Gal4Christ's Blog

 

Something in me tonight clicked and more than anything now I want to really KNOW the Lord. I want him first in my life.  In order to do that I have to start praying more and reading the Word of God.  Really knowing the Lord is fellowshiping with him on a daily basis and not forgetting him as the day goes by and quit trying to do things myself and let God guide me and let him fill my life.  I don't care if I stay poor anymore.  The stress of worrying about it has been filling my life and not having faith in God that he will take care of me.   Surrendering our lives to him and having the peace of God filling my life is the most important goal in my life and telling people about the Lord and the peace that can fill your heart if you choose him.  It's the real peace and the only peace that is eternal.  We can try to search for peace through other things like alchol, drugs, or overeating, etc but the real peace is the one that the Lord Jesus Christ can give you if you choose to let him in your heart. 

This life is just a vapor and we are just traveling through and all of us are going to die eventually and it's the eternal goals that we should be striving for and while we need to still have goals here on earth to get us through this life our main goal should be getting to heaven and loving the Lord and loving your neighbor. 

Forgive me Lord and fill my life with eternal peace.  He is the king of all of us that accept him.  I do admit my faith has been wavering back and forth the last few years from losing my brother.  All I can say is Lord have mercy on me. 

From dust we were created and everyone will return to dust. Noone is better than the other person. I was sitting here tonight contemplating on the statuses in our lives. Someone's status in life might be better than others but it doesn't make them better than the poor person on the street. Even the President of the United States will turn to dust one day. I have so much appreciation in my heart for the workers in America that helps our animals and cleans up after them. I appreciate the Sanitation worker. I appreciate the waiters and waitresses. It takes all of us even the disabled because without the disabled then you may not have that caseworkers job. I got a college degree and accomplished things in my life but am I more important than the homeless person on the street? NO. I have never forgot the face of a walmart trucker one day when I was trying to get accross a highway. He stopped his truck and directed traffic in middle of the street so I could get accross on my wheelchair. I call him a true American with a heart. The President of the United States is an important position but that doesn't make him better than hardworking Americans that are doing their best at their jobs. I told my niece it doesn't matter as long as you are striving to do the best you can in life and working your hardest at a job.

I saw a segment last night on forensics where some people got sick from toxic mold in their house and I know I have dealt with mold in the past in rental apartment.  and these people I saw had to leave everything and not take it with them when they left and still had physical problems after they left from having this toxic mold so always ask questions about leaks before you move into a place.  Also ask about any possible meth labs in the apartment because you can get sick from that because it can still be in the carpet. 

I take pictues before and after I leave a place. 

Make sure when you have a maintenance problem put it in writing and keep a copy for yourself and date it and sign it. 

Know Missouri's renters laws about the security deposit.  They are not allowed to take off for normal wear and tear. 

Never look at the beauty of a place and think, WOW because there could be hidden problems that you don't know about until after you move in.

Turn the water on to make sure it don't stink etc and that the hot water heater is working normally,  

Check for sewer smells because traps might not be right. 

Of course ask about if they spray every few months for bugs.  In an apartment they should do that regularly.

Ask how your dryer is vented.

Some of these things I failed to ask and didn't find out until after i moved in and signed a lease. 

Know your rights as a tenant.  You can go to the Missouri Governor's website and find the laws for tenants and landlords.

It's time that tenants are more responsible and respectful and it's time landlords take care of their tenants and quit being cheap about making needed repairs.  This is our home!

I am moving into a new good apartment and my present landlord doesn't do much and I've had leaky roof and no security light and dryer is vented into the attic.  I thought this would be a good blog and if anyone else has had bad experiences and knows of good advice please post it.

I wonder if there is a Missouri Tenant's Association because we need one and we need advocates.

If all of us could be more conscious  from the government on down to the person who is getting food stamps and Medicaid that it is taxpayers $$ that is paying for these services.  When offices are redecorated at the Capitol or redone it's costing $$.  When a person goes to an emergency room unnecessarily it's costing taxpayers $$.  Government credit cards are cost taxpayer $$.   Meetings and traveling across the country for elected officials it's costing taxpayers $$.  If all of us could realize what we are leaving to our kids and grandkids and find ways to save $$ it would help.  If the Medicaid recipients could work togther with government officials and say this is what we need and the government officials would listen to us the consumers we could tell them from this end what services could be cut where it wouldn't hurt the truly needy.   We need reform from the government on down to the people on Medicaid but we need it done the right way and studies need to take place.

