We are more than conquerors through Christ

We acknowledge God’s blessings in our own life as well as those around us Of course, we have our share of problems and struggles, but for the most part, the Lord has provided for our basic needs and to be honest, he has also given us a lot of luxuries Our seasons of difficulty might be with a relationship, financial hardships, issues with our health, the loss of a loved one or the occasional internal suffering associated with a painful emotion called rejection

In the hard times, we are tempted to deny the situation or hide from the agony, to which we all know is like putting a band-aid on a broken arm Discouragement and depression are real and unfortunately, a lot of people live with a smile on the outside but are crying on the inside There are several keys that can help us overcome feelings of being ostracized and one of them is instead of asking God to change everyone’s view of us, we can ask him to allow us to see ourself the way he sees us Researching the big-picture of our situation and analyzing every detail will allow us to trace the cause and discover a deeper understanding about why we feel the way we do When we comprehend how our personal trigger mechanisms and response buttons operate, this is a huge step toward realizing that the way we think dictates our contentment and confidence

Sometimes our rejection is associated with our gifts and talents and how we believe that no one cares about what we enjoy When it comes to our spiritual well-being, an important key to consider is that whatever we do for God, it’s wise to be sure that God told us to do it It’s much better to listen and follow God’s directions than to do something on our own and then ask him to bless it The idea of patience is to prevent putting the cart before the horse It’s easy to forget that obedience is up to us, but the results of our labors are up to him and are solely based on his intentions. If we really believe this, we would never be upset because we would know that everything is being accomplished according to his will If we are dissatisfied with the results, then we are probably focusing on our own projections and expectations instead of trusting that God is guiding our life with his divine sovereignty For example, by the mercy of God when we are allowed to create something and it’s used to help encourage one person, then maybe that was God’s original objective In this light, just because we are not world-famous or making millions does not mean we have failed to be a success in God’s view Being popular with the world has nothing to do with how much God loves you and is pleased with you

Sometimes our misery is caused when we assume something is one way when it’s actually something else It’s not always true that others do not like us or respect us It might seem like it, but most of the time it’s simply that others do not have an interest in what we are interested in Humans are very diverse and in the same way we are probably not excited about dressing up like a clown, this is the same attitude people have about what we enjoy To be honest, people are just more focused on their own life than what we are doing Do not take it personally or be offended when your friends at work, church, social media, or even your family are not excited about your dreams If you are being haunted by rejection, I want to encourage you today to seek God’s promises about how precious you are and write them on the tables of your heart Remember that Jesus also faced severe rejection, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” John 1:11 Keep your focus on Christ and he will help dissolve the unhappiness, hopelessness, and discouragement in your life Lay your visions and talents at the feet of the one who made you and depend on his plans as we have this promise in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up ”

Ask for a free copy of the scripture CD, “keeper of my Soul” and learn about Billy’s brand-new book, “Convictions and considerations

Habakkuk

3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.

Living with children Financial Bind: Use my emergency fund or take on debt?

Hey Taylor - My car died the other day and I need to get a replacement ASAP I’m wondering if it makes more sense to take some money from my emergency fund or take on a little bit of debt (I think I could pay it off in about three months) Any thoughts? - Karen

Hey Karen - Sorry to hear about the car! Sounds like a less-than-ideal situation, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do Instead of me giving any sort of directive, let’s go over the pros and cons of each option.

1 Emergency fund It’s there for emergencies, and this probably feels like a dire situation If you don’t have a car to get to and from work, you won’t be able to afford anything, much less a new car However, the real need for an emergency fund comes when you find yourself either unemployed or incapacitated Ideally, you leave that money alone until circumstances truly leave you with no other option The only time I’d advocate for pulling out of your emergency fund is if you feel confident you can reimburse yourself quickly and you aren’t using all of those savings If you can take less than half the fund and replace that money within a couple of months, that’s not the worst scenario

2 Credit Whether you get a loan from the dealership or put the expense on a credit card, you’ll lose money by way of interest I hate debt and would prefer almost any other route, but if you have good credit and get a decent APR, paying interest for three months might be worth leaving your emergency fund untouched This all comes down to the size of the loan, the amount of interest and whether or not you have other outstanding balances I already pay a bunch in loans or other credit ca lean toward not putting any further into the red

3 Wait You didn’t me option, but I’m still goi it up I know you need ASAP but have you loo every option? Can you get by doing rideshare in the short term? Sometimes it costs less to pay for Uber or Lyft than it does to cover your own car payment, gas, and insurance Can you try public transportation for a month while you look for a cheap vehicle? Do you have a friend going out of town who might let you drive their car? These options could all be nonstarters, or one of them could solve everything and save you a chunk of money

Buying a new car is one of life’s necessary evils, which is why we all need to budget for just such an event If you’re interested, you can read about some of my “must budget” items at GoFarWithKovarcom In the end, you just need to find the least costly way to move forward and go for it Good luck, Karen!

