Saturday 2/4/2012

What kind of craziness is it that American Express has "no preset spending limit"?!!!

I know you have to pay the entire amount charged every month, but what if someone decides to go on a spending spree with the intent of not paying it? Naaah, they must have some kind of built in system to identify a person doing such and stopping it before it goes out of control. 

I have had the card for a week, sitting there wondering whether I should activate it or not.  I am going to give it a try.  Use it for groceries and gas, if such places accept such cards and set a limit at $200 per month.  Use it only for things I would have used my debit card for and make sure I set that money aside as I charge it on the card.  Let the thing build up points for a while and then see if it's even worth having the thing or not.  I mean, really, that's the only thing this card is good for: building up points and using them for whatever you can get with them.  It is not a credit card, really, since you can't run a balance on terms with interest over time.  At least, that's how I see it.

Meanwhile, the fight is on.  Continue to have money taken out on a weekly basis, automatically, from checking account to savings account.  The battle?  To not touch the savings.  So far, I have managed not to do that.  But no guarantees, lol.  

And if I'm staying on this property - still haven't decided that one or not  yet - it is going to need more revenue generated from it.  I have toyed with this idea for a couple of years now but have done nothing about it.  That's because it isn't going to be exactly cheap to do, which is to build a small guest house otherwise known as a casita in these parts.  

Basically a kitchenette design with a living/bedroom area combined, a small kitchen and a small bathroom with shower only, no bathtub.  How many people take baths anyway.  Lots, I'm sure, but no-one that lives in this house takes baths, only showers.  Anyway, I can build one for about 5k if I do most of the work myself. Would take less than a year to pay itself back. I'm going to start looking at plans on the internet - have to have a set of plans to build anything in this city and pay for a permit, too - and start calculating what it will cost.  

Caleb knocked on my bedroom door last night, just as I was going to go to bed.

He had some news for me.  

He has decided that in the next month or two, he is going to quit his job and go volunteer at the Salvation Army church that he goes to.  

How is he going to survive, you ask? My son is going to college, full-time.  I told him long ago that he can stay with me as long as he is either going to school or working or both.  He isn't quitting college.  

Don't slam the boy, but if you feel you must, I don't want it written in any comments on this entry or anywhere else on my blog. I have felt since last year when he had that encounter with the Lord that he is called to the ministry and I will fully support him in that.  

He will have a place to sleep; he already has a computer tied with my in-home Wi-Fi; I will make sure he has food to eat and he will still have a car to drive.

However, he is going to have to start to explore the world of "living by faith".  It isn't a concept.  It's a reality that I have lived in the past in trusting the Lord to meet your every need even though there is no foreseeable way for that to occur.  As a missionary, I remember, at first, going for extended periods of time without any money.  Not even a dime to my name.  My needs were met, but I had no spending money.  Over time, I had money coming in the mail and was able to do whatever I needed in terms of feeding myself and buying clothes and such. 

But there are many, many times  when I had nothing and was wondering where my next meal was coming from. The Lord never let me down on that.  NEVER.  And I will never complain about or regret those days of the time spent serving the Lord full time on the missionary field - at least my own experience.  I have said some things about the leadership that was - full of it - of the organization I was with - but that's an entirely different.

From what I can see, Caleb is called to the ministry and he will eventually find that calling and he will, undoubtedly, spend his life serving the Lord.  Whether that's as a pastor, an evangelist, a travelling missionary, who knows.  Only God knows that and it will be exciting, at least for me, to see where this all leads to.  He is taking a first step, on his own, without anyone telling him he needs to do so. 

So yes, while he is still with me, I will help him with some things but not all.  I want to see him take some steps in faith and let him learn on his own what it is like to ask the Lord for whatever you need and hopefully see those requests answered in whatever way the Lord chooses.  This is the kind of thing that grows faith.  After a while, it becomes more like knowledge: I know the Lord is going to provide for me, even though there is no way in the natural realm that that is going to happen as far as I can see. God is greater, He isn't broke and He owns everything! 

So I am going to encourage him in this endeavor.

Today?  Going to buy the other vent I need for the trailer roof and stop by the Chinese buffet on the way back.  Oh, so wonderful food.  I have never had budget Chinese food at a buffet that is THIS good!  I don't do it often, but this is my birthday weekend, so what the hey.  

I got my frozen Standing Rib Roast out this morning. I waited a bit long on deciding whether to cook it for my birthday tomorrow.  I hope that it being out long enough will thaw it sufficiently.  

Tomorrow: My birthday and Superbowl Sunday. There isn't much doubt in my mind who is going to win this particular Superbowl, but I do hope the Giants at least put up a good fight, cause' a blowout Superbowl sucks, really.  I do hope the roast is thawed by then, but if it isn't totally thawed, no worries, just takes longer to cook, start it a bit earlier.  Yes, been there done that - like the turkey I cooked last weekend.  It took 1-1/2 extra hours to cook because it wasn't completely thawed, but it turned out delicious : )

Done for now.

G'day.

ben