IT'S BUDGET TIME!

It's that time of year again... I get to plan our youth and college budgets. This wouldn't be a huge deal if I didn't HATE money and math and things of the like. It makes it worse that I can't go off of the same budget I used last year because we have to make cuts. It's enough to make the left side of my brain explode.

I think we should all take the advice of my college Sunday school teacher's son Luke, who is about 4 or 5 years old. Scott is on the policies and procedures committee of our church, and Luke gave him this advice: "You should make a rule that all things in stores... should be free!" Luke, wiser words have never been spoken, my friend. If only everybody else thought like you....

Budget planning also drives me nuts because we spend SO MUCH money on different programs and activities within our church. If we spent a quarter as much serving our community as we spend on ourselves, we might be doing something right. It's insane how much we spend on petty things within the church (i.e. flowers or anniversary activities), and then we wonder why we're hurting on budget.

Since I wrote this mini-rant, now I have to put my own money where my mouth is (ha-ha, get it?) and use the youth budget in such a way that might honor God. Ouch. I wasn't thinking that way beforehand. Before, I was thinking about our own programs and what not. How can I use our budget to serve others, and how can I use our budget to help our students serve others instead of just spending money on self-absorbed and self-interested programs? This is going to take some thought.

God works in funny ways sometimes. I didn't even plan on writing any of this. I really just wanted to complain about budget stuff, but God used my own writing to convict me. Didn't see that coming.