Money Matters

A ton of bricks hit me this morning. It really, really did. Our church hosted author and radio host Dave Ramsey for our 3 morning services. Either well-planned by our church administration, or extremely coincidental, our August focus has been on giving. Giving of time, giving of talent, and yes, giving of tithe. Mr. Ramsey was in town yesterday for one of his live events, so he came on over into Bartlett for Sunday morning services at Faith Baptist Church.

Of course, being in the pulpit for only 30 minutes or so, he couldn't really get into the meat of his "cut up your credit cards and streamline your budget" philosophy. But it really wasn't "If you ain't tithing, you're a bad Christian and you're despicable to God" either. His point was this: According to scripture, it's not our money--it's God's. We're just managers of it. Imagine if you deposited $1000 into a savings account and went back later to get it, only to be told by the banker that they didn't have it because his "Sea-Doo needed a sister" (his analogy, not mine). Imagine the frustration, anger, etc. that you would feel because the person you had trusted to manage your money let you down. Such is the case with God.

But here's the tricky part: God doesn't need our money. Faith Baptist doesn't need my money. If we think that God sits and says, "I sure hope that ____ tithes today, because I could really use it," we're way off. We give to be more in His likeness. Period. If we who are called Christians (i.e., Christ-like) give back to God a portion of what is His, our blessings will be abundant.

But that's where money stuff comes in. Like he said this morning, the reason some Christians don't tithe isn't because they don't love God--it's because they're broke. When you are a slave to debt, you cannot give back to God. And the Bible is full of instructions on managing our money. But it's God's plan. And at some point, you must realize (as Dave did) that your plan isn't working and God's does. And furthermore, what could the people of God do for the kingdom of God if they were debt free and giving as we are called to do?

Yes, my toes were stepped on this morning. I've known several people who were Dave's disciples. Someone I worked with at Kroger. My friend Robert. A co-worker's of Leah's. And I've always said quite cynically, "Yeah, he wants you live in poverty for 50 years so that you'll be rich for 10 before you die." But he opened my eyes this morning. Or maybe a higher power did, I don't know. I'm not drowning in $20,000 in credit card debt. I'm not considering bankruptcy. Money isn't causing friction in my marriage. But neither am I happy with my current situation, and my management of God's money right now stinks. It might be hard, but some things are gonna change for the better.

. . .The borrower is servant to the lender. Prov 22:7

A Little Punky

Wow, I've had a busy week! Lots of overtime-type hours at work with a new server install and various application and workstation upgrades. Even this very blog getting censored by a large corporation.

But on a lighter note, I now feel really old. Punky Brewster just had a kid. Wow. Granted, she's only 3 years younger than me, but it still makes me feel very adult-ish. And might I say, if you overlook a tad bit of likeness to Cher, Punky is looking mighty fine these days.

Screwed U.P.

I am now a victim. I have recently stood on the sideline and watched that horrible process happen to other people (my mom, for one), but all along I knew that my day was coming. I really didn't worry about it too much, but as the day approached, I kinda wondered what the future held for me after it all happened. Of course, I'm talking about . . . bank mergers.

Recently, it was SunTrust gobbling up the NBC signs. No worries--I don't have a dog in that fight, as they say. But alas, the cows have come home to roost. My banking relationship of 8 years, Union Planters, entered that goofy "brand new but still the same" world of Regions. Last Friday was the official day of the new company.

Until then, about the only thing that had impacted us was new CheckCards in the mail. We were a little bit disappointed, because the old U.P. ones were very slick (figuratively, not literally) and cool looking. The new Regions ones are gray and boring; very normal. But alas, the merger hit me square between the eyes this weekend.

I must confess--I NEVER open a bank statement. I just sign on the website, checkbook in hand, and mark of the things that have cleared. Occasionally there will be a missing gas or ATM receipt, but we're pretty good at record-keeping. The cutoff date for online access at Union Planters was last Thursday. The first day to get onto Regions' site was Monday. In between, we had SOME idea what was going on, but not much. And here's the kicker--I hadn't marked off things in the checkbook for a week or two, and Regions imported BALANCES, but not history. So when I finally got my updated balance on Monday via Regions.com, I had no earthly idea what had cleared and what hadn't. Oops...Look there in the fine print of the "Welcome to Regions" transition guide that they sent: "History will not be transferred; we recommend that this be done prior to August 11th." Well, darn. I didn't.

Wednesday, the unthinkable happened. I got an abbreviated statement in the mail from Union Planters, with a cutoff date of last Friday. I guess I had to open the envelope--so THAT'S what they look like!!

Texas Hold On--Could You Explain That?

Poker is everywhere these days. Really. I think the last time we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, the World Series of Poker or something like that was on ESPN and thus on one or more of the big screen TV's. I've always tuned it out--no questions asked. Blackjack--I know and understand and could watch what was going on. But not poker, and especially not this insanely-popular Texas Hold 'Em variation. Earlier this year, Kroger even tried to capitalize on the trend (as did numerous other stores) by getting in some poker tabletop sets, chips and cards sets, etc. Once again, I just didn't understand the fascination of it all. Give me Spades, or Uno, or Phase 10. But Texas Hold 'Em--nope. Then, the whole "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it" thing started to set in.

