The month of February is near and dear to our hearts….of course, there’s Valentine’s Day on the 14th, but also it is a time to focus on ways to help teens develop healthy relationship skills. In these difficult days, teens are struggling more than ever with this problem. It’s very good to remember that safe,…
Creating a spending plan is essential to being a good steward of your resources and to reach your financial goals. Now that you have reviewed 4 months of expenses you have a good idea of what you are spending each month. Let’s begin with the categories and recommended percentages to use as guidelines in setting…
To achieve your financial goals, you have to put a plan in place. Having a spending plan is the best way to achieve the goals you have set and you may discover new goals you want to put in place. I like the spending plan that is referred to as Zero Balance Budgeting. You put…
Little Wife set her empty wine glass on the kitchen table and gazed sadly out the window at the falling snow. The weak mid-January sunlight filtered through the cold clouds barely reaching the ground before dissolving into another gray afternoon. “Well,” she thought to herself, “If I’ve had one glass of wine and broken my…
When you woke up on January 1, 2024, how did you feel? Hopeful or hopeless? Joyful or depressed? Blessed or afflicted? Full of faith or full of fear? Maybe you had a nice stew of all of those emotions as you opened your eyes in this new year. We understand that. We are here for…
I was recently asked, “What New Year’s Resolutions are you going to make?” I quickly answered “none.” I find it more fruitful to reflect on my “stones of remembrances” of God’s faithfulness to me and the ministry throughout the year. This year has been one of those challenging years personally and in ministry. In my…
Once we have established our own household it is necessary to prioritize and organize our thoughts around our finances, especially if we did not have the responsibility for them in the past. If we have children, our thoughts and actions usually revolve around them and their activities and everything else is put behind them. We…
While leading divorce recovery groups in the mid 1990’s, I became acutely aware of the issues newly single people were having with their finances. Many hadn’t been included in the financial decisions of the married household and they had never overseen a budget. At that time I was referring people in my groups to the…
We praise God for raising up an army of generous funders and donors over the past 29 years of FOCUS Ministries. Where would we be without GOD? Where would we be without YOU? The Lord is our only Hope — in days gone by, He was faithful. Today as I am writing this little post,…
Joan woke up in the morning with heaviness on her heart. “Another day, another problem,” she thought. It seemed like every day there was another mountain to climb, hurdles to jump, and barriers to get around. She could not make sense of her relationship with Tom. One minute he appeared sensitive to her feelings and…