Julie Gumm - Author

I Met Dave!

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We interrupt our normally scheduled post for this breaking news…

I met Dave!

Yesterday I got the opportunity to volunteer at the Dave Ramsey Live Event in Phoenix. It was this same event 10 years ago that changed our lives.

Before the show Dave came around and greeted every one of the 60 or so volunteers that gave up 8 hours of their day to come and work the event.

He shook my hand and said “Thank you for helping out!”

And I wanted to laugh because really, there is NO WAY I could repay him for the difference he has made in our lives.

If I had more time I would have told him that other than God and our families, he is the one person who has had the greatest impact in our lives.

He made our marriage better.

He helped us grow in our faith.

Beginning to apply his principles was like the gentle turning of a rudder on a great big ship that is our lives. We changed our direction that year but now, 10 years later we can see the DRAMATICALLY different route our lives have taken.

I am not in any way trying to cut God out of the equation. Quite the opposite – through Dave we gained a greater understanding of what God wants from us when it comes to our money.

To be honest when we first started the baby steps our motivation was to pay off our debt so we could build our wealth and retire early. But along the journey we discovered the extreme joy in giving. We discovered the freedom to alter our careers and pursue our God-given dreams. We discovered what REALLY matters.

For us what really matters is not the size of our 401k, or what age we’re going to be able to retire at. It’s the impact our money can have RIGHT NOW! It’s adding two children to our family through adoption. It’s helping send orphans in Uganda to school. It’s helping a church in Ethiopia care for at risk kids in their community (more on that coming soon).

All of that we owe, in large part, to Dave and the ministry God has blessed him with.

So thank you Dave, for everything!

God cares about the little things

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Our 12-month no-shopping challenge probably seems silly to a lot of people but today it became so clear to me that it is not silly to God.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve lost about 13 lbs since we started the challenge in April and that has presented some difficulties. I took in a bunch of shorts and pants but there are just some that are not that easy to re-invent.

The only belts I have are extremely bulky belts – not the greatest things to be wearing with shorts. Really meant more for jeans/fall wear.

I was mulling over in my mind whether I should ask hubby if I could purchase a belt suitable for wearing with the still too big items. But I hadn’t done it yet.

Yesterday a friend gave me a bag of hand-me-down clothes (remember, totally allowed).

Guess what I found in it?

Belts.

Two of them – one black, one brown.

🙂

Feeling Restless

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I spoke to Mark this afternoon and he arrived safely in Ethiopia, even getting a free upgrade for the last leg of his flight. Praise God for little blessings.

He is staying at the Bole Rock Hotel for the first few days until the rest of the team arrives. This is the same place we stayed for the second half of our Ethiopia trip to get the kids. He said its brought back all kinds of memories of our time there with them – playing soccer in the parking lot after the fitness gym patrons had left in the morning, watching the construction workers with their back-breaking work.

He, of course, had to have lunch at the hotel restaurant were they seriously have the best french fries we have EVER had anywhere. Nice and crispy!

I’m not sure if it’s because he’s off on another “adventure”, but I’m feeling particularly restless today.

Longing for a grand adventure of my own.

I’m not the adventurous type when it comes to things like skydiving, bungee jumping or that sort of thing. But I LOVE to travel. I think I always have. Well at least in my adult years. I have plenty of pictures of family vacations were I look pretty sullen (geez I hope I wasn’t as grumpy as I looked) but maybe it just took awhile for it to kick in.

When Mark and I went to Europe about 5 years ago (England, Scotland, Germany) we had THE best time in spite of missing bus stops and dragging suitcases through the streets of Berlin at 1 a.m. looking for our hotel.

Someday I would LOVE to be on the Amazing Race, not for the money (although I would gladly take it) but for the ADVENTURE. I could do without all the weird eating challenges though.

I remember several years ago when I was doing the Captivating study by Stasi Eldredge she mentioned that this longing for adventure was common in women. I was kind of surprised by that.

So I’m curious, how many of you women out there long for adventure and if so, what kind of adventure would you want to take?