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Cheap Vacations

August 29, 2015 By admin

Photo: Studiomill

Does your family desperately need a vacation? Is your bank account squeaking? You don’t need a key to Fort Knox to enjoy time with your loved ones. While many “all-inclusive” vacations can run into thousands of dollars, options that are big on family fun and easy on the pocketbook exist as well. Here are a number of ways to save money on your next family trip:

Do your homework. If you’re planning a vacation, make sure that you know where you are going, how you’re going to get there, and your itinerary along the vacation route. Forethought can help you stay on budget.
Look for the deals. The Internet is jam-packed with travel sites that offer low prices, incredible deals, and family-friendly fares on everything from hotels to restaurants, and airfare if needed.
Choose alternative accommodations on portions of your trip. Broaden your horizons, squeeze your spending, and have a great time by staying overnight in a tent or bunking at a hostel. (For more information about hostels, go to www.hostels.com). These low-priced alternatives can save your family plenty and help create great memories!
Eat on the cheap. With proper planning, you can enjoy great food along the way at a fraction of normal vacation cuisine cost. Decide ahead of time to keep convenience store purchases to a minimum, and buy plenty of fresh fruits like apples, bananas and oranges at grocery stores along the way. If you plan to eat in a restaurant, choose a time when menu prices are less expensive (breakfast and lunch) and eat light during the dinner hour. If each traveler has a water bottle, choose to purchase your water by the gallon and refill them. Buying new individual bottled waters can really add up.
Go on a series of day trips. Wherever you happen to live, there is a good chance that you are within driving distance of an enjoyable family outing. Museums and national parks are inexpensive and in abundance. Your family can enjoy all the amenities that delight tourists visiting the same area, and best of all, you get to sleep in your own bed. For more information on attractions near you, check out www.fodors.com and have a peek at a well-researched guidebook for your area.

Remember, the journey is just as important as the destination. Quality time with family is what memories are made of…no matter where you go. Seek togetherness, and you’ll discover a world of possibilities!

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Read more at the source: Cheap Vacations

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.

Our Last Argument

August 29, 2015 By admin

Photo: iStock

Not long after we were wed, my wife, Sue, and I had a terrible fight. Providentially, what could have destroyed our marriage ended up strengthening it.

Sue and I were getting ready to attend a church party that we had been looking forward to for some time. I drew the water for my bath and then stepped into our bedroom to get some clean clothing. While I was gone, my pretty little wife decided she would play a joke on me. She slipped into the bathroom, locked the door, and took a bath in the water I had drawn.

When Sue had finished bathing, she went into the bedroom to dress, and I headed to the bathroom to take my bath. Much to my surprise, I discovered that Sue had not drained the water she had bathed in. I suggested to her that, since she had taken a bath in my water, she should drain it and draw me some fresh water. Sue was in a playful mood. She giggled and said, “Oh, I wasn’t very dirty. Just take a bath in my water.”

I saw no humor in her remark and responded in a gruff, demanding voice, “No way. Now get yourself in here and draw me some fresh bath water.”

Sue flashed her prettiest smile and teased me. “I really wasn’t very dirty. Go ahead and use my water.”

Without really meaning to threaten her, I said, “If you don’t get yourself in here and draw me some fresh bath water, I’ll throw you in the tub, clothes and all.”

Sue’s smile faded, and she said, “You wouldn’t dare do that to me . . . would you?”

Sensing that I was being challenged, I responded by restating what now really did become a threat, “If you don’t draw me some fresh bath water, I will. I’ll throw you in, clothes and all!”

Shocked, Sue said, her voice rising, “You wouldn’t dare do that!”

“I’m not kidding!” I shouted as I headed toward her, picked her up, and carried her into the bathroom.

As I held Sue over the tub, I thought to myself, “I love this dear lady, and I really don’t want to drop her in this water.” Looking for a way out without damaging my pride, once again I asked her if she would draw me some fresh bath water.

Out of Control

She looked me in the eye and said, in what seemed to me a defiant tone, “No way!”

