Mr. Roy is off on a business trip – so that means it is stop spending time. I like to see how little money I can spend when I am home alone. It isn’t really fair or possible to do this experiment when Mr. Roy is home; he isn’t an extravagant spender and I don’t want to be a scrooge. But when I am alone – it’s time for the fun to begin! I’ll be eating out of the supplies on hand and only making emergency food purchases – right now that means milk. I also need dishwasher detergent so I guess that means I’ll be washing dishes by hand for the next two weeks. Because of our schedule at work, I’ll probably be having to buy some lunches out instead of brown-bagging it but I can’t really change that.
God has blessed me with enough in the bank to buy groceries if I want them but I enjoy testing myself. I also know there are a lot of people out there living on a lot less than me who don't have the luxury of pulling out the debit card if push comes to shove. It's good for me to remind myself of that - and here's the clincher - I've never, never gone hungry or ended up with an empty pantry in all the years I've been doing this. That means I have way more to be thankful for than a lot of folks.
Years ago I read a Jeanette Oke book about a young girl who goes to rural Canada to be a missionary/teacher. The community supports her mostly by giving her eggs - one thing farm women usually have plenty of. The problem is that everyone gives her eggs and nothing else, not even a little money, but she doesn't want to complain and appear ungrateful so the people don't realize what they are doing. She eats the eggs in every imaginable way until she just wants to cry rather than eat another egg. Finally, the people realize what has happened and get a little more organized about sharing their bounty with her. When I go into stop-spending mode, I always think of that girl eating eggs and not having enough money even to buy a little flour or oil to make them more palatable. Mostly I remember that she tried her best to be thankful for the eggs even when she hated them because they were a blessing to her. I want to be like that.
So, stop spending time, here I come!
This is exactly why I always have fruit cocktail, cherry pie filling, and ritz crackers on hand. When I'm home alone and eating from what is on hand I like to be able to indulge myself. Oh and those little boxes of cereal - there you go breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert! Love it!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the $2 meal challenge that Compassion encouraged families to do - go to the grocery store as a family and select something for one meal spending no more than $2. The challenge was to remind us that more than 3 billion people on this earth live on less than $2 PER DAY.
ReplyDeleteScott, Jonah & I were good to go with pinto beans. Jacob wasn't all that happy ;-)
I remember reading that Janette Oke story too, years ago. It brings to mind from time to time how grateful we should be in all circumstances, because we are always supplied our daily needs. God is good!
ReplyDeleteThank you for an inspiring site!
I also remember reading that Janette Oke book years ago. What struck me most was how reliant the girl was on the Lord to provide for all her needs, without grumbling to anyone. It certainly challenged me to try and do the same.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Cleveland, Tennessee many years ago as a foreign student's wife. I loved the time there.
Thank you for an inspiring site!