There's a new game in town.

Bean and Lou, our daughters, have made up a new card game.  It's a game with rules all their own ... you know, the kind where you can change the rules at any time so long as the other player agrees.

And if you're the oldest player, it's possible to change the rules at any time, whether the younger sister objects or not.  ;)

Though they've tried to explain the game in detail to me, the point of it still escapes me.   I'm not even sure if it's a game that you can win or lose.  But, they love this game and have even taught a neighbor girl how to play.

So, why blog about it here?

Because one object of the game is to not go into debt.  They make piles on top of a row of cards and these piles are your "debt".  How one goes into debt or gets out of debt makes no sense to me... but I love that the object is to not go into debt!

So what did they name their game?

You probably already guessed it, but they call it, "Dave Ramsey"!

Oh, how I love them!

Livin' like no one else is hard to do...

"Live like no one else so that one day you can live like no one else"... Dave Ramsey's voice echos in my head.  Some days that's all I need to strengthen my resolve, it literally allows me to put my head up high, throw my shoulders back and smile at what's to come.  Then other days it becomes a whiny little mantra in my head that I stumble over and become resentful of and I trip over my desire of the here and now.

Press on!

I'm finding the longer that this journey of financial freedom goes on the less excited our support people are ... as if to say, "That was okay for a time, but this is getting a little old."  And if they think it's getting old for them, I just want to shake them and says, "Hey, this ain't no picnic for me lady!!"

We are in a battle.  While we battle our own wills to do what we want, when we want (aka right now) we are also battling other issues of time.  And so it seems like time has become the one resource we need more than money to pay off our debt.

With five turkeys, an active church life, Turkey Bottom Haven, homeschooling, helping two other families with their finances, and numerous odd jobs for Hotsauce we are stretched thin.  Not to mention his full-time job (that has weird hours for two weeks out of five) and my regular household duties and just regular old life we have little time for much else. 

It seems to me that nothing really ever gets accomplished.

Nothing ever gets done.

For instance, we signed our oldest son up for Tiger Cubs.  Talk about a bad year to make that decision.  His meetings never fall at a "good" time, but instead always seem to conflict with a ministry opportunity or an opportunity to make a financial gain.  For instance, last night was his awards night and it got missed because Hotsauce is remodeling a bathroom for a really great price (more per day then he makes at his day job) and in the shuffle of getting that job Hotsauce didn't see an email from the Pack Leader about awards night. 

But, even if he had I'm not sure that things would have changed much.  We are determined to pay off our debt.  It is our conviction that debt is sinful.   We believe that God has forgiven us for the sin that brought us to this place.  Yet, there is always consequences for sin and we must take responsibility for those consequences.  Right now, that means that we have to give up some things that we'd really like to do.

I'm also looking for the sunshine in the consequences.  Hotsauce is really great at seeing sunshine, rainbows and puppy dogs while I just see a glimmer of hope.  He inspires me to keep fighting the good fight! 

It would be appropriate for me to highlight some of the things I'm thankful for in the midst of this battle!  Did you notice in this blog that I mentioned that we are helping two other families with their finances?  Who in a million years would have ever thought that we would be giving good solid advice to people about handing their money??  No one in their right mind would have asked us how to budget a mere seven and a half months ago!  Isn't God so good to use imperfect vessels? 

I'm also thankful for this side job that Hotsauce has gotten.  He did some work for a neighbor, who recommended him for this job putting in a tub surround.  Last night was his first night and while there the gentleman that he's doing the remodel for decided to hire him to do some tile work in the bathroom as well! And before the night was over it was determined that Hotsauce would also put in a wood floor for them!  How faithful is  God to us?? 

How have you been doing in your journey to get out of debt, build wealth, and help others?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to court we go!

On Wednesday we were back in court trying to recoup the money owed to us for our rental house.  If you're unsure of what I'm talking about you can go here to read about our wonderful renters of old.

This time we made sure that we had done everything right.  Hotsauce poured over the Iowa Code Sections to make sure that everything was done by the book.

You bet your bottom that we sent our former renters a copy of the damages and the estimated amounts that were owed to us... both by regular mail and certified mail.  That list was itemized and exact.  And it was long!

When all was said and done they owed us for back rent for the month of February and 8 days of March, they owed past due amounts, they owed for damages to the house and for the labor to fix it all.  In all we determined that owed us $2,970.07.  Of course they had paid a deposit of $400 upon moving in so that dropped the total to a mere $2,570.07.

That's a lot of money kids.

We arrived at court with our girls in attendance.  Joy, the former renter, also arrived just in the nick of time. And let me tell you it was disgusting.

It's very hard to sit and listen to someone out and out lie.  And then in the midst of their lying to accuse you of destroying the house yourself (you know, because we're trying to sell it and want her to pay for all of remodeling we're trying to get done).

