Frugality Idea: Having Fun (with a Spiritual twist) :)

It's fun to see how seemingly random things are used by God.   A few weeks ago some ladies online and I decided to do a Bible study together.  We all have children who are 2 1/2 (with many of us having other children also).  We settled on the book "The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd.  I was unfamiliar with this author but liked the summary.  We have only done 3 chapters so far but I'm really enjoying this study.  Not only has it been a great study on parenting; the author encourages you to focus on a verse or verses from your reading to memorize. 

In my post on frugality I had mentioned one of my priorities was to Have fun! Some of the ways I had listed to achieve this was to do crafts, etc.  Well, this week in "The Power of a Positive Mom" we were encouraged to foster our children's natural, God-given gifts.  Showing that their talents come from God and all they have is to be used for God's glory.  Chapter 3 focused on speaking encouragement to our children.  One quote that caught my eye was "We can use Scripture to encourage our children as well.  We can compliment them on demonstrating the same kind of loyalty that Ruth showed  toward Naomi or on being a good friend like Jonathan was to David" (pg 46).    The author also asked us to look for those things that really capture our children's interest.  What they love to do! 

I had an idea in mind but wanted to see if the kids would really be interested.  As soon as I told them my idea they loved it and off we went.  Here is what we did.  I let them choose a Bible story for us to read together.  They both chose the story of Zaccheaus.  So I pulled out my Bible and read, then I asked them the following questions:
1) Why didn't people like Zaccheaus? He had cheated them, been unkind.
2) What example did Jesus show to the crowds? He showed love for someone who wasn't very loveable..He lived out "love your enemies"
3) What happened when Jesus went to Zaccheaus' house?  He believed and was saved.
4) What can we learn from Jesus?  That no matter how unkind someone is we still need to be kind and to show them God's love.  We don't know what is in their heart and they may just be waiting for someone to show them God's love before they will believe.
5) What can we learn from Zaccheaus?  When we realize we have sinned we need to repent and turn from our sin.  Zaccheaus didn't just say he was sorry he actively showed the change in his heart.

While we were discussing these questions Ethan was drawing and coloring a storyboard/background of what happened (he did two, one of when Jesus saw Zaccheaus in the tree and one of Zaccheaus' house).  Ethan loves to draw and is very artistic.  He also decided to build two Lego figures to place in front of the background (to act out the story).  Hailey loves anything musical and will often write little songs so her task was to write a song about what happened.  She was very excited to do this. 
Not only did this activity give the opportunity for spiritual discussion but it also highlighted their talents, was a lot of fun for them and was free!  I'm certainly planning to do this again in the near future.

One Thousand Gifts

Isn't it amazing that the most simple of ideas can be the most profound and life-altering.  The book "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are" by Ann Voskamp is just such a thing.  A dear friend of mine gave me a copy of this book one day at church with a note saying how much she had been encouraged by it's message.  On the ride home I decided to flip thru the first few pages.  I was immediately pulled in by her style of writing and by her open and honest journey to discover what gratitude really is all about.

What does gratitude look like in our daily lives?  Are we truly thankful for what God has given us?  Do we even see all that He has blessed us with?  The author is challenged to write out 1000 gifts that God has given her.  As she moves thru the process of listing these gifts her perspective on the things around her, even the most minute things, is changed.

I know many people who have started gratitude journals.  I've never been one to keep up with a journal but am definitely a list keeper so I loved the idea of a simple list.  I have started this list and have been finding myself looking for those gifts.  Looking for those things that I take for granted or overlook in the busyness of life; and when I see one...slowing down to truly appreciate and thank God for his love and care.  It's amazing how when you are focused on nourishing an "attitude of gratitude" so many other areas of your life are affected.  I am reminded over and over of how limited my sight is, how skewed my perspective is and how perfect God's plans are. 

Another of the challenges, which the author echoes from Scripture, is to give thanks in all circumstances ("in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18).  God's deep desire is for us to give thanks no matter what we face because our thanksgiving shows that we are trusting Him, that we truly believe He is good and His plans are good, that we can see beyond the temporal, to His eternal purposes.  Whether or not we understand the "whys" we can thank Him that everything he allows into our lives He will work for good (Romans 8:28) and that each circumstance we face is leading us further along in the perfect plans that God has for each one of us (Jeremiah 29:11).

Jesus, our greatest example, showed this attitude at His darkest hour:  

I Corinthians 11:23-25 "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: 

that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;  and 

when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is 

broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same manner He also took 

the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood."  

"Facing the abandonment of God Himself (does it get any worse than this?), Jesus offers thanksgiving for even that which will break Him and crush Him and wound Him and yield a bounty of joy." (pg 36)

There are countless blessings that God gives each day, we must simply slow down, be still and truly see.

Figuring out frugality

I know, I know it seems like every blogger in the universe is posting about ways to be frugal.  So why do a post on frugality?  Well, I've read many of those blog posts and have tried many of their suggestions only to get discouraged when I don't save 90% on my grocery bill by using coupons or because I don't have a chest freezer full of meals all ready to just heat & eat.  I would find myself questioning if I was just not being a good steward of the resources God has provided or if I really was just too dense to figure it all out.  Then I had a lightbulb moment.  The problem was that I was trying all these great ideas that worked for their families.  That were based on the priorities they had for their homes.  I wanted to be a good steward but had never taken the time to figure out what the priorities for our home were. 

I began figuring out these priorities by thinking back over conversations with my husband and trips to the grocery store where he tagged along.  Some questions I considered were:
What did he choose to buy?  Why? 
What things did he have me choose differently? 
What do I desire for my family? 
What do my kids prefer?
What is our schedule like? 
How much time can I dedicate to being frugal (let's face it clipping coupons, cooking meals for a month, even just checking the latest ads can take a huge chunk of time)? 
Most important of all, how could I use frugality to show God's love to my family?


