Miscellany Monday

I've had some serious thoughts lately and I feel compelled to share:

1. I love the wet foot prints my son leaves behind on the bath mat afterI lift him out of the tub.  These may be the cutest imprints ever.

2.  I've become a coupon nerd.  However I have made two foolish purchases including scented dryer sheets and spray-n-go lotion simply because I had a coupon.  The lotion is actually pretty awesome but the dryer sheets give me a headache and I decided to throw them out.  All in the name of saving some money.

3.  I think my dog eats more dog food since we give her free choice.  I am considering limiting her intake to reduce the amount of the dog food we go through. 

4.  I uploaded close to 1,000 pictures from 2012 using my cell phone as our Wifi hub last month.  I received notice from Verizon when I was uploading the November pictures that we had used 75 percent of our data allowance and we stilll had two weeks to go.  I went without Facebook (gasp) for two weeks and only sporadically checked my email so I didn't have to sell my firstborn just to pay our cell phone bill.  Hubby and I both survived.  And I think we're better for the time spent away from Facebook.  Praise the Lord for the forced separation.

Pretty serious stuff, no?  Okay, here's one serious bit of miscellany.

5.  Hubby and I are fixin to lose an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 out of his paycheck next year due to higher healthcare insurance premiums caused by Obamacare.  I was devastated when I found out, and now I am mostly frustrated.  We are praying that God moves in BIG ways where our finances are concerned so that I can continue to stay home with our kiddos.  This quote from the September 5 Investor's Business Daily sums it up nicely: "Some consumers will have subsidies and may not pay these higher rates, someone will pay for the increased premiums, whether it is the consumer or the federal government. (Emphasis mine.) The reason for my frustration is underlined above.  I am really struggling to understand why the middle class is going to have to take a huge hit for the citizens (and yes, non-citizens) who apparently are "too poor" to pay higher insurance rates (oops, and too poor to pay taxes) yet are more than able to receive every benefit.  I continue to stand by the biblical teaching of no work, no eat.  (If you want the scriptural address for that, leave a comment.)  I realize I left the realm of Monday Miscellany and am firmly standing on a soapbox, but my ire has been raised.  If you are able to receive a benefit from the US Government (driving on public roadways, access to public libraries, enrolling children in public schools, fire protection from your city fire department.....) then you should be contributing to the cost of all these "free" benefits.  Oh wait, they aren't free.  People including my husband and I are paying taxes so others can utilize these "free" benefits.

Okay, soapbox vacated.  But for real, please be praying for our family.  This is a huge loss.  Please pray that we would remain confident in the Lord's provision AND plan for our family through this.  Please also pray that my faith would increase because I am straying constantly from trust and faith in the Lord that he will provide.  I know my worry and stress are not productive and will not bring any good about so please pray that I would re-focus my thought life and energies on the Lord.