After all was said and done the judge said that he would review everything and take it under advisement and that we would hear back on his ruling in 2-3 weeks.

As we left the courtroom with our girls we were able to hold our heads high knowing that we told the truth.  And as we climbed into our truck and left town Hotsauce began praying.  He prayed that we would get what we deserved and that Joy would get what she deserved.  He acknowledged that God is in control of all things and that He could do whatever He wanted.

His prayer also proved to me what a great man I married.  Because I was really hoping that the girls would be preoccupied and we could start blasting that woman and her lying tongue!  Ah, but he continually points me heavenward, reminding me to set my mind on things above and not on earthly things!

Today as I went to get the mail I noticed that we received a letter from the courthouse.  Not knowing what to expect I cautiously tore open the envelope to find that the judge had made his ruling much sooner than expected.

While we were not awarded the full amount the judge did grant in our favor!  I believe that God granted Ben's prayer and we were awarded what He saw fit.  We are very excited to get past this and now are praying that they will pay what they owe and that we will never have to see them in court again!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and supported us along the way!  Please keep praying that all of this will be paid and resolved quickly!

As if.

Ugh.  You've all seen the pictures of our house in West Union. Disaster doesn't begin to describe it and I just want to be done.  I don't want to spend time on Hotsauce's day off to clean that house... AGAIN!!

It's really, really, really discouraging!  This will be the third floor that we've put into the kitchen.  That's a lot of money... not to mention that the hall and the bathroom need new floors too.

The whole house needs paint.  Not to mention the walls need to be mudded and sanded.

When need to replace two interior doors, a light fixture, lots of trim and we're rebuilding the cabinet under the kitchen sink, because mold isn't a great feature in a home you're trying to sell.

But, you know all this.

I must say that the last time when we went to the house and started busting out the tile floor with hammers and pry bars that I actually enjoyed myself.  It helped relieve some of the stress!  I also felt like I was contributing to the project.

Today there wasn't much for me to do.

So I cried.

Or maybe I didn't do much today because I was crying?

I know fussing, pouting, crying etc. doesn't go over well for my children, but I gave it a shot today.  Turns out that it doesn't fix anything... and neither do I!

It's so frustrating to pour so much money into a house to try to sell it and not have it sell.  So we find renters for the time being and only charge them enough to pay the rent, insurance and taxes and they destroy it.

It's so very frustrating to be in the midst of taking care of our own debt and striving to honor God in that decision only to have this major set back.

I felt like laying on the living room floor and kicking my feet and screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO PUT MY MONEY INTO THIS HOUSE WHEN I COULD PUT IT INTO FIXING MY OWN!!!!!!"

In the midst of throwing my little HUGE fit a very wise and loving man told me that God cares for us, He cares for our situation and He has always provided mightily for us.  He stopped work on the house and had us all join in a circle to pray, asking God for what seems like a miracle... that our work wouldn't be in vain and that the house would finally sell.

Wouldn't it be great if I always had faith?  Even just a smidgen?  I've seen God at work so many times before... I've seen the miracles that he has performed in my own life and yet a little work and a little bit of money and I'm seeing mountains.

As if God can't make a man out of the dirt.
As if God can't part seas.
As if God can't make bread fall from the skies.
As if God can't make a donkey speak.
As if God can't tear down walls with trumpet blasts and a shout.
As if God can't make the sun and the moon stand still.
As if God can't cause Armies to win by throwing hailstones.
As if God can't heal a woman by having her touch the cloak of Jesus.
As if God can't make wine out of water.
As if God can't roll the stone away.

As if.

As if a few hundred dollars, some broken doors and a new floor will ruin us.
As if all is lost.

Oh, me of little faith.

That's my girl!!

We received a less than normal tax return this year.  Hotsauce wisely made some changes at the beginning of 2012 so that we would receive more of our money during the year instead of lending it to the government.

That being said, it was still a very nice return. :)

We decided to budget our return before we wasted it... in years past Hotsauce and I would both make separate plans and then get mad at the other one for not knowing what the other was thinking!!  Another thing that I would do would be to drop hints of things that I "needed" ... aka new shoes, a dishwasher, always leather furniture, and who knows what else.  Hotsauce would agree that these would be great things to do if we paid off this bill or that bill first.  Once the money was deposited all bets were off and since there was no real plan our tax return was nickeled and dimed away.

Maybe you've been there?

Well, not this year.  Every dollar is budgeted.  Not all of it for something fun... but not all of it for the debt snowball either.

One plan that Hotsauce had was to bless each child with $50.  This budgeting stuff is hard and they have had to miss out on some fun things.  So shouldn't they get the chance to have some money of their own to decide how they'd like to spend it?

Hotsauce walked in from the bank carrying the cash in his hand.  Emma spied it immediately and asked (jokingly) if she could have some.  You should have seen her face when her daddy handed her a fifty dollar bill. 

That was fun.

