Bitter Sweet

Well the top three families was announced on Saturday and we're not one of them, so we are pressing our way. If you've ever been in a race and was not winning, then you can imagine how we're feeling right now. Non-the-less we're still happy to be in the race. Not being in the top three does not mean we have lost. It simply means we have to work harder to get the ultimate prize. So now, we're shifting into overdrive and holding the pedal to the floor. We're not breaking for stop signs, speed bumps nor traffic lights and we won't let up until we cross the finish line.

~The Canty's~

Playing 'KetchUp

'

It’s been really nice having the rain everyday to cool things off a bit. However, in the midst of cooling things off it’s been putting us off from work, because it’s been too wet to mow in the afternoons when we get off from work. So, while things are picking up, the rain is putting us behind in our work. Hopefully we will be able to play ‘ketch up’ this week.

Missing In Action

Did any of the families wonder why the Canty's did not show up for the webisode viewing? Well, we attend my family reunion this weekend and had a wonderful time. Nothing is more important than family, so we couldn't break away because we didn't want to miss out on anything. We met and greeted members of our family which we haven't seen in over five years and we even met some new member of the family. Our time this past weekend was well spent and we are greatful to have our family.

Thank God for family!

~The Canty's~

The Wait that Broke the Camel Back

After convincing Mitchell to pay off past due debt the debt collectors have such nasty attitudes with me. No, No, No I said, you don’t get an attitude with me. We are attempting to right the wrong, but since you won’t accept the settlement then we will just wait a few more months and it will be charged off. Don’t misunderstand me, I do want this weight off my husband, but we will not be talked to any kind of way by these people.

I can say that no all of them are nasty. The first company we talked with did work with us and we were able to pay it off.

I tell you the truth we just can’t seem to win.

Struggling,

The Canty Family

The Doors of the Church Are Open

Well, we pray the doors will open soon. We recently submitted a couple of bids to clean some local churches, but have not received any responses at this time. So, we are in the waiting stage. We’re waiting to take a trip down the isles, so we’ve gased up the vacuum and our mop is always on standby to cleanup a dirty situation.

Stay tuned!

Unemployed - Will Work

Christopher has been looking for a summer job, but has had no luck. All the places he has been to start workers at age 16 and he's only 15. But, he commend him because he is not giving up. I really wanted him to get a job so he could have the on hand experience, but there are a lot of other people who nee a job more than Christopher. So, we will encourgage him to start doing some volunteer hours for the summer.

The Canty's

No Rest for the Weary Starting a business is not easy. Business owners work harder for themselves than for someone else.After working five days on our full time jobs we worked late nights at the church for All-n-One, barely left any time for us to cut our own grass at home. But, we are thankful for momma and Chris for helping out. So, we did exactly what the Bible tell us to “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord hath made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it”.We did not leave the house at all today, we rested. We thank God for rest.

Blues Festival

How can we take a vacation when we are trying to save and pay off bills? No, we don't want to go to a Blues Festival, we just want to get away, but regardless of where we go we'll have to spend money. Yes we have checked the websites that our coaches gave us, but haven't been able to find anything reasonable. We want to stay focused on the contest, but in doing so, we are burning ourselves out. We want to be like Khandis and win something.

Land of The Lost! Have you ever lost anything that meant the world to you? Well I experienced this last week when I lost my wedding ban. I am just thankful that my wife was there to witness me taking it off. Do you have any ideal the level of trouble that I would have been in if she wasn’t? I’m glad I didn’t have to find out! I was working on the lawn tractor one evening to repair a problem myself rather than spend money for a small engine repairman. At the point of finishing up we was going to pay my favorite sister-in-law (my wife’s ONLY sister) a visit. I took off my ring and placed it on the side of my truck. I took out the hand cleaner to help cut all the grease from my hands. At the time my mother-in-law pulled in and we talked briefly. After getting all washed up Angela and I jumped in the truck and I left the grass smoking as we thrust forward. I was about two miles down the road, then it hit me, I forgot to get my ring. Before we could make it back home it started to rain. I walked the path that I had traveled desperately looking for a needle in the hay stack. The next morning I woke up before the chickens grab the yard rake and had small mounds of dead grass and leaves five feet from the tire tracks I had left the day before. I sifted through every pile just knowing that I would remain a married man. My works proved to be worthless. I think it calmed my wife to see my determination and dedication that I displayed. But it really troubled me because I lost something so symbolic. I went to the local rental store to rent a metal detector. I waited for the store to open and rented the only metal detector they had and flew home. I started scanning where I was parked. I scanned the yard and came up empty. As I was about to give up I looked to my right and my ring was there on top of all the leaves and straw. My wife thought my ring had washed away from the path because of all the heavy rain, but it didn’t. After seeing the rind I put the detector over it and it wouldn’t even scan, so having it was a waste. Thank God, it once was lost, but now it’s found.

Money in My Pocket - NOT!

Paying bills in a timely manner and saving money for rainy days was something I seldom took serious. I have a better understanding of the value of a dollar thanks to my best friend, my personal consultant, and my number one supporter, my wife.

Since the start of this challenge I’ve implemented the power of sacrifice. Now oppose to keeping my money in my pocket on pay day, I have been putting a percentage in my checking and savings accounts. While keeping out a small amount for gas and lunch for the week. Needless to say, ten percent of my earning is deducted every week for tithes.

Well, I have been saving and now my past is my present. I’ve been receiving bills from my past, so I’ve decided to pay them instead of throwing them in the trash. I am working on correcting my credit so we can move forward to build our dream home.

You can run, but you can't hide, so to everyone out there who think their getting away with not paying their bills, beware the Bill Collectors are coming.

MCanty