, things were really tight for us as usual but we were having a hard time paying all of our bills so we decided to go through a settlement company for our credit cards. It took our payment from about $1100 to $460 a month. Although this helped a little with our monthly expenses, we were not paying ANY of our credit cards-see our $460 payment went to the settlement company in a reserve and as soon as we had enough money in our reserve, they were going to negotiate with our credit card companies (all 7 of them) at one point or another and settle at about half of what we owed. At first, we thought this would work out great...one account that we owed about $1800 on settled with us for $512. We were so excited to get one out of the way! But, even though this seemed to be working we knew this was not for us and we would not recommend it to anyone. It was like we were trying to take the easy way out but really it just caused more problems. The letters and phone calls started coming again and they were not good. So, we decided that we were going to start dealing with them on our own and either start making payments again or just try and settle on a couple ourselves (thank goodness for tax refunds!)
So, as of today, we have 6 cards to pay off totaling around $20000. That is a huge amount but sadly it was a lot bigger than that just a few years ago. This week, Bill was able to make a few calls and set up some payment arrangements and by the end of April, Lord willing, over half of that will be gone! If all goes as planned, by the end of the year, we will be credit card debt free...(then it's on to the cars). Time will tell if this all works out according to plan-I'm hoping and believing it will since now Bill and I are on the same page with this and we are making our decisions very prayerfully.
That's our beginning in a nutshell and until we are out of debt including the cars, I will use this post mainly for updating on this process we are going through. One more thing is that this all wouldn't be possible if God wasn't part of this. We have made so many mistakes and have wandered so much but God is so good. His compassions NEVER fail. They are new EVERY morning and HE is faithful!

Quick update

It's been a while again since I've posted last. This is why I hesitated in the first place to do my own blog-because I didnt think I would be able to think of things to write. I'm not a writer like some. I go onto other blogs and read these wonderful, interesting stories with so much detail and energy and then try to write something on my blog but nothing comes up! Maybe the more I try, the better I get?
Anyway, things are going well in the Beckham household. I am loving my job and most days think I'm doing ok. I love what I am doing and for the most part, everyday there is something different. I am still loving my schedule but have found that I have to be careful on my days off to make sure I dont over commit my self to anything.
Bill and I are still doing good with staying on track financially for the most part. We had a major bump in the road this weekend and not sure on the outcome of that but both of us has a peace over this whole thing. God is so good. It's amazing the difference from right now and a year ago. If our "bump" had happened this time last year, I would have sunken low into a depression and had the feeling of a ton of bricks on my shoulder but things have changed so much over this year (another story that I may tell at a later time) that when this "bump" happened, I felt nothing but joy....only the joy that God can give.
Anyway, that's all for my post this time...maybe next time I'll even have some pictures to include!