I’ve been on an organization kick lately. (It must be all the back-to-school prep.) As a rule, I’m a huge fan of efficiency. I’m constantly trying to think of ways to make my life more streamlined and fuss-free. Here’s a sampling of my line of thinking:

1. Nonessential walls in houses are dumb. I don’t like walls because if you have them, you have to fill them. With stuff. And I don’t like “stuff.” Just more in life to keep track of.
2. However, there is a fine line here. I like streamlined, but I don’t like cavernous because cavernous usually means echo-y and I hate echo-y. My dining room is echo-y because there ain’t much in it. Someone was visiting once and he asked me how long we had lived here. I said three years and I don’t think he believed me. He thought we had just moved in and hadn’t finished unpacking. Nope. That’s all there is. And it’s echo-y. What can I say. I just try not to talk on the phone in that room because I don’t like the idea that I sound like I live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
3. I don’t like bookshelves. Not because I don’t like books—books are fine—I just don’t like bookshelves. I don’t like them because they’re a royal pain to clean and equally hard to keep tidy. The only surefire way to keep them tidy is to not touch the books they hold. And what’s the point of that? Bookshelves with glass doors is definitely the way to go if you must.
4. This I like. I’ve always thought the fanny pack was a great idea—too bad the traditional fanny pack, while functional, is not exactly fashionable. As far as I’m concerned, not having to carry a purse is freedom indeed. Well, now there’s a solution…almost. I say almost because this pretty little thing costs a pretty little penny. Maybe I’ll just have to make my own.
5. The computer has got to be one of the finest inventions man has ever seen. (Second only to Cold Stone Creamery.) Imagine. Every single piece of information you could every want or need right at your fingertips and you don’t have to file a thing. I stand in awe.
6. My personal multitasking record: I was shopping at Walmart once with all three kids. Then the baby got hungry. Then my sister called. So there I was, walking through Walmart pulling one kid in the cart, keeping track of one kid tagging along behind, a baby in one arm, nursing, talking on the phone propped between my chin and my shoulder, smiling at the Walmart employees staring at me and throwing things in the cart as I went.

Now. What’s your best streamlining idea?

I surf the internet. A lot. I like it because I never know where I’ll end up and there is no shortage of interesting things to discover and learn.

Every once in a while I go on a surfing binge. Twas the case for the last two weeks. Lots and lots of surfing. Lots. These binges always seem to coincide with weeks that are particularly challenging in the way of childrearing. I guess it’s because surfing the internet provides the illusion that I’m running far, far away.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with you some of the places I’ve been…

Remember the Milk. It’s a very handy online to-do list/task manager. Now if only I could actually DO the things I need to do…

A Nation of Wimps. An interesting an thought-provoking article.

DesiringGod.com. This site is chuck full of good stuff. I especially like John Piper’s Magnifying God with Money series. (Here’s Part 1A to get you started.)

The Evolution of Mom and Preparation for Parenthood. Ain’t this the truth.

PocketMod: The Free Disposable Personal Organizer. Now here’s a clever trick. And a great tool for that budding author in your life too.

LifeHacking Your Grocery List. Wanna take control of your menu planning and make cooking a whole lot easier? Look no further.

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. I’m going to live in one of these someday.

Dealing with Bullies. A much-needed resource in our family lately. Unfortunately.

Make-a-Flake. Rather useless, but so very, very cool. The things people think of.

There. Now you know some of what’s been going on in my life.

I recently confessed to being in debt. You may remember. (If you don’t, or if you’ve only happened upon this blog recently, you can catch up here.) I started a second blog called The Great Debt Payoff to chronicle our journey to pay it off, as the name so obviously suggests. (Go ahead. Call me brilliant.)

Well, the other blog is cramping my style and now I’ve changed my mind about it—I think I’m gonna pull the plug. (This is not surprising since I change my mind like I change my underwear.)

Basically, I can hardly keep up with my first blog (i.e. the one you are reading now), so why in tar nation did I think I was going to be able to keep up with 2 blogs. Not to mention the fact that I will be giving birth to a third child in a little less than 2 months (if everything goes according to plan) and I’m beginning to suspect that a newborn (plus two kids, plus another that I take care of 20+ hours a week…all under the age of 6) does not mix very well with 1 blog, let alone 2. At least not in my case. Now, if I was blessed with the ability to write a post as quick as I’m able to down 8 Fudge Striped cookies, well, then, 2 blogs might not be such a problem. But, the fact is, I’m so much more of a cookie type, not a posting type, so 1 blog is probably about all I can handle. But I digress.

So as I said, since I’ve been particularly lame at posting to The Great Debt Payoff, I think I’m gonna kill it. I initially started that blog because it didn’t seem like the topic of paying off debt was particularly related to being a pastor’s wife. And now I’ve changed my mind about that too. Because why? BECAUSE I AM A PASTOR’S WIFE AND WE ARE IN DEBT. In other words, they go together because THIS IS MY LIFE. And this is my blog so I can write about whatever I want. That’s the beauty of it being my blog.

Besides, what started out as just a totally financial approach to working ourselves out of debt, has now become something much more huge.

In a nutshell, our lives have completely changed in the last month.

No, someone did not die and we did not inherit $284,945. No, we were not one of the 6 in Nebraska who recently won the lottery. No, our church did not suddenly decide to double my husband’s salary. No, we did not sell one of the children. And no, I did not kill my husband in order to get his life insurance policy. No. No. No.

Two things have changed: I’ve got a plan and another man.

The new plan, which basically translates into a budget, is the suggestion of the other man, Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey is affectionately referred to as DR around here and I am convinced every American should know him as well. He wrote a great book, The Total Money Makeover, which I read in one sitting and I would highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend. (In fact, as soon as we’re out of debt, I think I’ll buy a copy for everyone I know.)

I’m also TOTALLY ADDICTED to his radio show, The Dave Ramsey Show. It’s not broadcast in our area but I have listened to every single archive online.

(I know this is the hugest, most shameless plug ever and I promise the guy is not paying me to say it. The whole thing totally trips me out. It’s all about delayed gratification, rice and beans, beans and rice and saying no to debt. Simple concept but hard to achieve.)

DR is totally about getting out of debt. The guy does not own a credit card. People call into his show every day with all kinds of financial woes, some small, some gargantuan. There are also those who call in to scream “WE ARE DEBT FREE” (after having worked themselves out of it, one dollar at a time). Yes, they scream it and DR plays this clip from Braveheart where Mel Gibson yells, “FREEDOM!!!!!!!” at the top of his lungs and it may sound extraordinarily cheesy, but I tell you, it is so STINKING INSPIRING. In fact, a family—husband, wife, three kids—called in just today, to scream “WE. ARE. DEBT. FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!” and I cried. Yes, I did. I CRIED. Tears and everything.

The thing that totally sold me on DR was the last chapter of his book (a NY Times bestseller, by the way). In it he talks about Proverbs 22:7 and how “the borrower is slave to the lender.”

I am so done with being a slave.

Let me start by saying that I share the following not because I’m bitter but because every once in a while it’s nice to receive a little recognition and validation. It’s also nice to know that others are in the same boat (might also be read as: misery loves company).

So. For all of you fellow PW’s out there performing extraordinary financial gymnastics in order to make ends meet, be encouraged. Well actually, I don’t know if “encouraged” is the right word but this article (and specifically the chart on the right) will at least validate what you’ve always known to be true: that your husband does not make a lot of money and he probably never will.

But look at the bright side. Your eternal benefits will more than make up for it.