It seems that the fine folks at Fox and Hound host poker tournaments on Thursday nights. No money to play or anything like that. They just give you some chips and you play in tournament-style til there's a winner in the whole place. This is obviously an INCREDIBLY smart idea on the managment's part--it brings people in in droves to spend money on fat bar tabs, and all they're out is a few card sets and some prizes. Anyway, several of my Kroger buddies go up there on Thursday--some to play and some to hang out--so last night I joined them just to engage in casual conversation and beverages. 7 tables x 8 people = 56 folks started playing cards. Plus some more waiting in a queue to replace those who go out first. Wow. So of course, I start asking questions. What about this? Why is he doing that? Suddenly, I'm learning why this game is said to be easy to learn but difficult to master. The premise is quite simple--you are dealt 2 cards, like blackjack, and there are 5 cards placed face up the middle of the table. Any combination of 5 from those 7 cards make your poker hand. But only 2 of those 5 belong exclusively to you--the other 3 are in the middle and can be also be claimed by everybody at the table. And sometimes, it just comes down to who has a higher card--kinda like "Battle" when you were 7.

Some guys at my office grab a quick take-out bite of lunch on Fridays and sit in a small conference room and play cards. Any guesses as to what they play? Yep. So being that I had kinda gotten my feet wet knowledge-wise last night, I decided to spectate today and see if I could follow along. Seems pretty simple. But definitely seems fun. Uh oh.

Anyway, I don't know where all this is gonna lead. But I also heard today that some husbands of some of Leah's co-workers get together once a week and have the proverbial poker night. Hmmmmmm.......I wonder what they play?! I may try to find some practice rounds, and start honing my skills.

Just Wandering

As I figured would be the case eventually, so much of my thoughts and activities seem to focus on the baby these days, it seems like I don't have much to say that isn't related to that subject matter. I find myself thinking about a topic every now and then, and thinking that it might be a good blog entry. But then I forget all about it, or have tons of things to do around the house or errands to run, and when I sit down to blog, I have no earthly idea what to write about. So here I sit.

Let's see........What's going on these days?
* A 42-year old teacher is in a bit of hot water for engaging in sexual flings with 3 17-year olds and a 16-year old. While I will acknowledge that is is totally inappropriate, and is indeed criminal behavior, I really hate hearing the kid being referred to as a victim and she as a rapist (Fox News Headline: NY Teacher Accused of Raping Boy). Hello........TWO TO TANGO!! I know that the crime book calls it statuatory rape, but a "rape" carries the connotation of someone forcibly and/or violently engaging in actions such as this against their victim's will. I'm guessing that two people meeting at a prearranged location to satisfy an urge doesn't fit this description. Wrong--yes. Illegal--yes. But I don't consider her a rapist, nor do I consider him a victim. Someone on a blog I read made a very good point--If 17-year olds are considered able to give their consent, and he was 1-month away from his 17th birthday, how does that change the equation? I'm not defending her--but this is VERY close to two consenting adults.

* For the first time in a few years, the Grizzlies seem to be actually addressing their postseason woes and making some significant roster changes. The Grizz have been the Bad News Bears of the playoffs, with one exception --the Bears finally won, didn't they?! I think the Grizz gained a notorious honor this last year--becoming the first team in NBA history to lose their first 8 games in the NBA playoffs. Yes, I'm very grateful that they've turned the franchise around and made it there, but getting escorted out in 4 games every year doesn't do much for your team either. Maybe this year will be different.

* If only I had a little bit of entrepreneur foresight . You see, the University of Memphis is promoting its star running back, Deangelo Williams, as a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. I'm sure it's a long shot at best, being that he doesn't play for a team like Michigan or Notre Dame or Tennessee that's on every TV in ever home and sports bar every single Saturday. But anyway, they sold a limited number of these nifty little 1:24 scale cars for $35 (which included shipping). On a whim, I check eBay the other day to see if there were any up for auction. Are you sitting down? There have been 5 auctions that have ended since 7/21, and the average closing price of those auctions was $148.20. Un-freakin-believeable. That means if I had purchased my limit of 2 and sold them for $148, my profit would've been $226--a profit of 645%.

* After the overwhelming success of it's "Employee Discount Program", GM has announced that it is slashing prices of some of its 2006 models. Their theory is that even though their "factory rebates of $2000-4000 could be counted on most of the time, a lot of people compare "apples to apples" with simple MSRP. All this is great news for folks shopping for 2006 models, but it certainly gives a kick in the crotch to the value of my 2004 model. We brought it brand new (my first brand new, 7-miles-on-the-odometer vehicle), and we vowed to pay it off and drive it til the wheels fall off. But it certainly is gonna be hard when a 3 or 4 year newer vehicle can be bought for LESS. But we'll see. I love my SUV, but Chevrolet is making it hard to love paying for it.

I guess that's all for now......Don't forget baby updates over at RussellBaby.com!!