So I did a very foolish thing. I dropped her, clothes and all, into the tub.

Sue came up wet and angry.

Then I said some things I shouldn’t have said, and Sue withdrew. She didn’t speak to me for four days. And she didn’t do any cooking or cleaning. My selfishness and bad temper almost cost me my marriage!

This incident happened more than 35 years ago. It was our last fight. We chose not to argue again.

Don’t misunderstand. Our opinions differ at times, but we don’t fight about them. We’ve learned a better way. We’ve learned to allow some give and take, to be considerate, patient, loving, kind, and gentle with each other. We’ve also learned to compromise. We love each other so much that we don’t want to hurt each other. So we discipline ourselves to do and say only those things that will build up the other’s self-esteem.

We have learned that spouses can avoid fights by:

1. loving enough to sacrifice for each other
2. learning to discuss differences calmly. (Don’t shout!)
3. learning to compromise.
4. learning to be unselfish. (You don’t always have to be right or to have your own way.)
5. asking God for His help. (We asked, and He helped.)

Thirty-five years without an argument or fight. It’s a great way to live!

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Read more at the source: Our Last Argument

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.

Over the Fence

August 29, 2015 By admin

Photo: Jeremy Menking

I grew up on a farm in north‑central Minnesota in a community where we got along very well with the neighbors. That is, with one exception. Our back pasture bordered the property of a neighbor I’ll call Alfred.

We had pretty good fences, but even the best fences can have some weaknesses if livestock have a notion that the grass is greener on the other side. Alfred had a field of ripening corn that some of our cattle must have felt it was just something too tempting to pass up. At any rate, our cattle got across that fence. To say they made a feast of the neighbor’s corn field would be an understatement.

It took us a while, but with the help of some other neighbors, we got the cows back on our side of the fence.

“This is going to cost you, Joe,” Alfred told my father in no uncertain terms. “Your cows did a lot of damage to my corn.”

“How much do we owe you?” my father asked.

“I haven’t figured it out yet. When I do, I’ll send you a bill.

My father nodded. I was at a loss for words. But I wasn’t when we got the bill. “No way!” I told my father. “He’s charging way too much for his corn!

My father shrugged, “What choice do we have? Take it to court? That’s not a good idea between neighbors.

The following year was very dry. On Alfred’s land there were no ponds; he watered his cattle from a well. We had a well for the cattle, too, but we also had several ponds on our land. The soil surrounding the ponds had moisture so that grass could grow.

One late-summer morning, Alfred’s cows suddenly seemed to think that the grass was lot greener on our side of the fence. Alfred’s cows were in our pasture; on our side of the fence. At first I was upset. But then I thought, Ah, the shoe is on the other foot now.

Sharing Pastures

“What do I owe you?” Alfred asked sheepishly. My father waved him off, “We’ll talk about that later. First, let’s get these cows back across.

When we got back to our house, I anxiously asked my father what he was going to charge Alfred for this little incident.

My father answered, “Why, we’re not going to charge him a penny.”

I gasped, “You must be joking, Dad!”

“Look,” he said, “all they did was eat a little bit of hay.

“But he charged a lot for the damage to his corn last year!” I protested.

“That’s in the past,” my father said. “I know Alfred doesn’t have much money. In fact, I have an idea that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.”

His reasoning was this: We would share pastures. “It’s always a good idea to rotate pastures if you can,” he said. “Early in the summer, before it gets too dry, we can run the cattle on Alfred’s land. When it gets dry, the cows can come into our pasture with the ponds.” After talking it over with Alfred, we put a gate between our properties.

Soon I recognized the wisdom of my father’s thinking. Fences are necessary on a farm. They separate what needs to be kept apart. But gates connect—both pastures and people.

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Being Robbed Twice

August 25, 2015 By admin

Photo: Gaston Thauvin

Nancy cried as we unpacked our household goods. I seethed with anger. We’d just moved across the country, and when we unpacked we found dozens of broken items scattered through the boxes: the ornate ceramic cross a friend gave us several Easters before, the framed painting of Jesus, a wooden crèche, a copper jewelry box that held a miniature Bible. We also discovered our gold coin collection was missing along with more than two hundred CDs.

