Ahhh, Tax Season Again

 Yes, here it is, 1 March 2021. Federal and state taxes are due in 6 short weeks. I am always happy to get my taxes finished and submitted. I am soooo very happy that a few years back the married personal exemption went up so high that I could stop itemizing.  Taxes are now so very much simpler.

I don't recall ever paying anyone to compute and file my taxes. I figure I know more about my financial situation than an anonymous tax person.  If I have to collect all my info, and explain it to someone else, I might as well go ahead and fill out the forms.

And, it is kinda nice to see how the year went financially. It makes me more aware of my tax situation and the kind of things I can, and cannot do to change my tax load. I have used several on-line tax programs, and these are handy and I recommend "Free Tax" and MAT (My Alabama Taxes). These are both free. I have high confidence in the MAT, since the state of AL does it.

Do you do your own taxes? Do you do them online? Do you have an online tax program you recommend and how much does it cost?

Enjoy your tax filing, and don't put it off too much longer.

Blessings,

The Benefits of being (relatively) Poor

 I grew up poor. We knew that there was no extra money, but we never went hungry, always had clothing, and had a home. We never had a new car, braces on our teeth, or expensive trips, vacations, or toys. We walked a lot of places, in part because my mother never drove an auto.

And, in retrospect, there were many benefits from our relative poverty. My family had no money for college, so my older brother and I both went to the US Naval Academy. We both graduated, and we both benefitted greatly from the excellent education and training we received, and the professional job we automatically gained after graduation. I am so happy that G^d worked that out--as He did.

Brenda's family was similar to ours in many ways. They had sufficient funds, but not much excess.

With 5 children, Brenda and I deliberately decided that I would earn the income and she would take care of our children and home. She home-schooled some of our kids about 5 years. In due time, all 5 of them would go to U of AL, where they got half-tuition since I worked there. They all graduated with NO debt. Thank you L^rd.

Never have we had a new home or a new car. Our kids were never given a new car or designer anything. They were raised modestly and we lived economically. To this day, we, or at least I, have a hard time easily spending money. As missionaries we sometimes spend donor's money, but we still are extremely tight with it.

Because of our economical thinking, we find ourselves in a strong financial position in our retirement. Old habits are hard to break, so it takes thought and effort to spend more than minimal funds.

But that is a great benefit of growing up poor. Thanks be to God.

Approaching One Year of COVID

 I am writing this on 24 Jan, so by the time you read this it will be much closer to the One Year mark of CVOID infestation. To be confessional, I never expected it to last this long...and we still aren't finished yet. In fact, through Jan and Feb of 2020, no one around here had ever even heard of COVID.

I know many folks have suffered, but it strikes me that things have not gotten as bad as I anticipated. We have a lot of friends suffering health issues, but many are NOT COVID-related. Two of our friends have broken their hips. Another has terminal cancer, and another has recovered from what was expected to be terminal cancer. One of our neighbors almost died from COVID complications, but has recovered to better-than-before status and made the decision to retire from work. One of our new neighbors has been intensively remodeling his home for the last 8 or 10 weeks, and another one has been remodeling for the last 6 months or so. It seems like the remodeling--and building supply--business has done quite well during COVID.

I must confess that I have LOVED not having to drive so much. I hate driving. I have rather enjoyed not leaving the home place except for deer hunting. I had to deposit a couple of checks at Woodforest Bank, and have not been inside a full Walmart in 3-4 weeks. We have also reduced out inside dining at local restaurants in view of the early January COVID surge. We would usually be on our way to Dallas for our mid-year conference by today, but COVID has caused it to be all on-line this year. We will greatly miss our friends, and the pleasant casual conversations at mid-year, but we have a virtual "dinner together" planned for Tuesday evening with 4 other couples. I am in charge of our small gathering and I hope it is a lot of fun.

In about 5 or 6 weeks (from the date of this writing) the azaleas will begin blooming and this winter will be behind us. We will have passed the one year mark. It has been a strange, strange year--but you don't need me to tell you that.

But G^d is good, in season and out. G^d's plan continues. Our opportunities to minister change, but we still have them.

Thanks be to G^d for another year, another spring, another azalea bloom. Thanks be to G^d that despite COVID, His love is constant.

Let's make the most of it.

Things do Change

 Back around 1970 at the US Naval Academy I had to take a required course in US Government. Our prof was brilliant in that he knew that most of us in the class were politically conservative. He would say things to get us stirred up, and I would rush to the library to prove the prof wrong. But, the next day, he would be on to another topic.  As you have figured out, he was a very clever teacher.

Very near the end of the term, and it might have been the last class meeting, he told the following story, which is a commentary on today's culture.

"In college, I lived in a boarding house while i was in college. The residents of this house were almost all internationals, and i was about the only American living there.

It was the morning after a presidential election. I came down to breakfast which we ate all together. In the room it was deathly quiet, which was unusual since normally everyone was laughing and talking as they ate. After a few minutes, I couldn't handle the funeral-like atmosphere.