When Governor Blunt just started cutting saying he was cutting waste and abuse he hurt the truly needy too in Missouri.  He might of cut waste and abuse but he sure hurt alot of Missourians that need help.  People on Medicaid aren't always lazy and just in it to get $$ given to them.  They are in situations beyond their control and trapped in a system they can't get out of due to a disability.   Did Governor Blunt have to cut? Yes by law he has to balance the Missouri Budget but it's where he made the cuts that hurt.  There should have been studies done and it just happened to quick.  We need more private investigators implemented into these programs to stop the wasters and abusers but then we need them in the Government too lol.

 

I pay my rent every month and when I moved here it was advertised as "handicapped" accessible apartment.  The overseer told me when I questioned her about a regular maintenance man told me there was one here regularly.  She also told me there was a security light.  They also advertised washer dryer hookup. 

What i wasn't told was the maintenance man is in his 80's and does very little around here.  They didn't tell me either that another tenant had the security light in her name and when she left the bill wasn't paid and now no security light for my car and going to my car.  I wasn't told alot of things. 

Now my dryer is vented into the attic,  roof is leaking when it rains, and no security light.  I am moving and I am very sad about it because this became my home with wonderful memories of my family being here and I have to leave due to a slumlord.  I have boxes all around me and I guess I am struggling with the change and worrying if I am making the right decision where I am moving since they don't have washer, dryer hookup. My utilties will be paid there and there is a maintenance man there should a problem arise and they even change your light bulbs.  It's where I use to live before and moved out because of not having a place to do laundry.  They have laundry facilities but they only let you do laundry one hour a week at a scheduled time.

I just think it's sad when slumlords don't take responsibility and do repairs.  I hear it's the renters not taking care of places and that's probably true to a degree but there are people like me that pay their rent and do what they are suppose to do.  Good grief they can deduct repairs on their taxes.

I just saw on the tbn channel the history of the 1948 War - Israel and talk of the 6 day war 1967.   I also googled the prophesy of this war.  It's a miracle that Israel was able to conquer this war. God had to help them.  How could they have conquered all those nations that attacked them when they are not that big? 

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?con
tentId=7623585&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&p
ageId=1.1.1

Gas is dropping.  It's now 2.99 in some places.  They are expecting it to drop more.  Do you think this will shift the demand curve enough to drop prices in food? 

I won't be happy until gas is under 2.00  but I doubt if we see that again.  You think our economy could improve from the gas dropping? I do because from what i have been experiencing I won't buy clothes, shoes, etc because all my money has been going to just surviving on gasoline, food, toiletry items.  What do you all think?

I went to Walmart tonight with it in mind that i was going to only spend 30.00 for this week's budget.  I bought me a bag of apples for 4.75 cents (gala apples) so I would have an apple a day. Bananas 64 cents a lb.  2 bags of frozen vegetables stir-fry, some bacon for seasoning.  I bought a head of cabbage (low carb) and some turkey polish sausage to season cabbage.  Pizza rolls for the teenagers when they come to visit.  I still did not get my meat for the whole month and it came to $71.00.  I have to be on diabetic diet so I tried to buy low carb stuff and it's just too expensive if you are trying to cut fat too.  Bread was $1.98 for whole wheat 1/2 the sugar.  Yogurt plain was higher in carbs than the kind i bought with strawberries in it for $2.50.  This is the groceries I have to get by on for one month.  I meant to go to Aldi's with the other 40 but I miscalculated it in my head lol.  It's too expensive to eat healthy.  Aldi's don't have stuff that's 1/2 the sugar and things like that or I would have went there first.  What could I have done better? 

I just spent 57.00 on toiletry items and didn't buy everything I needed and this is has to last me a month.  How much are you spending?  I went to the Dollar Store.  I didn't mean to spend over 25.00 and it stunned me.

People diabetes is preventable with exercising and diet.  Don't let it happen to you. I just got diagnosed with diabetes and have to adjust to checking my sugar every day and am forced to go on a diet. 

If all your bills were paid could you live on $100.00 for food, toiletry items, gasoline, clothing, etc if you were by yourself mostly?  If so, how would you budget and what else would you have to do to make it?  Just curious. 

Amidst all the determination that I have had in the past and my present situation is my American Dream vanishing? 

