My Most Recent Freak Out Moments

I'm fairly laid back. I usually have a reason for flipping out...well, except when I'm having an emotional pregnant day. But those only happen every 10 days or so! ;) However, I was rather upset when I was flipping through my latest copy of Christianity Today and found an advertisement for loans specifically for churches. Are you kidding me??? The Bible is oh-so-very-CLEAR on the fact that taking out loans is a bad, bad, bad practice.

Another thing that really irked me recently is my neighbors' inability to pay for their homes. Of course, you really don't get mad about something until it happens to you, and I learned this the HARD way regarding the "declining housing market." My husband and I are getting ready to move and started gathering statistics on our local market. Imagine how unpleasantly surprised we were to find that our home, purchased just two years ago, appraised at $20,000 LESS than what we paid for it. How did this happen? Almost every home that has sold in our neighborhood over the past 15 months has been a foreclosure or a short sale. Thanks to irresponsible (referring mostly to the foreclosure) people, all of our equity has pretty much vanish. This made me VERY angry-unapproachable, in a silent rage type of angry. (And yes, I do honestly think people who have been foreclosed are irresponsible.) Ugh.

But all that drives me back to my Bible. Thankfully, it makes lots and lots of things very clear. Here are the two basic truths that are pulling me through: 1. There will always be foolish people, and 2. At some (or mostly likely, several!) points in my life, I will be one of them! Here is the basic truth that completely delivers me: God loves me anyway. He reminds me to seek His will and act in love.

That means I need to have a forgiving heart and a willingness to try to help people prevent their own mistakes. For the magazine, that means I need to write to the editor and let him know I had serious issues with an advertisement so clearly against Christian principles in his Christian magazines. For my neighbors, well, I need to ask for forgiveness from God on their behalf, as I didn't tell them anything. I also need to make sure I talk to my friends who are thinking about buying homes or anything else on credit. I can help them analyze their incomes and show them whether the purchase is an ideal one. While my works will NOT save me, I know acting in love is the best way to reach out to people.

-Domestic Goddess out.