Skip to main content

Day 12 of 40

Sometimes, I get trapped by numbers. It's not the best feeling and part of my brain says "Self, you must be looking at this wrong." But then I fall into doing more and more calculations in hopes that  my math skills are what's askew, as opposed to my outlook. 
This year appears to be the one that God has decided to address me about this. Late last year, I stopped weighing myself. I've talked about me and the scale before. But I felt a really strong call within me from God to let it go for a year. To just not step on and find out. A year where my emotions have to find another source. This Lent, God has been putting me in places where I'm having to address some of that desire to get emotions from numbers. Mainly I've been trying to work myself up over my personal finances. And when I say personal finances, the only things that I pay for are fuel and luxuries. Seriously, I've been freaking out (internally) over a luxury budget! And there are people in this world, lots of people that spend in an entire year to survive what I receive in monthly luxuries. 
I think one of my problems is that I'm a saver. I LOVE to save money! I love having funds just sitting in the bank. And I love plans! I love setting aside a specific amount and just letting it grow. I think my problem is that I'm rigid. I will put that money in savings regardless of the situations that are actually occurring. So I'll stick five dollars in a fund for camp, even though today that five dollars could afford me a fun afternoon with my daughter.
I'm saving for a maybe and I may very well be missing out on the only opportunity I may have to enjoy the people I'm saving for! Saving in itself isn't bad, we save up for large purchases all the time. But if I save at the expense of living today, that's no good. That's not saving, that's robbing. And I can see that my love of numbers can turn me into a robber. So today, I'm going to be a giver instead. We'll see how that goes.

"If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need." 
Ephesians 4:28 New Living Translation

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hospitality for the Rest of Us: Long Distance

People are moving more and more. When I was a youngster, it was a rare instance for a friend to move away. Now it's me that moves away. We've moved a lot, especially when we first got married. It was something like five addresses and three states in the first four years of our marriage. We've slowed down a bit. In the midst of all that moving, we've made some friends along the way. I try to keep an open line in case of times of grief and celebration. One of the best tools I've found for keeping in touch with loved ones far away is Facebook. As much time as I could spend doing other things instead of checking it, it's the best thing I've found. It allows me to communicate with others, without having to call. I know calling is amazing, hearing people's voices, but for introverts, there are no body language clues for us to pick up on that help make our conversations easier. It's also why we prefer to video chat :-) Back to Facebook, some etiquette.

Stories from the Kitchen: Taste and See

I celebrated my birthday last weekend. It was wonderful and the leftovers left me with a question or two. Find out what they are and how I'm currently answering them in this week's podcast. Stories from the Kitchen Season 2, Episode 2: Taste and See Notes from the episode: Taste and See by Margaret Feinberg Dad’s New York Cheesecake (from the back of a Philidelphia Cream Cheese package) 1 ⅞ cups graham cracker crumbs ¼ to ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup sugar, divided 2 lbs cream cheese (4 packs) 2 large eggs (lightly beaten) 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp cornstarch 1 cup sour cream Preheat oven to 450F Mix well graham crackers, 2 tbsp sugar, and enough butter that the mixture holds together. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Press mixture onto bottom and sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Chill in the freezer while preparing the filling. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch until just blended. S

Threadbare Knees

I feel sure that you've heard the saying "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Well, recently I picked up a pair of wool cashmere blend slacks from Salvation Army and upon further inspection at home, the knees were threadbare, practically holes.  Easy enough to miss, when your knees don't fall in the same spot as the previous owner.  They were inexpensive, so it wasn't a big monetary loss, but I felt like it would be a shame to toss such nice fabric and so I searched the internet to see what I could do.  I found this cute little purse pattern, for free!   You can go check it out by clicking here . It is a great little pattern and I was able to make the entire purse in one rainy day!  Here are some pictures of my threadbare knees purse. Don't you just love those little pleats? And there's even a little pocket inside.  I'm so impressed with myself! Time to fill it up with my keys and such non-sense! And remember, when life gives you th