 When I was young at the age of 17 my dad passed away suddenly with a heart attack leaving me with the responsibility of taking care of my mom who was severely handicapped with emphysema that was slowly taking her life and it was taking my life too.  I managed to take some courses at college when I was young and also after a few years of going to college we lost our grandfather which threw me into another caretaking role of taking care of our grandmother.  I had to drop out of college.  I never really got to date seriously and think about getting married and having children but I did get blessed with the memories and the love of those two ladies and that I will never regret.  You see I loved them and when you love someone you sacrifice for them and that's what I had to do.  I started having anxiety attacks and high blood pressure and always had a disability with my foot and struggling to take care of them.  I had to apply for disability myself because of all the stress I was under and the anxiety attacks and to be honest I am slow.  I have slow motor skills and doctors don't know why to this day.  Well I took all the tests that they sent me to and they determined I was "disabled". 

     I do have a diagnosis of being disabled due to a severely nerve damaged foot and mental slowness.  Yet I know that I have abilities.  I can type, file, and do all those things and know accounting and am good with numbers.  Yet in my quest for employment after obtaining an Associate Degree, I still can't manage to get a job.  I have been applying alot to different openings and got one interview.    I spent 4 years at college getting that degree going part time because full time would have been a little much and doing work-study with my disabilities.  Yet through that I managed to take care of my dying brother and I look back and ask myself how did I do that and I say "through the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ."  If I don't get to go to work then I will still keep on going trying to accomplish that American Dream and get out of poverty.  Maybe I will write a book and hope it gets published but you never give up on your dreams.  The way I look at it is if an employer doesn't want to hire me because of my disabilities then it's his loss because I know in my heart that I would have done my best and he or she would have had a good employee that believes in being dependable, honest, hardworking, and motivated and would have been accurate in what I do because I do work slower and am detailed in what I do and want to do it right. 

   I got many battles not just with my disabilities but with the SSI Laws and how once I go to work unless I get a full-time job with benefits I won't be improving my life financially and it will just be prestige that I will be getting for being out of the system and being self-dependent and that is wonderful but I have to be able to survive too.  I am presently having to utilize food pantrys again after a year and a half of improving my life through work-study which was exempt from govt cutting my SSI check. Now that's over and I am back to where I started only one thing,  I accomplished getting a degree and that can never be taken away from me.  That will go with me until I die and I say "I did it!"  I accomplished that and am proud and I won't give up my American Dream.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?arti
clekey=25259

I was reading this article and thought it explains real well what caregiver's go through dealing with loved ones that have alzheimer's.  A friend who's wife has alzheimer's is going through a rough time.  He can't keep the laundry clean because she forgets and changes clothes sometimes 4 times a day.  He has to constantly repeat what he told her and the stress is getting to him but he loves her and don't want to put her in a nursing home because  when he tries to fill out the papers he starts feeling like he's being deceptive like he's putting her away.  His emotions is all involved in this and he's not sure what he wants to do because also he found out that a nursing home is going to take half his assets and put a lien on his home when she switches over to Medicaid from private insurance.  He wanted to leave his home to his children, grandchildren, etc.  Now he's facing major decisions and wants to do the right thing for her care.  She's such a sweet lady and she knows when she is confused sometimes and she knows when she's having confusion.  Today she didn't even know her own home and if that was her home.  It's so sad. 

My landlord vents our dryers in attic because he says there is no way to vent them outside and a friend told me that is a fire hazard and that lint is flammable.  I live in an apartment and if I report it I will get the landlord upset with me and also my vent hose is pretty long inside.  I am wondering if this is in violation of a fire code and yet if I report it I don't want to have to move because I have no where to go right now.  Landlord told me it was okay because the attic is open on each end.

I recently had a job interview and the pay was starting at $7.15 an hour.  The requirements was to be able to answer a 9 line telephone, make appointments, type, and wait on customers.  Do you think this is too much for a $7.15 an hour job.  There would be others there helping but they asked me if I was a multitasker or a one-tasker and not dealing with that kind of atmosphere before I really didn't know if I could do all that.  They acted like it was extremely fast paced.  I keep hearing that employers will work one employee to death to keep from paying taxes for another employee.  I have worked in various offices and loved it but this seemed to be an extreme for $7.15 an hour.  What do you think?  I would love to hear from an employer's perspective and employee's perspective.  Since I am not that experienced and a recent graduate it might help me to know the real business world.