Christian Financial Resources to Get Organized in the New Year

If tax season has you concerned about what is going on with your finances, help is here!

We found a web site that is packed full of the Top 50 Christian Business and Finance Blogs that will help you understand how to organize your own personal finances, get out of debt, set up college funds, save for retirement, invest, understand legalese of financial issues and much more.

Some of these resources include:

• ChristianPF.com: This site gives advice on everything from credit card tips, building personal wealth to banking tips. Also be sure to check out the “Money in the Bible” category to help you see your priorities more clearly.
• Gather by Little: Use simple Bible tips to help you increase your personal wealth, “little by little.”
• Why Religion is an Important Part of Personal Finance: Read articles about how to save money by cutting costs in unlikely places.
• Christian Finance Blog: Browse categories like taxes, retirement, emergency fund, and more. This blog gives great financial advice that is “relevant to today?s Christian.” Don?t forget to check out the verse of the day!
• Free Money Finance: Find tons of helpful resources on this blog inlcuding saving for your kids? college tuition, holiday spending trends, and Biblical investing.
• Fallible.com: Katy McKenna Raymond writes about her personal Christian experiences often touching on money and finance.
• Good Sense Ministry: Learn about the financial and spiritual benefits of stewardship.
• Crown Financial Ministries: This site gives valuable information on organizing and understanding your money.

This is one page you will want to bookmark and refer to often!

Free Book Offer of “Heaven is Real”

Cecil Murphy is the author or co-author of hundreds of books including, “90 Minutes in Heaven” with Don Piper (which is available in the Rest Ministries
bookstore – it’s a great book!)

This week his assistant, Twila, shared that “Cec’s books are taking over my world! That’s good news for you.”

Her offer?

If you purchase a copy of Cec’s newest gift book, Words of Comfort for Times of Loss: Help and Hope When You’re Grieving for $11, I will give you a hardback copy of Heaven Is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy–What Happened After 90 Minutes in Heaven (by Cecil an Don Piper, author of 90 Minutes in Heaven)

This is a $22 value free and good only while supplies last. (These will go fast!)

You may want to read these yourselves or donate them to your church library, a grief support group, a ministry, or give them to a friend. Contact Twila at twila@gottatellsomebody.com or 563-332-1622.

Cold Hands? Try a Heated Computer Mouse

Brrrrrr. . . it will just getting to you? If you’re sitting at your computer desk with cold hands trying to type, and yet you are trying to conserve and not turn up the heat, this inexpensive heated computer mouse and other accessories may be just the ticket.

According to the company warmmouse.com:

The Warm Computer Mouse is a new product by ValueRays(TM) and available online. A Warm Mouse uses infrared heat to create a soothing deep penetrating warmth to your mouse hand. Infrared heat warm mouse improves blood circulation and relieve tension and stress to the mouse hand.

The Warm Computer Mouse retails for just $25.95, which is around the same price range as most computer mice. There is also a heated, warm mouse, heated, warm mouse pad, a heated, warm keyboard pad and a fleece mouse hand warmer blanket pouch to house the warm mouse and warm mouse pad.

You can find them all at IGM Products .

Most are connected to the computer with a USB port using a low 5v electrical current.

IGM Products state:

The heated computer mouse, heated mouse pad and heated keyboard pad are made using a carbon fiber. Carbon fibers create infrared heat. Infrared heat has healing qualities making the time the user spends holding the warm computer mouse therapeutic in nature. Studies reveal a minimum of 20-30 minutes daily of infrared therapy has healing effects.

So, what do you think? If you decide to try it let us know by coming back and writing a review!

Share Your Used Christian Books!

Love Packages collects them and sends them to English-speaking countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

They received nearly 8 tons of items last year that were used to change lives! Books can be sent to Butler, Illinois, or call the ministry to see if a truck is in your area. They send them all over the country.

Mail a REAL Letter Using Free Web Service

If you did not get those Christmas letters out, or were unable to drive to the post office in December because of crazy weather, here is an easy way to mail a real letter — paper, not e-mail!

Go to TheMailMonster.com and type your letter. It will be printed out and actually mailed to the address you submit first-class, all within 24 hours for free. How is it free?

Local advertisers may include an ad, and then they pick up the cost. But if getting to the post office can be difficult for you this is a great way to send a personal note without any expense or need for transportation.

And all our Aussie friends will be glad to know it’s free in not just the United States but Australia too.

How Being “Tolerant” Can Ruin Your Health

Start Your New Year Right by Eliminating These Common Energy-Drainers

by Mary Yerkes

My desk is messy. My clothes don’t fit. The dog needs grooming. Life coaches agree that people zap their energy and increase their stress by putting up with a multitude of things that bug them, what life coaches call “tolerations.” And for the chronically ill, lingering stress can translate into increased pain. So, why not start your New Year right by identifying—and then eliminating—those things that deplete your energy and dampen your spirit.

Here are four common tolerations, along with practical suggestions for addressing them or eliminating them from your life:

Health Tolerations

If you live with chronic illness, you probably realize there are some things you just can’t control. But what about the things you can? Why add to your distress by eating too much junk food, not taking your prescribed medication, or failing to do your exercises, designed to increase your range of motion or reduce your pain?