Word spread fast.  And soon others were asking if they too could have some.  As this played out, Hannah, the oldest, wasn't asking if she could have some.  On the contrary she looked rather disturbed, as though she might start crying.

I asked her if she was going to ask Daddy for some money and she shrugged her shoulders and turned her face away from me.

Something was wrong with this kid.

When we pressed a little harder she started crying... she gets that from her mom... and finally she said that she didn't want the money.

We tried guessing why she didn't want it, worried that she might be concerned that we needed it more than she did... but no that wasn't it either.  So why wouldn't she take the money?

She finally told us...

"I don't want it because I didn't earn it."

Yep.  That's my girl.  Nine years old and far more responsible than most adults in America.

Smart, pretty, responsible, funny and most importantly loves Jesus.
Boom goes the dynamite.

About the rental property...

 We have finally made it back into the rental house in W.U.

It was destroyed.  As was to be expected. They still haven't paid their rent for February or March. As was to be expected.  Sometimes I just don't have words.  So take a look for yourself.

Under kitchen sink.  We assume they didn't call about the plumbing problem because of the condition of the kitchen floor.  You do not want to know how bad the water in that pan smelled.

Broken tiles in the kitchen.

More broken tiles.  There were almost 40 broken tile in all.  We had to rip out the tile and the sub floor and will have to replace the whole thing.

The wood floors were completely redone prior to the tenants moving in.  They're destroyed.

Hole in the wall.

Someone kicked a hole in the wall in the master bedroom.

Stole a light fixture in a bedroom.  Who steals a light fixture? 

Ripped out the motion light outside of the house.  It was there 2 days before we got possession of the house.  They had the "decency" to leave the light on the kitchen counter.

Laundry Room. Sick. Sick. Sick.

Door torn off the hinges.  Two days prior to them moving out these were properly in place.

Hole punched in door.  This was one of two doors that had holes.
I haven't mentioned all of the holes in the walls... but there's only so many pictures of holes I could post before things get repetitive.

So I will leave you with this final picture of loveliness.  That's the basement floor with a bunch of garbage and a few piles of dog crap.  Yes. They let their dog crap in the basement and lived with the smell of it permeating the entire house.  Have I mentioned sick.sick.sick???!!!

So this is what we're dealing with...

This is officially declared a no drama area...

Around mid-morning we received a call from our Realtors office.  They received insider information from the gas company that our renters (who we're trying to evict) are having their heat shut off today.

After a little investigating we also found out that said renters are also shutting off their electricity.

The good news is that they are voluntarily having these things disconnected.  Which means that they're likely on their way out the door.

As those of you in Iowa are aware of there's a nasty Alberta Clipper moving in and the weathermen are saying that we can expect 12 inches of snow tonight.  Most people do not voluntarily have their heat and electric turned off in the midst of a blizzard so we made the assumption that they're moving out today.

This leaves us in a bit of a quandary.  We have not been notified from our renters that they're moving out.  And from what the Sheriff's Office has told us is that they tried serving the eviction notice to the tenants 4 times before successfully serving it to them on the 5th try.

We were also afraid that these tenants would shut off the heat in an attempt to have the pipes burst before we took possession of the house.  Yet, if they shut the heat off and we transfer it back into our names will we end up footing the bill for the heat as well as the unpaid rent???

This defines quandary. 

Hotsauce immediately starts pouring over code sections of Iowa law to see what our options are... Turns out our options are:

1. We get screwed
2. We get screwed
3. We get angry, lash out, yell, scream, holler, throw things, curse the law that protects criminals and not law abiding citizens, write a letter to our Senators and then we get screwed.
4. We pray, trust God, and rejoice in the day that the Lord has made.

Or something a little more like us...
5. Get angry, yell at lawmakers who can't hear us ... and then remember to pray and trust God.

I know.  We stink at the whole pray first option.  Maybe someday we will figure it out.

Maybe we should pray that we remember to pray first, but of course we'd forget to pray to pray first!

Bean and I prayed together that what Satan means for evil that God would use for good.  That He would take care of the pipes and the overdue rent and our bad attitudes.  And then I gave my girls a short lecture on how they need to pay their bills when they're adults.

A few hours after praying Hotsauce received a phone call.  I knew immediately from his body language that this woman (ironically named Joy, though she has brought us none) on the other line was our tenant.  It took her about 3 sentences to get Hotsauce worked up... though by the grace of God, he found it in himself to be kind.

Sidebar: I really admire that man.

By the end of the call she told him that they would be out tomorrow, the house would be clean, they would leave a forwarding address and drop a check off with the amount owed by the end of this week.

Glory to God in the highest.

By the way, we went ahead and transferred the heat and electricity into our names.  God is faithful and will continue to see us through this!

Please pray that things go accordingly and that we would be able to get the realtor in soon and get this house sold.  We could use a little less drama around here.