After answering these questions, these are the priorities that I've determined.  Again, your answers will be different but here are mine (I'm hoping to do blog posts, in the near future, for each of these ideas):

Priority:      
Spending time with my family.     
                                                        
Frugal ideas to achieve this:
Meal plan
Cleaning schedule/plan
Cook with the kids. 
Use natural cleaners such as vinegar & baking soda so the kids can help clean without being exposed to chemicals.

Priority:
Use high quality foods, organic if possible.

Frugal idea to achieve this:
Join CSA
Buy in bulk
Use rewards programs or coupons.
Stock up on marked down meats.
Eat less meat.

Priority:
Teach our kids the joy of a job well done & service to others.

Frugal idea to achieve this:
Make family favorites.  Think about what family members like and surprise them with a treat.
Make homemade versions of favorite store bought treats.
Make cleaning fun!!
Make surprises for family members (cards, pictures, etc.) or surprise them by serving them in some way.

Priority:
Have fun!

Frugal idea to achieve this:
Crafts
Puppet shows
Acting out Bible stories
Playing in our own private "park" (backyard)

So those are my frugality priorities and some ideas to achieve those goals.  What are yours?

Lemon, Lemon, Lemon...

This seems to be the theme for many blogs lately. I love anything lemon and I noticed that a lot of the blogs I frequent had posts about lemons. Of course, this meant that I had to make something lemon. But what to make....

I love the lemon loaf that Starbucks sells so I decided to do a google search for Lemon pound cake recipes. I found one titled Starbucks Lemon Pound Cake; a very promising start. Now, the pound cake is typically served with a lemon glaze (which is also delicious, and the recipe is included at the bottom of the cake recipe) but I wanted to do something a little different.

Mrs. T over at Across My Kitchen Table had recently blogged about a lemon curd that is made in the microwave. Now, let me pause here to say that I'm a cooking snob when it comes to the microwave. The idea of using my microwave for anything other than melting butter or reheating something is just not appealing to me. However, after reading Mrs. T's praise for this recipe (and knowing first hand that Mrs. T. is an excellent cook and would not give high marks to any recipe that didn't measure up) I decided to try the recipe she linked to titled Microwave Lemon Curd. I followed the recipe exactly and it is incredible. Seriously addicting and so easy to make (it took 3 min to cook in my microwave).

So, now that I had this incredible lemon curd I decided to slice the pound cake horizontally into 3 layers and slather a generous layer of curd between each layer. I chose to serve the cake without any further additions but you certainly could dust the cake generously with powdered sugar or even use the glaze as well.

This cake came out so moist and full of lemon flavor, definitely recipes that will be added to my recipe binder (another great idea from Mrs. T. that I'll blog more about later). If you love lemon this is a great combination. Enjoy! :)

No I have not forgotten...

...about my blog. The past several weeks have been somewhat of a soul-searching time for me. I still don't have the answers but I do have a few blog posts swimming around in my head. My problem is that I don't type nearly as fast as I talk or think so I tend to lose track of my thoughts before getting them down. After telling Matt of my dilemma he has given me some suggestions for organizing my thoughts so I'm hoping to get those posts written and some posted soon. In the mean time here's a yummy sandwich that I came up with this week.

It all started with a craving for a Turkey Artichoke panini from Panera bread. Since it's rather inconvenient to go to the closest Panera bread I decided to try and come up with something similar at home. While not the same it was nevertheless very tasty.

Turkey, Artichoke & Tomato-Pesto sandwich:

1TB sun dried tomato pesto
1TB mayo
3-4 canned artichoke hearts drained and smooshed
1 slice cheese of choice*
2 slices turkey breast
1 foccacia roll sliced in half

Mix together pesto, mayo and artichoke hearts. Divide evenly between pieces of foccacia and spread. top with 1/2 slice cheese, turkey, 1/2 slice cheese and other side of bread. Heat cast iron skillet over medium heat, place in skillet and weight down with another skillet (I also added a large, heavy can on top for added weight/pressure). Cook until toasted, turn and cook until second side is toasted.

Simple, easy and very yummy. The basic technique can be used for any type of sandwich.

*I used American cheese since that is what I had on hand. Also feel free to use more cheese, I need to limit my dairy intake so one slice was fine for me.

A bit of craftiness

I wanted to share some of the crafts I have made recently. I was waiting a bit to share since two of these were birthday gifts. :)

Crocheted gift bag that I filled with these salted brownies
for a Valentine's Day exchange.

A scarf for my niece

Monkey for my nephew

Elephant that I crocheted for a Valentine's Day exchange

Yoda that I made for Ethan

These were fun projects to make. The animals were made using the amigurumi technique. All of these patterns can be found for free on Crochet Pattern Central

A very important PSA: "They" have changed the calendar

I have a very important Public Service Announcement. I was first alerted thru the mail that someone has changed the calendar. Let me explain.

I recently received a re-registration form for the school where my children attend. On this form, they stated that in the next school year I would have one child in 2nd grade and one in 1st grade. That immediately raised a red flag, there is no way that could be possible.

If the year were really 2011 that would mean the following, this year:

- I have been out of high school for 15 years
- I have been out of college 13 years
- Matt & I have been married for almost 9 years (which we all know is ridiculous since we are obviously still newlyweds, I mean come on, who is still having this much fun after being married for 9 years)
- Our children are 7 years (again ridiculous, we were just in CO telling friends that we had just found out the previous day we were expecting our first child), almost 6 (again, crazy), 2 1/2 and almost 1 year old.

So you see, in light of this overwhelming evidence I have concluded that someone has changed the calendar and am requesting that it immediately be reset to the proper year. Thank you!