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Rau QuartetThe 2008 Happenings of the Steve and Amy Rau Family serving with Family Life Ministries
October 04 Bridgette's BirthdayOur friend, Bridgette's 8th birthday was yesterday and we made the trip to Vestal to go to her princess party. It was held at a children's hair salon . The girls got their nails done, amazing hairstyles and the usual fun party stuff. It was so wonderful for those little girls! Well, and for the moms behind the cameras! Let me tell you there is an unconcious instinct to take a ridiculous amount of pictures that comes over a mom when her children are all dressed up! There also was Disney princess karaoke. My girls just loved it! I have a ton of pics and a few videos that just must be shared...
September 29 Simple SolutionI'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let's assume there are Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved. Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college - it'll be there Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car - create jobs Invest in the market - capital drives growth Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC . And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest. Kindest personal regards, Birk T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic September 26 Long week & prayer requestSteve has been gone at FLAME (Fellowship of Leaders Aquiring Ministerial Education) all week and he comes home late tonight! I miss him a ton. The girls have been good this week and we've been busy. Work was busy this week. I did a lot of housework and had several meetings/rehearsals too. I've been burning the candle at both ends at work and at home and I'm ready for a vacation!
Please pray with us about an unspoken situation. Can't give a lot of details right now, but we are looking for wisdom and guidance in God's will. We are willing to follow Him, whatever He asks of us...please help us pray to discern what He's leading us to do! September 20 Girls night outSteve is preparing for his ministerial classes. He leaves tomorrow for 6 days. Every evening and non-essential event that he doesn't have to attend has been spent with him at home reading or writing papers. He has to work this morning then is staying at work for the rest of the afternoon to finish up his last assignment before he leaves tomorrow. Steve really has been doing a great job with this. He never really liked school work and he always procrastinated everything he could...but this time he's really putting his heart and soul into it. It makes such a difference when you are studying the Bible and how to be a deeper follower of Christ! I haven't seen him play online games in weeks and he only briefly takes breaks to watch some baseball (Apparently the Phils are doing really well!) I'm so proud of him...he has grown a lot through this experience.
The down side is that this has sucked any family time we've had. He has to decline our outings, use his day off for school work (there has been a long "honey-do" list growing the last 2 weeks) and already I feel like I miss him and he hasn't even left yet. I hate that part. And when he gets home it will continue for awhile as he has to complete post-class work too. I'm trying to be supportive (I AM supportive of this) but it involves so much more than just "going to MD to take classes for 5 days." ~Sigh~ This is why ministry is hard for me. It can be as hard on family time as working overtime in a real job, but you can't blame the job!
Anyway, last night the girls and I went shopping without him. We needed a new vacuum and actually had the money to buy it outright! Woo hoo! We went to Michaels to buy some scrapbooking stuff to make cards for Daddy for his trip. I had a Michaels gift card from my birthday last year and finally had time to shop and use it! I also bought some candles for me...I love pumpkin spice candles in the fall!
Then we went to Sams to get the vacuum I had researched online. Paid for it in full with no guilt. Good feeling.
Next we headed to the mall to browse the toystore. There I found some stuff on sale and bought a birthday present for a party this weekend really cheap! I planned on picking something up at Walmart anyway but I think I got an even better deal.
Dinner time! We went to Friendly's as we had free kids meals coupons and I was happy to see that my favorite meal was actually on special and the whole meal for all of us only cost a little over $10.
We had to hit the arcade on the way out and spent one dollar. The girls each played 2 games and got gum, tatoos, 2 rings, 2 bracelets, and a notepad with their ticket winnings. Very fun time!
Finally on the way out I stopped by the jewelry store to have my rings cleaned for free. That's like getting my nails painted...makes me feel pretty!! They are gleaming!
So we had a ton of fun on our really cheap shopping trip! I guess is possible to have an outing without paying a fortune! Next time Daddy will have to do an outing with the girls while I have the weekend to myself. Maybe scrapbooking? Or a loooong, uninterrupted nap? Or a weekend away with my girlfriends? I'm ready!  September 14 HappeningsNothing really fun and wonderful to share today, just letting you what we've been up to. Hannah's top front tooth is loose! Now we're getting serious about this losing teeth thing...this one will really affect her smile! I know I don't want it to happen. As with all things growing up, I don't want her to change!! I've loved that beautiful smile for 6 years and as far as I'm concerned it is fine the way it is!
It will probably be just in time for Halloween. I guess she should dress up as a pumpkin!! As I was talking to her about that possibility, Emily overheard me say, "Halloween" and she immediately perked up and said, "Is it Halloween again?!?!?!" As if she were waiting and waiting for that fun holiday where she gets wear her "dress up" out of the house and gets free candy and lots of it!
 It must be hard to be a little one with not a great concept of time...a year sure is a long time to wait!Over the summer the Lord impressed on me to simplify my life. I was doing so much because I thought we needed the extra money so it was really hard for me to tell my students I wasn't teaching anymore. God told me that if I honored Him in this He would fill in the gaps. So as an update now with 2 weeks of school under my belt, I am reporting that God is making good on His promise. I have been monumentally less stressed. My work day is set in stone during school hours so I don't stay "a little longer today." I am home everyday by 3:00. I have time between picking up Em and picking up Hannah if I need to run some errands. We are all home together by 3:30. I have implemented a quiet time right after school where the girls read books, their Bibles, and have quiet playtime alone in their rooms. That gives them some down time and me too! I've been reading my Bible during that time too. They are getting used to it..my goal is for that time to become less and less of a struggle and more just expected. We all need some silence in our lives and I want my girls to have that built in as they grow up. It will not come naturally in the day and age we are living in.
After quiet time I have a chance to work on homework with Hannah, piano lessons with her, snuggle on the couch with them, or play a game. Then I start dinner and I feel like I finally have enough time to do everything. On the evenings we have no where to be at night I have time to do a load of laundry or some light housework and everything seems to get done. It has been wonderful! I am so thankful for this schedule...what a difference it has made. In a few weeks we will be adding rehearsals for our November dinner theater to our plate, but I'm so looking forward to it. That is my place to use my passions and talents God has given me!
In addition, God has made good on His promise to "fill in the gaps." Just this month so far I've gotten hired at an unexpected wedding, gotten hired to do photographs, and sold several things online and we have actually been doing better financially than we were this summer. We are so grateful. It is a wonderful thing to be in God's will and allow Him to work.
Steve is preparing to take some Bible courses in a couple of weeks. He is reading like a mad-man and preparing to work on some papers he has to write. I'm so proud of him and we are sure God is leading us in this direction. We also have offically become members of our church and the Wesleyan denomination. We are looking forward to what God has in store for us...we know something is on the horizon!
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