Karen Zeigler

God Doesn't Measure Your Worth by Your Wealth - Neither Should You

I was talking today with a client about the headlines from yesterday.  Two prominent wealthy and perceived successful men had committed suicide.

Real Estate Executive Found Dead

German Billionaire Commits Suicide

He admitted that the losses in his account had been depressing and the thought had crossed his mind that he was certainly worth more dead than alive.  My own husband had even made that comment in the past year as well.  As believers though neither had given even a second thought to what the two gentlemen in the headlines had done. 

Although the press has yet to write of the dead men's losses or bad debts I wondered how sad this must make God.  God has created us in his unique image to love, to work, to encourage and to do many great things of worth on this planet.  Yet these guys mistakenly measured their worth by measuring their wealth.  Their hope was in the money. 

And every day I talk with people or read about people whose hope is in the money.  When will the stock market come back? When will the governments efforts turn around the economy?  When, oh when will the money flow again?  Guess what no one knows when the money will come back.  Although I suspect that it will because our God is a God of order and he has set in place a time for everything.  I do know from Paul's command in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 that God has more important things for us to do than sit around watching and waiting for our money to come back.  From the scriptures in 1 Timothy I find several commands (not suggestions) for what we as believers should be doing while the stock market and the economy work themselves out.

• Put your hope in God who provides richly for your needs.  If you find yourself depressed over the economy then perhaps you have put your hope and too much of your time into reading the news.  Take out your Bible and spend some time in prayer with the God who is our hope.
• Do good.  There are people hurting all around us.  You don't have to leave the country on a missions trip to do good.  Your mission could be the checkout lady, a neighbor, or a co-worker.  Instead of seeking a way to make a buck seek instead even the smallest of ways to do good for someone today.
• Be generous. Don't believe the lie that you have to be a millionaire to be generous.  Even a $5 meal could mean the world to someone today.
• Believers share your Hope.  Your world is full of people like the two men that were in the headlines.  People that are lonely, depressed and feel as if their problems cannot be overcome.  But you know different.  You know the God who has overcome the world.  

 Though in my profession I cannot make guarantees about peoples return on their investments I can tell you that God can.  He guarantees that if you invest your life in the ways I've outlined from 1 Timothy you will not only reap the rewards in this life but lay a foundation for treasure that will last throughout eternity. 

The Discipline - Happiness Link

Discipline is doing what you hate so you can have the things you love.  -Karen Zeigler

Think about it.  Whether its weight loss, saving, getting out of debt, exercise, relationships if you fail to do the things you hate like

• portion control
• skipping your daily latte to save the $4 a day
• cutting up the credit card to your favorite store
• rising early to get the exercise in before work
• clearing your busy schedule weekly for key relationships

just to name a few. Then your chances of having the things you love

• skinny jeans :)
• a fat bank account
• fewer monthly payments
• a fit body and good health
• deep and meaningful relationships

are likely to never happen.  So if happiness is tied to having things you love - your health, money in the bank, and meaningful relationships then perhaps we aren't very happy because we aren't very disciplined. 

Click here for Scriptures on Discipline

Click here for Quotes on Discipline

Procrastination Requires Prozac

Procrastinate (proh-kras-tuh-neyt): to postpone or delay needlessly.

We have all done it.  Procrastinate on a task that we should do but don't want to do.  After speaking with two people 1. a coaching client and 2. a friend in the same day I came to this epiphany "Procrastination requires Prozac". 

The first client was talking about her long list of to do's for the weekend.  With a heaviness in her voice she said it was time to pay the bills.  As we talked further it was evident that she didn't want to tackle this task.  It wasn't that there was anything bad in the bills it was just a task that she didn't enjoy doing.  After coaching through ways to make this an easier task like

• establishing a pleasant environment for the unpleasant task,
• employing things like on-line banking to make the task go faster
• and some others

I asked:  What would happen if you grabbed a cup of coffee on Saturday and paid the bills first thing?  How would you feel?  Unlike before there was a lightness in her voice and cheerfully she stated "well I'd be able to enjoy my weekend and do some of the things I want to do and enjoy doing!" Bingo! By getting the undesirable tasks out of the way first and in the fastest method possible she was extending the amount of time she had to enjoy her cherished weekend off.   Conversely had she trudged through her Saturday procrastinating doing the bills but always carrying the thought "I need to pay the bills, I have to get to paying the bills, etc." she would have ruined the time she was suppose to be enjoying thinking about a task that she doesn't...thus requiring Prozac to get her mind and mood back in order.