What's going on, friends? I asked.

They replied, "Well there was an election yesterday. Won't there be rioting and disharmony everywhere?"

I laughed and said, "No we don't take politics that seriously here. There won't be anything.'"

My how times have changed!

Monthly Prayer Letter

Some of you probably get our monthly Cru prayer letter. We get prayer letters from a great many missionaries. It is much different to read them than to write them. Since July of 2017 we have been doing these letters. From reading these every month, my first goal was to keep them to about 1 page or less. Frankly, most of us missionaries are not exactly Faulkners, or O'Connors, or Greshams. I know that you probably get several, and that you may not have huge enthusiasm for reading something I have written. Plus, I am a fast writer, so knocking out one page doesn't take much time or energy.

It has been interesting what has appealed to people. Probably the most popular thing we have published in these letters has been pictures of our garden plants, blossoms, pruning, etc. We usually include at least one photo, but my most recent one has not as of this time.

It is amazing how people ignore these too. three and a half years after starting, there are plenty of recipients who have never responded in any way. I don't mean donations, I mean just responding with a comment. the most folks who have even bothered to open the letter is 67%, with most letters only getting about 50% opens, with many months under that.

Fortunately, especially during COVID, our expenses have been very low. We conserve our donors funds very carefully. Consequently our funds situation is quite good, so we don't have much pressure. For those missionaries who must raise their monthly living expenses, this has got to be tough. Though, perhaps, others have a better opening rate than we do.

Because of these things, I try to read EVERY letter and send a few lines of encouragement to every missionary who sends us a letter. If you have the time and energy, perhaps you could do this on occasion also.

But of course, I am a bit biased in all this.

Blessings, friends.

More Reflections on getting Old

 I Finished a book today (1 Jan), The Warmth of Other Suns. It is the story of The Great Migration, which was the flight of millions of Black Americans from the deep south to Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Milwaukee, etc. The book tells the Story of 3 migrants from the Mississippi delta, Monroe LA, and Eustis, FL.

Reading about the lives of three characters, their adventures, personalities, pains, and eventually their deaths made me reflect further on my life. Though the book mentions a couple of the characters' participation in their church, the spiritual content is limited. Though their lives were highlighted in great detail in the book, in the end they all died, just as we all do. The author discussed the three folks that left the deep South and in much more general terms, those that didn't. 

But did it really matter?

Well it mattered then, but does it matter to those three folks now? They are either enjoying the joys of heaven, or the other option. The text quotes from 2 Corinthians 4:17, but would have been more complete to cover vv 16-18.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Read that carefully, thoughtfully. The things that are seen are transient. The afflictions we face, whatever they may be, are capable of producing an "Eternal weight of glory".  Not totally sure what this is, but it sure sounds good.

So, as hard as it is, and regardless of our personal circumstances, let us endeavor to look more at the unseen, eternal, things, and less at the things we see, which are transient. We are all getting old, if we are alive.

Blessings,

Bad TV Commercials

 I know we are all together on this, but some tv commercials are terrible. I am happy to admit that I have NO professional knowledge of advertising. But as a long-term consumer with some tv watching over the last 70 years, I do have some opinions.

The worst tv commercials are provided by the insurance companies. One of my Communications expert friends pointed out that there is almost NO difference amongst there products. Think about it. The chances of any given driver crashing are the same for every insurance company in the country. The odds of an insured person dying are the same. So, the chief thing to differentiate among companies is advertising.

I JUST saw a tv advert for Progressive insurance. It was a total silly ad about hand modeling competition and it did NOT make me want to buy their insurance--quite the opposite. I have mentioned the crazy Liberty Mutual ads supposedly filmed with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

About the only good insurance commercials are the recent State Farm commercial featuring a young black insurance agent. His customers are so grateful for their great insurance that they are treating him extra special despite his protests that they aren't receiving special treatment.

BUT, that's the only one that seems wise or appealing.

So, despite that we must buy liability insurance for our car, and health insurance for our bodies, perhaps consumers should express our opinions on these companies based on the quality of their commercials. Our insurance company, which will remain nameless, advertises very little (saving us customers $$) and has always given us great service. In the old days, they didn't advertise at all (saving us customers $$$$).

Oh well, I guess I really don't have much about which to complain, right?

MORE treasures from the Trash

 If you read this blog very often, you know that I LOVE to find discards that I can use. Just in the last week at Panama City Beach, I have found the following useful items:

3 good beach umbrellas (gave away one to a family with a bunch of kids).

1 beach chair.

I neat kite (which I repaired with pieces from a broken umbrella...I found!)

1 wet/dry vacuum

2 Wagner airless paint sprayers (Have only checked 1, but it worked).

4-5 towels that we needed to replace the towel we lost day before yesterday when someone mistook it for someone's in their large group of young people.

1 watch (needs battery)

G^d has blessed us. We could buy all this stuff, if we needed to do so, but there is some satisfaction in salvaging stuff from the landfill that we can put to use.  Just like G^d does with our lives...

I won't apologize, it's just fun.