Growin' Up Gregory

There's been a change of plans. Ah, just hearing that makes most of us cringe. But why do we hate change so much? There's a story of a king who had been living in a time of peace, fortifying the city walls. But one day, an army of one million came to attack his army of 580,000. Seems like a pretty bad change right. But the smaller army actually decided to leave the safety and comfort of their home to go out and attack the larger army. They won an astounding victory and even conquered more cities and brought home tons of loot to their country. What would have happened if nothing had changed? They would have stayed right where they were with exactly what they had. Instead, they took a chance, and trusted God, and wound up with a victory and more livestock, goods, and land to improve their own lives. No one seems to like change anymore. But we've got to remember that without change, there can be no improvement.  What can change in your life if you trust Go...

I'm not a person who is huge on being away from home for long, even on vacation. But coming home after a week at the beach has given me some perspective.  As a child, an overnight stay at a grandparent's house can be a mini-vacation and requires only a pair of PJs and clean underwear. As a childless adult, a weekend getaway requires a change or two of clothes, a cooler, and a little cash. As a parent with multiple kids, a vacation requires doing 4 loads of laundry BEFORE you leave, 5+ color coordinating outfits, 4 sleep sets, diapers, pack & play, strollers, vitamins, and a lot of cash. It's no wonder it takes a week to truly enjoy vacation. The first day is often so tiring from the drive/travel and packing. The last night and that final day are also filled with thoughts of packing and then more travel home. So you truly only get those few days in the middle to vacate everything else and refresh. If your job allows, take a week off sometime. Refresh, re...

Before kids, vacations involved an unsaid game of beating everyone else to the destination. But now, I've learned that if I compete with the GPS, their bladders or bellies will win. I feel a patience lesson coming on. I certainly had a dose of it when we were checking in Sunday. Our scheduled time was 4 PM. We got here shortly after that and figured we were good. Wrong. One room was ready but the other wasn't. It was hot, kids were rambunctious, and the adults were getting ill. Finally, around 5:30, we received a call that the other room was ready. I volunteered to go pick up the keys (partly out of chivalry, partly to get away from the chaos). The office was absolutely packed with people checking in and complaining.  I finally made it to the front of the long line. The lady was stressed, yet apologetic & kind. I could have been rude (part of me wanted to). But you know what, I've been there before. I've been overwhelmed by work, customers, or circumsta...

We all love the stories of beating overwhelming odds to succeed. For some the saying, "the struggle is real" rings oh so true. But what if you're not struggling right now? What if things are good and it seems easy? Does your story count? During the Great Recession, many businesses faced never before seen challenges. They were forced to come up with new policies, procedures, and products in order to survive. Those companies who were strong enough, were able to weather the storm and are still here. Unfortunately, some were not so lucky. How'd they do it? In the years BEFORE the recession, they prepared themselves. Maybe it was capital reserves, maybe it was innovation, whatever it was, they prepared during a time of prosperity and peace - not after the storm hit. Sadly, we too were forced to create new reports, new checklists, new processes during this time as well. Often innovation is born out of necessity and we know how painful childbirth is. So when...

How many of us as parents have watched our young children open birthday or Christmas presents with that underlying fear of, "Oh crap, what's he gonna say if he doesn't like something he gets?"  If it hasn't happened to you, when your kid is old enough to talk, it will.  And it's semi-mortifying as a parent when your child says, "I don't like that" or "I already have one" or "What else do I have?"  Especially when a close friend or family member spent their hard earned money on a thoughtful gift.  I still remember one of Thomas' favorite presents was a cheap toy that was virtually worthless...but he loved it.  He doesn't always understand the true value of a family heirloom, a traditional gift, or the cost of something collectible.  And it's not his fault, he's young and immature so he just doesn't know. Far too often, spouses reveal our own ignorance and immaturity in not realizing the val...

I wrote the other day about if you should or shouldn't escrow. If you choose not to, here's a method my wife and I have been using for a few years to help ensure those annual or semi-annual bills don't break the bank...or ruin Christmas. 1. Calculate your annual or irregular expenses - hashtag # house hashtag # tax & insurance, car tax & hashtag # insurance , life insurance, etc. House Tax = $900 House Ins = $720 Car Tax = $300 Car Ins = $900 Life Ins = $1,000 Total = $3,820 2. Divide that total by 12 = $320 (rounded). I also like to keep this on a spreadsheet so I can update it every year or so. 3. Set up a separate interest bearing hashtag # savings account for your "escrow." Note: this should NOT be the same as your regular savings account since this money is already allocated for a special purpose. Plus, instead of the hashtag # bank earning interest of your money, you do! 4. Now comes the hard part, being disciplined enough to put that amount into...