The second person I spoke with was a friend.  This friend had called me about a week earlier in a state of depression.  One of those times us girls find ourselves in on those special hormonal occasions. :)  She was crying and upset over her weight, her marriage, the kids, you name it, her life!  I had spent some time encouraging her and reminding her of the wonderful person God had made her to be.  It had been a week so I was happy to hear her voice when she called.  During the conversation she said I thought about all you said and I discovered why I was so depressed last week.  Curious, I asked why?  She then shared that she had been putting off confronting a friend over a topic that they had a disagreement over.  After my prior experience with the client I made her hang up and call the friend to schedule a lunch so they could iron things out.   With this second reminder I was confident that "Procrastination requires Prozac".

To learn more about procrastinating and how to stop it here are a couple of article links on the topic:

How to Stop Procrastinating

It's Never Too Late to Stop Procrastinating

You may also want to consider hiring a Life Coach (like myself).  Life Coaches offer skills that can help you identify what's causing the procrastination, help equip you for overcoming procrastination, maximize the opportunities for success and hold you accountable for getting the job(s) done.  You can find out more about Life Coaching at Inspiration To Change.

Fighting for First Place

If you are familiar with the Postman's motto "come rain, sleet, snow or wind" then perhaps you can relate to this life lesson.  Just like there is nothing (rain, sleet, etc.) that will keep a postman from his deliveries there is a passion in my life that little comes between...me and my Horses.  I love them to death and our family loves to camp and travels a lot with them. I can't think of anything that has kept me from a planned activity in the five years I've owned horses.  Once we had trouble with our truck and I even borrowed a friends to get to the event that I needed. It was for my daughter and another friend I rationalized.  Today was no different.  I have been excited all week because this weekend my husband and I were taking our two horses about 5 hours away to a horse clinic to learn more about riding.  I can't even begin to put into words the excitement and anticipation I had that my husband I were going away for the weekend...WITH OUR HORSES!!!  You see in the 5 years we've had horses he has always come along...but generally grumbling and complaining.  Needless to say he hadn't shared my enthusiasm for horses but due to 5 years of prayers on my part and God's intervention back last summer he had begun to show interested and for the 1st time ever had decided "perhaps I could learn a thing or two".  The clinic was only two days away and although a cold front was hitting N. Florida and it would be in the 20's...I, a native Floridian who won't go to the gym if it's below 50, was ready to go.  My husband had headed out to the barn for the morning feeding routine and I was in the house when the call came in.  Karen call the vet we have a horse emergency.  I knew that wasn't good so I called the vet and headed out to the barn.  The entire way to the barn I was cursing Satan for attacking us in this way at just this time.  My curses quickly turned to prayers when I reached the injured horse.  My husband's horse had ran into the corner of a work trailer and ripped his entire left chest away.  Blood had been pouring down the leg for some time and the flesh was open and hanging.  I quickly went to putting the other 5 horses in their stalls so they wouldn't be in the way when the vet arrived.  But as I was putting them away I realized something terrible was wrong.  My horse wasn't standing around waiting to get in his stall for breakfast.  A quick glance around the pasture and I saw him in the front corner and knew something was wrong.  My husband ran to him only to find my horse standing there with an almost exact horrific injury.  In times like these my prayers boil down to the necessity "God help us" and it was that prayer I chanted through tears for the next 45 minutes until the vet arrived.  Four hours later both horses were stitched up and stalled for the coming weeks and months for healing. 

A call from one friend reminded me of the Sovereignty of God that my husband had just mentioned at a New Year's Eve party.  Certainly it was no coincidence that the exact two horses that were going were injured.  In fact they were the only two horses that we could bring because the clinic was for gaited horses which our other horses were not.  And they didn't just have minor injuries since horses are so tough they could have been ridden with minor or a different set of injuries.  No these were serious injuries that will put our horses out of commission for months.  So there was no question God didn't want us to go to this clinic and he knew with my postman mentality that he had to render them unusable to stop me from going.  I didn't know just yet why we need to be here this weekend and may never know.  But one thing I do know is that God is Sovereign and he was obviously protecting or preparing us for something better.  I hung up, my spirits a bit lighter.

