New Year, No Debt, But Same Old Problems

Well it has definitely been a long time since I deemed it necessary to blog. Sometimes I don't feel like I have a whole lot of worth to say. Today's really no different, but whether it is of worth or not, I shall spew forth verbiage.

So the income tax return is in. Which means we get to pay off our credit card and medical bill debt. Definitely a good thing. The down side to that is that we will not have much left over for savings or for play. But at least we are starting out the New Year with a clean slate. If only we can keep it that way.

See, here's the deal. Sarah is no longer babysitting for my co-worker as of this month, which is a loss in income of about $400. The debt paid off amounts to a monthly payment of around $100 to $150. So, still a bit of a shortage there.

Why did she quit? Well...see the whole reason Sarah stays home in the first place is to be there for our home, and our family. When she was sitting, it seemed like she had to push back giving our kids the attention they craved for the little one she was watching. This is not what we had in mind.

You know, I realize that a family has to make sacrifices in order to make ends meet sometimes. But I am not willing to sacrifice my children, their security, and well-being, for a few extra dollars per month.

But! Again, we are free of debt. The only "frivolous" expense we have are the cell phones, and that is our only line of communication. We have no cable, no internet. We need to crack down on the "bubble gum" expenses. Other than that, we try very hard to live within our means.

We do have a house payment. But it's like $750 a month. Even if we weren't buying a house, we'd be paying around that much for rent anyway.

So why am I writing? I don't know. Getting it off my chest. Trying to write to exercise those muscle. You know...same old same old.

The truth is...I am a little nervous. But God is working on me...and I know that He provides. He has never failed us. We have never gone without. It will be interesting to see if we can do this without trusting in credit, but solely trusting in Him.

And I think that's why I am writing. For those of you who pray, pray with me, pray for me. Pray that I will trust God and allow Him to do amazing things. Pray that He brings opportunities our way, that He will make this a fruitful year for my job. (There are other reasons to pray this, but that is the subject of another post.)

Will you pray with us, for us? I hope you do! And I will try to be diligent in posting praise.

Guitar Hero

Okay, so our nephew got a ps3 and gave Josh a lot of his ps2 game stuff. One of the things he shared with us was guitar hero. Never knew what the hype was all about. Then on the 4th of July some friends from our small group were having a get together at their house and we played guitar hero. It was SO fun. We were trying to rock out to Beat It. I was a little nervous cause I had never played before, but it was SO fun. So Sunday night Josh and I got out the guitar hero our nephew gave us and have had so much fun playing. I love watching him rock out like a rockstar! Does anyone know if they make a guitar hero game that has songs that would be okay to let kids play? Ours has songs that are okay, but some don't always have the most kid friendly lyrics. We just let the kids practice where it has the music, but no words.

Summer is going by so fast. Both my babies will be in school next year. (Jack reminds me that he is not a baby anymore, that he is a big boy now.) Jack's starting in Pre-K and Bella is going to kindergarten. Jack's teacher is the one Bella had last year and she is amazing. We love her. Bella is a little nervous cause she's not sure what teacher she will be getting. She loves to learn but is affraid she might get the teacher she would hear yelling last year. Any suggestions? She's our first kid and even though she's not a baby or toddler anymore, she's still our first child. So, we've never been through any of this stuff before.

A couple of weeks ago I started babysitting for one of Josh's co-workers. She has a sweet baby boy who is three months old. She really wants to stay home with him. She is hoping that in a year she will be able to. It's a little different adding a baby to the mix, but it has been fun. Bella and Jack love him and are SO good with him and patient when I have to feed him and they have to wait. I am so proud of them.

Josh has vacation coming up at work that he is very ready for. I'm thankful for him to have some time to rest and sleep in. He works hard and takes good care of us. I am thankful that he wants me to stay home with our kids even though it means him working on Friday and Saturday nights at pizza hut. He gets to bring home stuff sometimes so that is always nice. And he's met some interesting people there too.

Well that's about all for an update. Hopefully I will update again sooner rather than later.

Almost Summer

So, we survived the swine flu freak out, yeah! Bella's school closed for a week, but they were back at school this week. I can't believe the school year is almost over. I know Bella is looking forward to sleeping in and hanging out in her pj's. Jack already gets to hang out in his pj's. We went outside to play today and when we came back in, he put his pj's right back on.

Josh and I are looking forward to a date night soon. We miss our college girls who came to babysit. Ya'll were amazing and loved! Bella still remembers her sweet babysitters and asks why they can't come over anymore. It is so weird living in a small town, not a college town. We got to have a date night not too long ago. Our church hosted a marriage conference. It was really good. It talked a lot about the different ways that men communicate vs. the different ways women communicate. We had a really good time and learned a lot.

This summer I'm gonna start babysitting. I'm a little nervous, it will be for an infant. He is a cutie! We got to hang out with him a little the other day. Bella and Jack are excited. Bella wants to read to him and Jack wants to play toys with him. I hope it goes well. I'm more nervous about watching him when he is a toddler, that being such a training time. If anyone has any advice it would be welcomed.