Taylor Kovar, CEO of Kovar Capital Read more about Taylor at GoFarWithKovar com

Disclaimer: Information presented is for educational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein To submit a question to be answered in this column, please send it via email to Question@GoFarWithKovar com, or via USPS to Taylor Kovar, 415 S 1st St, Suite 300, Lufkin, TX 75901

Howe 21, Ponder 35 stats

Howe Bulldogs

Team

Rushing: 41-228 yards

Passing: 12-19-1-146, 3TD

Individual

Jaylen Thornton 15-172, Caiden Harmon 15-49, Austin Haley 6(-2), Carson Daniels 4-4, Brandon Williams 1-5.

Passing Austin Haley 12-19-1-146, 3TD

Receiving Steven Waldrip 4-37, 1TD; Caiden Harmon 3-37, 1TD; Jalen Thorton 2-31; Jordan Jones 1-34, 1TD; Arturo Lowder 2-5.

Ponder Lions Team Rushing: 40-353, 5TD

Passing: 5-8-0-88 Individual Chase Taylor 17-190, 3TD Terrance Clark 22-143, 1TD Oscar Martinez 1-21

Taylor 5-8-0-88

Proving, once again, that fact is stranger by far than fiction, a grandmother recently asked me what she should do about her daughter-inlaw who, despite her husband’s increasingly meek objections, is determined to do everything possible to turn the first grandchild, a three-year-old girl, into the next Lady Gaga Or Carrie Underwood Let’s just say somebody immensely famous, not to mention talented The daughter-in-law has the hapless child – who obviously has no say in the matter – enrolled in voice and acting lessons Dance begins imminently The child already performs in Little Miss Pageants, has her hair done by a professional stylist, and is already learning to walk in high heels

“I’m just so sad for my granddaughter,” grandma said “Is there anything I can do to stop this insanity?”

What? Kidnap the child and board the next Space-X rocket to Mars?

This is a sign of the times The time has all but gone when parents understood that job one was to train proper character into a child. Today’s parents seem to think they are responsible for ensuring that their children accomplish things amazingly awesome enough to brag about at tailgate parties and barbeques You may be fairly runof-the-mill, but by golly, your child is going to be da bomb

What grandma’s daughter-in-law doesn’t figure into her plans is that seventy-seven thousand, four hundred and twenty-three mothers (and those fathers who have no man caves in which to hide), at last official count, have the same plans for their kids Thus, we have college admission cheating scandals because for these folks, the end justifies the means And that’s probably just the tip of the Trophy Child iceberg

It’s pitiful, really, parents deriving meaning for their lives from their children’s accomplishments The end result is lives intertwined in perpetual codependency The children in question have no claim to lives of their own They’re mere actors, following scripts, eventually wondering what their lives would have been like if they’d been allowed to do their own homework and choose their own

Extracurricular Activities

Emancipation is a two-way street

When, for example, our kids left home, my wife and I gained as much freedom as they More, actually, because we had money to spare We looked at one another and asked, “What is this ‘empty nest’ syndrome we hear so many of our peers bemoning?” The purpose of our parenting was to get the kids out of the house How does success at that – kids who leave, who pay their own way, who don’t come back (save to visit), who ask for advice on occasion but manage, by trial and error, to figure it out for themselves – translate into a problem?

It translates into a problem if and only if the parents in question can’t stop being parents because during the incubation, they stopped being husband and wife. Eventually, inevitably, that train will leave the station, which explains the significant increase in the statistical chance of divorce after the last child leaves, which may, in turn, explain why so many children aren’t leaving

Along that line, research strongly suggests that the Trophy Child is not, in many if not most cases, a happy person A high opinion of oneself correlates with low emotional resilience. People with elevated esteem for their bad selves – an illusion if ever there was one – are more likely than your average Joe or Jolene to experience periodic bouts of clinical depression, proving that what goes up, will come down

One of the most valuable gifts parents can give their children is part-time parenting Being the center of someone’s attention, unless said person is one’s spouse, is a burden that no child should be expected to shoulder

The moral of the story: It’s a wonderful thing when a child realizes that he’s going to be able to make a better life for himself than his parents are willing to make for him

Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond com, parentguru com

John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society