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Remembering Brings a Blessing
God's people have been forgetful from the beginning and we can be, too. Life just gets so busy it is hard to stay focused long enough to remember what matters most. If we are not careful, we can live our life without much thought of the past that shaped us or of those who have gone before us to give us a better life. This is what makes Memorial Day such an important holiday to [...]
Holiday Greeting – Mindfulness and Memorial Day
If you’ve ever composed a grocery list in your head while driving carpool and listening to your children discuss who got in trouble at school and why, then you know what it’s like to have your attention divided. If you’ve ever worked on a PowerPoint presentation while listening to a conference call and eating lunch, then you know what it’s like to have your attention divided. If you’ve ever watched television while playing a [...]
Holiday Greeting – 10 Reasons Moms are Important
Mother’s Day is almost here! We all have moms and, whether they gave birth to us or not, they have helped us become the people we are today. Here are 10 reasons moms are so important, adapted from Psychology Today:1 1. She gave birth to you. 2. She provided essential emotional support. 3. She helped you heal physically and emotionally. 4. She strived to give you a better life. 5. She can be forgiving, and [...]
How to Stay Up When the Market is Down
It seems the market continues to get our attention as it rises and falls in a random rhythm. Seasoned investors rise the waves with confidence - this territory is not unfamiliar. But still sometimes it can be unnerving to see such volatility in a market when it is where our future lies. How do we stay up when the market is down? Research A little research at what economists are saying reveals that earnings in [...]
Knowledge is Power, Especially When It Comes to Money
Understanding family attitudes towards money may improve financial decisions and reduce financial stress. Understanding family attitudes towards money may improve financial decisions and reduce financial stress. People inherit more from their parents and grandparents than big feet, eye color, self-discipline, a passion for sports, or an artistic bent. Most also assume their families’ ideas and attitudes toward money. Money beliefs are often passed down from generation to generation, along with great grandma’s quilts, ancestral photos, [...]
LifeStyle Newsletter – Life in the Future
Technology is a life changer. GPS has improved interpersonal relations by eliminating arguments about asking for directions. Apps for car services, food delivery, video streaming, news media, and social media have changed the way we travel, eat, learn, and communicate. And, that’s just the top of the tech iceberg! Last year, Pew Research asked Americans, “What would you say was the biggest improvement to life in America over the past 50 years or so?” The top [...]
Counting the Costs of Discipleship
Looking toward Calvary, our Savior knew the costs of His sacrifice. He felt it deeply. Every pain, every step He took, was agonizing, but He also knew what He was achieving with such a high cost - the salvation of the world. Sometimes we can forget the cost of our salvation and take for granted the greatest gift of all. We grow accustomed to our way of life and the busyness of life can [...]
Home is Wherever You Make It
“There’s no place like home.”1 Conjuring an image of ‘home’ was a lot easier for Dorothy than it is for people who are on the cusp of retirement. After all, isn’t retirement supposed to be a new start? Aren’t retirees supposed to wave goodbye to friends and family as they head for new adventures in warmer climates? Shouldn’t the latter decades of life be spent traveling in golf carts down palm-lined streets and tipping [...]
Holiday Greeting – St. Patrick and the Irish
It’s almost time to don green and gold. That’s right, March 17 is upon us. There’s more to the holiday, however, than eating corned beef and cabbage and celebrating the Irish. For instance, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, but he was not Irish. Patrick was born in Britain and was enslaved in Ireland for several years. When he was a teenager, he escaped and later returned to Ireland, where he used [...]
Two Ideas Worth Thinking About When Markets are Moving
Here’s a number most people would like to see on an annual statement: 21.6 percent. That was the annual return for the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 Index during 2017. In general, U.S. stock indices did quite well last year – and the year before, too. For instance, the S&P 500 Index was up 11.8 percent in 2016.1 While no one can invest directly in an index, recent returns make it easy to understand [...]
Nurturing The Root of Financial Harmony in Your Home
She wants to buy new dinnerware to replace the old, chipped, mismatched set worn from many years of use. He wants a new lawn mower to replace the one he has to keep fixing. And the kids "need" new clothes. Who gets their way? How do we find financial harmony in a world of endless financial demands? It's not necessarily a materialistic bent that creates the wants in our financial plans. The law of [...]
Holiday Greeting – It’s Almost Valentine’s Day
If you’re looking for a gift that will express your love better than chocolates or a bouquet of flowers, don’t fret. Trendhunter.com has some innovative and unconventional suggestions: • Literary love tattoos. Perhaps, you’d like Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Love consists of this: two solitudes that meet, protect, and greet each other” scrolling your ribs or Victor Hugo’s “Life is a flower of which love is the honey” tickling your shoulder blades.1 • Temporary tattoo alternatives. If [...]