I wish I could say that was the only lesson that I learned from this ordeal because that's a nice lesson to be reminded of and is very comforting.  However, a second lesson occurred after a phone call from another friend and my subsequent quiet time for the day.  The second lesson wasn't comforting but instead came with a little sting to it.  The sting of conviction.  I have been meaning to start a book writing project for months now and just haven't found the time to fit it in "with the holidays (Labor Day included) and all" and I was lamenting to my friend how these horse injuries would cause me to miss many of the prime riding/horse camping weekends of the Florida winter riding season.   Aware of my procrastination on writing she (in her usual overly positive and optimistic way) reminds me of now how much time I will have to devote to writing.  She was right.  The call ending and my spirits a little higher still. 

After the second call I sat down for a quiet time knowing that God alone could fully restore the spirit that had been zapped by a long day with the vet and injured horses.  As I opened my devotion the title slapped with a sting.  Fighting for First Place.  The scripture and devotional were about Christ and his "postman mentality" in doing the job that God has sent him to earth to do and not letting anything stop him or get in his way.  Then the light bulb went off for me.  It was not Satan that had attacked me today but God who was fighting for first place.  In not writing for the last 6 months about what God had laid on my heart about people, their lives and their money I had been not putting God in first place.  And today's tragedy was God fighting for first place.  Perhaps you think it's kind of cruel or gruesome that he would use this way to fight for first place.  But I'm not surprised.  He was willing to sacrifice Christ, his only son, to show his love for us.  It's hard for most of us to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is his love for us.  But there is no doubt in my mind that he will fight for our devotion.

So what does all this have to do with money!? Could it be that the reason so many struggle financially today is because we are in an never ending battle with God?  Could it be that our finances and all the areas of life it touches would be so much more abundantly blessed if we would quit fighting with God and give him first place?  That's been my experience in the area of finances and the truth of His Word confirms it.  My prayer today is that myself and who ever else might be reading this would stop fighting God for first place in the area of finances or wherever it may be.  He is a huge God and there is nothing he won't do to get our devotion and to show us his love.

God Bless, Karen

Is Life Uncomfortable or In Despair?

 

Whether your struggles are seemingly out of your control or are of your own doing like the journey to loose weight or get out of debt you sometimes find you're in despair and wondering why?   I hope that you find this story by Stacy Kamala Waltman encouraging and insightful as to why God might be allowing this struggle in your life.  I encourage you to have faith and trust Him, becuase He will work it all out for good. 

Before he’s able to dip into a stream of fresh wind gliding into flight, the multi-legged caterpillar first gave up his ability to dance.

Surrendering to complete darkness, his cocoon immobilized all movement. With total isolation he was afraid.

In panic he prayed, “What is happening God? I don’t like this, I feel trapped.” And God whispered, “Patience my friend, you have prayed for transformation and I am answering your prayer.”

And then God asked, “What else can you surrender?”

The caterpillar no longer felt like himself. He was uncomfortable and wanted to reverse this prayer but his body was trapped. Nothing was familiar.

Just yesterday he left his tribe of family and friends and moved to this new tree forte because he thought that’s what God wanted him to do with his life. Now he wondered why he had taken such drastic action. Had he gone mad?

So he prayed, “Haven’t I given up everything for you God? I don’t like this. Am I going to die?” And God said, “Things are not always as they appear. Be patient and trust me.”

And with great effort the caterpillar gave up his need to try to figure everything out and understand why things were the way they were.

He slept deeply and lost count of the days. When he finally awoke, his body felt odd and he cried out, “Why are you making me so uncomfortable? Have I angered you? When will we be done?”

And God answered, “Patience my friend, soon it will all become clear.”

Feeling deep despair he thought, I really am dying, there is no God. In my delusion I must have imagined talking to him. After all, who am I to talk to God?

“Give up your thoughts, pity and anger and surrender to God completely,” said a voice.

The first change he noticed was the light. As the days passed, more and more light came into his tiny cavern. The light brought with it a small feeling of hope and he began to feel things he couldn’t identify.

The day came when his movements became more fruitful and he no longer felt so constricted. He noticed that everything had changed.

And after moments of intense struggle, he was free and breathing in God as he flew and danced with the wind.

Stop Tolerating!!