Take a few minutes and write down your health goals. Just make sure they’re realistic. Don’t set a goal of jogging three miles a day when you struggle to walk to the curb each day to pick up the day’s mail. When making your list, make sure your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. A goal of eating healthier this year is too vague, but eating five serving of vegetables a day is SMART.

Environmental Tolerations

It’s hard to keep on top of housework and home repairs when you’re in constant pain and struggling to make it on one income. But, let’s be honest. If you feel well enough to sit at your desk and work, couldn’t you take a few extra minutes to clear that pile of papers from your desk so you could actually see your computer screen?

But what about bigger projects around the house that you can’t do yourself?

If finances are tight and you can’t afford to hire someone to tackle larger projects, barter your services instead. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, offer to create a brochure for your neighbor’s new business in exchange for shoveling the snow off your walk.

You get the idea.

People Tolerations

Face it. Some people are just toxic. They consistently say hurtful things like, “But you look so good!” or “You really should try harder to get to church on Sunday.” They chide you for canceling at the last minute and raise their eyebrows when you serve a store bought cake for your child’s birthday party instead of making one yourself. If you’re chronically ill, limit your contact with people like this.

It’s a little more difficult if you’re dealing with toxic family members. To maintain your sanity and preserve your health, learn to maintain appropriate boundaries. To better understand how to set healthy boundaries, I recommend reading, Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

Spiritual Tolerations

Are there areas in your spiritual life you need to address? Do you struggle with unforgiveness or harbor resentment or bitterness toward your spouse or children for failing to understand your pain, help with the housework, or give you the emotional support you need?

Nothing will rob your joy or sap your strength more quickly than unforgiveness. Don’t tolerate sin in your life for one more day. God’s Word tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).” Help is just a prayer away.

The benefits you’ll gain from identifying and removing tolerations from your life are significant. You’ll be amazed at what a difference it will make.

So, start the New Year right by making room in your life for what matters most.

Life Coach Mary Yerkes specializes in helping the chronically ill live abundant lives in Christ. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis in 1997, Mary understands the challenges of living with chronic pain and illness. Her greatest joy is seeing people set free to love and serve God with all their heart, mind, and soul. Mary is also an author, speaker, and contributor to popular Christian print and online magazines, including Focus on the Family, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, and On Mission Magazine. Visit www.newlifechristiancoaching.com and www.maryyerkes.com to learn more.

What Was Life Like in 1902?

We may not be all that happy with our current circumstances, but let’s take a look back at 1902.

• 90% of U.S. physicians had no college education; Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as substandard.
• 14% of the homes had a bathtub
• Average life expectancy was 47
• The five leading causes of death in the US were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

• Most women only washed their hair once a month—with borax or egg yolks
• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented yet.
• Only 14 percent of the homes in the US had a bathtub.
• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
• One in ten US adults couldn’t read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Eat Out w/ Kids and Save Money

If your family likes to go out for the occasional meal but you don’t want to spend $10 for your child to have a hamburger and fries you may want to log on first to this web site, www.KidsEatFor.

In just a few minutes you can locate all the restaurants in your city where kids eat free on certain days.

Just type in your address or zip code and click the search button and you’ll find all of the nearby restaurants that offer specials where kids can eat a meal for free, often times when an adult meal is also purchased.

KidsEatFor is available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Another site to check out is kidsmealdeals.com

Compare Food Fast and Easily

REWRITE: TwoFoods is a nice online tool for those who are calorie conscious and would love to know the nutritional value their food has to offer. The website has a simple interface showing two boxes where you could enter names of two eatables and compare their nutritional values. It gives you comparison table showing the calories, proteins, carbohydrates and fat in both of them. Now you know which one you should prefer.

Is This Food Still Safe?

Are you looking at those containers of Thanksgiving leftovers and wondering… “Hmmm… is this food sI hate throwing food away. As I toss jars and bottles into the trash I feel a sense of guilt over the money being wasted, but when you are cleaning the refrigerator out my theory is “if in doubt, throw it out.” The last thing I need on top of a chronic illness is food poisoning. Half the time the expiration date on the jar is no longer visible.

Here is a web site that can be helpful: StillTasty.com

Not only can it tell you how long you should keep certain leftovers, it can help you plan ahead for those times when you don’t feel like cooking by making sure your meal or dessert will still be safe (and yummy!) to eat. For example, an unbaked peach pie can go in the freezer up to 2-4 month.  But a baked pie can be in the freezer 6-8 months. I would have thought it would be better to have it unbaked. Who knew?

If you pull out that pasta leftover from a few days ago and your way of testing is to smell it, you should check out StillTasty.

They also provide information on the best way to store food and how to actually interpret expiration dates.

Search by product name or browse site by food type like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish, etc. They have an excellent Q/A section and you can submit your own questions too.

For example:

• Can You Safely Reuse Marinade?
• Can You Safely Eat Chicken That’s Been Frozen for Two Years?
• I Forgot to Refrigerate Food — Will Reheating Make it Safe?
• If Raw Beef Gets Dark is it Still Safe?
• Is Canned Tuna Still Safe After the “Best By” Date?
  

Here’s to safer eating!

-ljc

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