The damage looked deliberate. None of the broken items had been wrapped in protective paper. The movers simply tossed them among other unwrapped items, such as books and metal pans—almost as if they wanted them to break.

“It isn’t fair,” Nancy said later that evening as we ate our supper. I knew what she meant. We’re a military family, and we’ve crossed the country seven times in seventeen years. We’ve left family and said goodbye to church friends, knowing it might be years—if ever—before we would see them again. But we make these sacrifices because we love our country and want to do all we can to protect it. That’s why it hurts all the more when people we serve do what they did.

Two months later, while I stood at a CD rack in a local music store, I spotted a title we’d owned before the move. As I read the cover, a sudden lust for vengeance washed over me. Maybe I could contact the right people and cause the moving company to lose its contract with the military because they hired scoundrels.

Double Jeopardy

But just as suddenly as my anger had flared, it froze, for a new thought crossed my mind: The men robbed you once. Why let them rob you again?

I knew exactly who asked the question, and what He meant by it. A subtle, nearly imperceptible change had occurred in me during those weeks after our move. The pleasure I once received while reading the Bible had nearly dried up. My prayers had become superficial and rote and I had difficulty concentrating on the pastor’s sermons at church. My anger was robbing me of something far more valuable than what we’d lost to the movers.

This was one of those “A-ha!” moments. Light exploded in my mind, breaking through the confusion. God was telling me that in just a few weeks I’d become example number one of His warning about roots of bitterness

Forgiveness has never been easy for me. But at that moment I realized that my willingness to forgive was crucial to my continued spiritual growth. If Jesus forgave those who crucified Him, can I do less when someone steals from me?

Forgiveness frees me to be at peace with God. It frees me to hear from Him, move with Him, to imitate Him. Yet even as I write this, I’m not sure I have forgiven the movers. Perhaps I’ve only fooled myself into thinking I’ve forgiven them, when in reality I’ve simply chosen not to hold a grudge.

I admit that’s not the same as forgiveness, but it’s a step in the right direction. And I can only pray that my ability to really forgive is the next step in my journey toward becoming more like Christ.

Being robbed once is bad enough. I won’t be robbed twice.

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Read more at the source: Being Robbed Twice

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.

An Unlikely Answer

August 25, 2015 By admin

Photo: iStock

A Mother’s prayer is answered with jail!

Cheryl told me the story of her oldest son, Brian.

He had grown up a great kid, in fact he had urged the family to go to church when he was twelve. They did. And they didn’t stop, but somewhere along the way he made the wrong friends and got into drugs. Innocent at first, a little pot, but eventually it turned into a hard habit of meth.

Cheryl prayed: “God I need your help. Save my son.”

The answer came. Brian was picked up for possession and ended up in jail. It was so hard for this mother to have her son be in jail. This had to be the worst experience of his life and it was embarrassing to her as a parent, but perhaps God was working.

Imprisoned Yet Free!

He was. Brian came to his bottom. He cried out to God and demanded that He show His face to him that night in jail or he’d give up on Him forever. That night God showed up. Brian said He showed His face to him. He hasn’t been able to explain it, but ever since, Brian has been committed to God. He has continually worn the simple wooden cross around his neck that he was wearing that night. It is a visible reminder that God heard his prayer and He answered.

Jesus did tell us: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9,10).

He’s telling us that for things to happen we need to ask. Cheryl did. Brian did. Do we when we face the impossible? Do we when we face the possible?Today Brian is doing much better. He continues to struggle at times with poor choices and bad habits, but he is always talking about God and to Him. They are close. He’s been seen at church throwing a kiss to God for His love for him. What else can a mother ask for?

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Read more at the source: An Unlikely Answer

Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.

Cheap Vacations

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Our Last Argument

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Over the Fence

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Being Robbed Twice

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An Unlikely Answer

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