Today is a day when we celebrate our blessings and reflect on all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for. It’s a good thing to stop and express our gratitude — we all have much to be thankful for.
However, some of you are probably really struggling this Thanksgiving. Maybe your husband recently left you, or your child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or you are battling an addiction, or your finances feel like they are in shambles and you are just digging yourself into a deeper hole because of unemployment and ever-mounting bills.
Life is hard and messy sometimes — and just because it’s Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that the pain and burdens are lifted. If this Thanksgiving finds you in a difficult place in life, may I encourage you to read my post on Hope for Women Magazine on Choosing to Be Thankful Even When Life is Hard?
Here’s a snippet:
My husband was rummaging through old financial statements not too long ago, and we were aghast to read some of the numbers. During the first year he was in law school, there were six months when we made less than $900 — and some months it was as low as $650.
I recall that season of our lives fairly vividly, but seeing those numbers on paper again after a number of years was a shock to our systems. I'm still not sure how we made it on so little!
During those years, we lived in a little basement apartment that only had four windows on one side. I could plug the vacuum cleaner into one outlet and vacuum the entire apartment without ever switching outlets…Click on over to read the full post.
Our struggles during the lean law school years pale in comparison to many of the struggles you are facing. But I hope that the words I shared might encourage some of you.
Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose hope.
Choose gratitude today — even when it feels impossible. It might not change any of your circumstances, but I promise that it will transform your attitude and lift your spirits.
A Heartfelt Word of Thanks to Each of You
By the way, can I just say thank you to each of you for everything you mean to me and how you bless me on a daily basis?
Thank you for your kind words and constructive criticism. Thank you for reading here, commenting, and emailing.
As those who know me well can attest to, my years of blogging have been a journey of growth, learning, and stretching for me. It’s not always been easy and I’ve made oh-so-many mistakes along the way, but God has taught me much through it and changed me from the inside out as a result of blogging.
When I began blogging back in 2005, I thought I pretty much had life figured out. Now, 8 years later, I feel like there are very few things in life that I have figured out, but I know one thing: blogging has been the catalyst for life-transformation for me. {If you missed my post on this from last month, read it here.}
It’s brought me from a place of insecurity, legalism, and being a people-pleaser to a place where I feel whole, free, and truly happy in who God has made me to be and what He has called me to. And you’ve been a part of that journey with me.
Whether you’ve read here for years or just weeks, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for reading here and being apart of the Money Saving Mom® Community. Words cannot express how much you mean to me and how much I’ve learned and grown as a direct result of each of you. I love each of you and am eternally grateful for you.
Happy Thanksgiving!
photo credit
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This offer expires Sunday night (December 1st, 2013) at midnight EST. This magazine can also be a great source of unique coupons from time to time.
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(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)
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I loved reading Bread & Wine. In fact, I’m pretty sure the book is making it on my Top 20 Books Read in 2013 list.
It moved me. It inspired me. It challenged me. And it made me want to spend more time in the kitchen and around the table.
However, the phrase that stuck out to me most was: Present Not Perfect. Shauna shares how we can get so wrapped up in trying to make life perfect — to get all our ducks in a row and keep them that way — that we miss the present.
We rush through life with our plans, our goals, and our lists. We check things off. We pat ourselves on the back for being a powerhouse of productivity.
And we forget to breathe. To slow down. To soak up the moments. To savor the here and now.
Instead of pursuing a life of perfection, I want to pursue a life of being present…
…listening to the child who is excited to tell me about their latest LEGO creation.
…taking a few minutes to call that friend who is struggling.
…stopping to look into the eyes of the person at the checkout lane at the grocery store and smile and ask how they are doing.
…inviting the friend who stops by to stay for coffee — even if there are piles of laundry in my living room.
Present not perfect. That’s how I want to live.
photo credit: DaySpring
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A testimony from Tanja
My husband and I live in the US, but I am originally from Germany. In January of 2013, we made plans to spend Christmas and New Year’s 2013/2014 in Germany with my family. As you can imagine, it’s quite an expensive trip — especially during the holiday season.
I knew I wanted to take a lot of awesome family photos while spending time with family. But there was one problem, my ancient camera. It just would not live up the my crazy picture taking. I needed a new camera.
In November 2012, I signed up for UserTesting.com and MySurvey.com, but I didn’t complete any surveys and only 4 website tests (worth a total of $40). However, after booking our tickets in January of this past year, I realized UserTesting and MySurvey could be the path to my new camera.
I did my research on cameras and memory cards and decided I wanted to go all out and get a Canon Powershot G15 (average price $440) and a PNY 32GB HC class 10 memory card (average price $30).
Now I had a goal!
I hoped to do about one website test per week. But I could only get 2 to 3 tests per month due to my schedule and what I qualified for (PC and Android phone tests). I then decided to also do some surveys on MySurvey.
Fast forward from January 2013 to October 2013, I had completed 28 website tests on UserTesting (10 mobile website test at $15 each, and 18 PC website test at $10 each). This totaled up to $330. I also earned $60 from MySurvey — plus the $40 from before.
The grand total was $430!
I placed all the money in my PayPal account since it would allow me to order my camera and memory card from almost any website.
At this point, I enlisted my husband’s online deal searching skills and he found a great deal for me.
At the end of October 2013, I purchased a Canon Powershot G15 from EBay for $399 and a PNY 32GB HC class 10 memory card for $25 — which left me with $6 leftover! The camera and memory card were both brand new and included shipping and tax! Now I have about one month left to play with my new camera before our trip to Germany.
When people ask about my new camera, I tell them it was literally free… and they can’t believe it.
Thanks MoneySavingMom.com for showing me a frugal way to a new high-end camera!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
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