Well that's about all for right now. I really need to try and get some updated pictures on here. We just got Bella's school pictures and soccer pictures, too cute. Jack loves to have his picture taken too. Josh, not so much. Me, not so much, but I think we have some recent ones of us too. Take care all!

Time Flies

Wow! I really haven't blogged in a long time. Things have gone so fast this year! Bella started Pre-K and has loved it! She loves having her little friends and her teacher is amazing. She has learned so much too. She get started soccer and gets to see some of her friends from her class there too. She is a little nervous, but she does a really good job. Bella got her ears pierced about a month ago and was so brave. She didn't even cry. We are so proud of her.

Jack just turned 4 this week. My little baby boy is growing so fast! He loves to play outside and has help me get a garden started. He loves to play with his superheros. He just got a lightsaber for his birthday and has enjoyed playing with that. He loves to sit and read books and is a little cuddle bug.

Josh and I are doing pretty well too. :)

Well, I would write more but the library is about to close.
Sarah

What I am Doing this Sunday

Blogging At Last!

I have a little time at the library by myself, so I get to blog, very exciting! Josh told me he posted about June 8. I am very excited! It really has been a long time coming. When I was younger, I "got saved" cause I didn't want to go to hell. Or at least I thought I got saved. Good reason, but my life didn't really change. I wanted to live how I wanted to live and used the Bible when it was convinent for me, like in proving a point. Anyway, when I got to college the Lord put people in my life who were really living for Christ, who had a relationship with him. He also took some people out of my life. And during that time I was really able to meet with the Lord and get in His word. One night some people from small group were going to a concert, (I actually almost didn't go). Anyway, there was some great music there and then they had a speaker. The speaker was sharing about Christ and about sin and about how sin, my sin, put Him on that cross. I think for the first time I really got that, or as much as anyone can comprehend what Christ did. I remember being broken and crying and just asking for forgiveness. I believe in my heart that that is when I asked Christ into my heart. Things in my life that had once been a struggle started to not be. Not that I was perfect, but I was and am forgiven. I had tried to change things and they never did until after that night. I got into the word and enjoyed it so much and just wanted to spend time with the Lord.

So, baptism. I had always thought I was saved when I was younger, but after writing our testimonies in a small group, I really don't think so. But I had been baptized when I was younger and since I thought I had been saved when I was younger I didn't think I needed to.

I struggled with if I was saved and baptized when I was younger, than I didn't need to again. But, after really looking at my life, I didn't come into a relationship with Christ until that night in college. So, on June 8th, I get to show a picture of what happened in my heart those many years ago. I know that baptism doesn't save you. It's a relationship with Christ and faith in Him for salvation. It will be nice to just be obiedient.

I hope that everyone in blog land is well. We miss you guys so much. We are starting to make some friends and meet people, which is nice. We love our home and are thankful for how close we are to Josh's work. It has been a little bit of a culture shock. I grew up in Ft.Worth/Arlington, but never really considered myself to be a city girl. I guess there is more city in my than I thought. We love our small little town though. The schools here are really good. And, it has been so good to be close to our family. We have really enjoyed getting to see more of them.

Well, 'til next time!

Mark Your Calendars

As of April 06, 2008, the Campbell family has become a part of the Grace Fellowship Church in Paradise, TX family. We took the membership class on that day. After hearing everything the pastor had to say, and realizing how much we agreed with their vision and mission, we knew this was were God has called us to be. When we attended the membership class at Denton Bible, we did not feel the call to be a part of that body.

But let me just tell you...ever since moving up to this area, a little over a year ago, even when I was still staying with Sarah's mom, GFC has been brought to my attention. When I was calling around for lots to put the trailer on, one of the ladies I spoke with mentioned GFC. Two of my co-workers attend there. And the small group pastor came into the branch one day.

I wish I could send you a copy of their class book...just so you all can see how similar they are to LH. It's almost uncanny. And we love it. We are looking forward to finding a place to serve. We already have a small group lined up to attend, in Alvord, no less.

But you know, all this is not why I want you to mark your calendars. On June 8th, in between 6pm and 9pm, Sarah Campbell will be getting baptized at GFC in Paradise. That's right, Sarah's getting dunked!

The course of this has been long in coming. Just know that Sarah has wondered for quite some time when she actually accepted Christ. She was unsure of whether or not she came to Him when she was a kid, or when she was in college. I think she has come to the conclusion that it was in college. So...since that point in time, she has not been obedient to the Lord in baptism, and she's going to rectify that on June 8th. So...I know it's a Sunday. I know summer is a crazy time. But any of you readers out here in blog land would like to come celebrate with us on June 8th...well, we'd love to have you.

You can email me at joshua.david.campbell@citi.com if you want more info.

See ya later!