One of the definitions of tolerate is "to put up with; to endure" and it's not the kind of toleration we should have in our life.  Especially when it comes to  our money.  When you stop putting up with stuff, you will find you have more energy, can think clearer and will be ready to tackle the important tasks of managing your money.  So Ask yourself if you are tolerating any of the following items and STOP!  Keep working at it until you can say you are not tolerating anything that is standing in the way of managing your money the way that you want to.

• Not enough storage or unorganized storage methods for keeping important financial documents and files
• A desk full of stacks of papers that makes it impossible to concentrate on finances
• A desk that is not equipped with the right supplies for managing finances such as proper lighting, comfortable chair, calculator, place for bills to be paid, checkbooks, etc.
• Not enough time scheduled for managing finances and for planning for your financial future
• Not including finances in your prayer time when it is one of (if not the biggest) concern you have in your life
• Not saving money every month (even the if it's small like the change from your purse every day)
• Not getting paid on time from customers, your boss, people that owe you money like refunds from a doctors office, etc.
• Spouse who forgets to tell you about that check they wrote last week
• Investments that should be reevaluated but haven't been
• Completing the home repair that will save you money (either in reduce insurance premiums, reduce electric or water bills, etc.)
• Not combining errands to save time and money
• Payments of any kind that are within your ability to get rid of
• Low levels of cash reserves
• Too many possessions (including vehicles, clothes that don't fit, broken or unused toys, etc.) that eat up your time and money that you rarely or don't enjoy
• Knowing all my debt will not be paid off for another 10 years or more with no plan to get out or stop accumulating debt
• Inadequate retirement fund and/or planning
• A former spouse that does not contribute financially to raising the children
• The insanity of the media (TV, radio, and print ad) that says you must have it all (and the debt that comes with it)
• Listening to someone go on and on about how bad their finances are
• Listening to someone go on and on about how good their finances are without asking them what makes them successful

After you have eliminated as many toleration's as you can post a comment and let us know how great your new success feels.  Having difficulty eliminating a toleration?  Post a question.

What Money Can't Buy

A Chinese Proverb

Money can buy a House but it can't buy you a Home

Money can buy a Clock but it can't buy you Time

Money can buy you a Bed but it can't buy you a good nights Sleep

Money can buy you a Doctor's exam but it can't buy you Good Health

Money can buy you a Powerful Position buy it can't buy you Respect

Money can buy you Blood but it can't buy you Life

Money can buy you Companionship buy it can't buy you Love

-Author Unknown

When money finds you don't ask yourself WHAT can I spend it on?  The WHO is more important than the WHAT.  Instead ask yourself how you can invest it in yourself, your future, your faith and those you love to maximize your wellbeing in the key areas of life (spiritual, health, relationships, financial freedom, career/vocation).

Today's Humor

NewsFlash! "It's not about the sale at the Mall" -God

Now don't get me wrong.  I am a woman and though I'd prefer jeans, t-shirt and flip flops most days I am a professional woman which requires a professional wardrobe.  And then there is clothes for church, the date with my husband, the girls night out and many other "specific outfit" occassions that seem to occur on a weekly basis.  All that said I still want to be a good steward and follow God's leading...but it would sure be nice if I could look good doing it.  It's crazy how we (me and women like me) think that in order to do the right thing I must give up a good thing.  I think we all can learn a few things about managing our money from the following scripture:

Matthew 6:27-34 from The Message.  "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion --do you think it makes that much difference?  Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them."  "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?  What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.  People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.  Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.  Don't worry about missing out.  You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."  Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

So here's the deal.  Take a test drive.  Step up to the pump.  You know the drill...how do I take this life application and put it into action. A2A (application to action) in today's crazy world. 

There is something you were going to spend money on this week.  Perhaps you could make it sound like a necessity if you were asked to explain the cause for your spending but when it boils down to it...you just want it.  Whatever that is...a new outfit, that decorative item that is just going to finish off the room you've been working on, whatever.  Take the value of what you would purchase $20, $60 or $100 and get it in cash in a separate envelope from your wallet.  Now  talk to God. Admit that you may have worried about "things" before but that you believe his Word and are going to give up this (fill in the thing you're giving up) and you believe that he will provide it if it is truly needed or if he chooses to bless you with it.  Now like the scripture states "Give your attention to what God is doing right now" this week and go on a treasure hunt for a person(s) to bless.  I guarantee you will have more fun spending this money than you have at any 50% off sale!  I can't wait to read your comments about what God did.