I have realized that I need to start making good habits now, in preparation for marriage, as I reach that stage in my life. I have a job, and pay for most of what I feel I need, but I often slip up when it comes time to tithe. Tithing is important and something that I need to make a habit of doing now. I have been raised with the belief that we owe ten percent off the top of everything to God. It is often easy to forget or to get side-tracked when we believe we are doing well enough on our own. I also feel a need to prioritize how I spend the rest of my money. It can really burn a whole in my pocket if I let it.

Many people believe that how you spend your money before your marriage is of little or no consequence, but it is. I know that I wouldn't want to marry before mine or my future spouses' debt is completely payed off. The easiest way to do so is to simply stay out of debt, hence the reason I don't have a credit card!

God says that when we give to him what is owed, he will pronide for us. I have seen an awesome example of this in my parents lives. There have been times when we could not afford to pay for necessities such as food, gas, bills, car payments, and still be able to tithe but we tithed anyway. God has always kept his promise by providing for us. I remember on eof the months we lived in Yuma, Az. That particular month we had not been abke to afford enough food for four growing children and to pay tithe, but my parents knew that God had to come first in our lives and so they tithed. Again, He kept His promise... later that Sunday the door rang and when we answered there was a grocery bag full of exactly the things we needed. My parents haven't told us who it was from, and if they did I don't remember, but God provided for us because we trusted him to take care of our needs.   

Another habit I believe I need to get better at is being a good home-maker and help-meet. My dad doesn't exactly have a job that makes it easy to help him with but my mom does. My mom is a wonderfulmother and a great example of how to work in the home. I have found that many Christian women have a mindset that you can't be a good wife, mother, and help-meet to your husband and children if you work outside your home or even if you have a job where you can work at home. My mother has proved them wrong.

Mom used to work outside the house when we were little but soon came home to take care fo us munchkins. She has done a few in home jobs but for now she does mostly volunteer stuff. She writes for a magazine called The Heart of the Matter and a Southern Baptist group blog called SBCVoices. She also homeschools us four children, and has her own inspiring blog. Momma helps me with my projects such as putting together scrapbooking kitsand bracelets that we sell. She does many book and product reviews for several of the people she knows, and also for some companies that are just getting up on their feet. By doing these things she is a great encourager. I help her around the house, and continue to helpin other ways such as cooking many of our meals. The boys are usually good, and often help her as well. They do have chores but, honestly sometimes with boys, the best way for them to help  is to stay out of the way when we're cleaning :-) My mom has her hands full. Her week consists usually of trucking me to work (I don't have my drivers license), and running errands such as going grocery shopping (for those members of our family who can eat a five pound roast in a single sitting...of course I won't mention any names...uh uhm, Caleb), cleaning, and getting all of her articles in on time (all of which have been pondered deeply).

These two things (tithing/prioritizing my spending habits AND being a good home-maker/help-meet) are what I believe to be very important. The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not part from it." So I need to make these changes in my daily routine now while I am still learning, that when I am older I will know what is important and prioritize my life according to what I know to be right.

-Victoria.