How DO you get through your day when...

A much loved family member rejects her God, her husband, her family, her church family and leaves many reeling with the suddenness of it all. So many questions and no answers follow. Just emptiness, shattered dreams, brokenness.

WE don’t get through our day, through the emotional fog enveloping us when we receive heartbreaking news. It is GOD who carries us, for He is faithful. He simply gives us the next thing to do. While we silently pray through our tears and work, He is there giving stability to our life as we are held in His everlasting arms.

We are not at the mercy of chance or adrift in chaos. We know who is in charge and are comforted with Jesus’ words, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11: 28-30)

Through suffering, we go to God, trusting Him for it is He who weaves the broken threads of our lives. And so we look beyond this broken world to what He has in store for His children, and that gives peace – the peace that transcends all understanding.

Isaiah 43:1-3a

But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”

Entitlement

"For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." I Timothy 6:7,8

It is said that today's youth have a sense of entitlement. They are bombarded by the ads that promote the "You deserve it" propaganda. As adults, we must set an example for our children to distinguish between needs and wants.

We are not immune to that sense of entitlement either. Generally, if our income increases, our standard of living also increases. The temptation is there to keep up with the Joneses...bigger homes, fancier vehicles, luxury vacations.

The money we have been given is God's money, given to us to be used as He would want us to. There are many passages in Scripture relating to the topic of money. God takes our use of it seriously, and that gives an entirely different perspective on how we manage money and our bank accounts.

Maybe we should think much less about increasing our standard of living and more about focusing on the poor. Are we setting an example for our children? What comes to mind is this quote:

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world."

Sadness

Isaiah 43:1-3a has been our comfort today:
"But now, this is what the Lord says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour."

Our 'son' Joseph and his wife and 4 year old Lynn lost their precious one month old little girl today. This is the email we received from Kenya this morning, with the heading "In all situations God is good":
Dear dad and mom, We really need your prayers. We are very sorry sorry to pass this sad news to you that we have lost our new baby girl. It is very sad moment to my family. I even don't know how to explain to my girl Lynn who is disturbing me with many question about her sister. We need your prayers. With love Joseph.

Joseph is a pastor working in a very poor remote area in Kenya. He lost his mother at a very young age and was abandoned by his father. He grew up in a Christian group home from the age of 7 when we sponsored him and continue to do so. He took post secondary training at a Bible College and graduated as pastor. We are privileged to have him call us Dad and Mom and are thankful for regular email contact. Distance is great during times as this. May God surround this family with His peace.

Needs vs Wants

I came across a few interesting quotes. They reminded me of the fact that consumerism was also an issue in the past.

Charles Spurgeon (1834) wrote:
"You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied. You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.'"

Joseph Brotherton (1783):
"My riches consist, not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants."

Elise  Boulding (1920):
"The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things."

Small Amounts Add Up

Small amounts add up. It is easy to focus on the big picture when it comes to budgeting – to think of only the larger amounts. What about the smaller purchases, even the dollar ones? That is where the simple act of writing all our purchases down can help us identify areas where we can improve our spending habits.

We have gone through the exercise of trying to show our boys that smaller amounts add up quickly, and we use the Tim Hortons Drive Thru as an example. Now, to clarify, we are not opposed to the odd coffee purchased. However, if Tim Hortons becomes a daily habit, this could translate into a problem with finances.

The fact that my hubby doesn’t frequent Timmys and takes a lunch to work each day probably saves us at least $10 per day. Multiply this by 20 days and you have $200 – then multiply this by 12 months and you arrive at a figure of $2400 per year. And people have asked us how in the world we could afford to travel with our family to the Netherlands on one salary. Now you know :-)

Boys and Food

After Sunday worship service, about five 15-16 year old boys congregate together for an important meeting. They have to decide whose home to invade for lunch. If you were to listen in, here is approximately what you will hear:

"OK, so whose mom got the cake?"
"Well, I know my mom has cinnamon buns today."

And so it came to pass that we find an additional four boys sitting in our van. Food disappeared at an amazing pace....boys and food go well together.

When Stormy Winds Against Us Break

Thinking of family and friends who are struggling with illness, job loss, or death of a loved one. This poem came to mind:

When Stormy Winds

When stormy winds against us break,

Stablish and reinforce our will;

O hear us for Thine own Name’s sake,

Hold us in strength, and hold us still.

Still as the faithful mountains stand

Through the long silent years of stress,

So would we wait at Thy right hand,

In quietness and steadfastness.

But not of us this strength, O Lord,

And not of us this constancy;

Our trust is Thine eternal word,

Thy Presence our security.

by Amy Carmicheal 

Keeping The Men Happy

Dishwashers and conversation

When we renovated our kitchen to create more elbow room, we allowed space and wiring for a dishwasher (for resale value) but asked that a removable cupboard be inserted instead.

The boys have always dried the dinner dishes, while hubby washes....many great conversations take place during dishes duty. I smile thinking back to the time when one of the boys as a lad of 5 or so, while drying dishes, turned to his Dad and asked, "Daddy, do people get babies like dogs get puppies?" And so arose an opportunity for another father to son talk.

The boys are older now but discussions still take place by the kitchen sink and, with conversation perhaps somewhat diminished now-a-days due to electronic gadgets, we'll keep the dishwasher out of the house. Even though our sons have threatened to buy a dishwasher, deep down I know they appreciate the after dinner talks and some of the wisdom imparted to them by their 'ole Pa' (their words) :-)

Tracking Household Expenses

Four years ago my hubby asked me how much we spend on groceries each month. I really didn't know the answer to that, other than giving a good guess. We decided to track ALL our household expenses for a couple of months....that couple of months turned into nearly four years and has been an exercise well worth doing.

It takes a bit of time to write down daily purchases but nothing too overwhelming. We write everything down - even dollar store purchases. I suppose we could use the computer for tracking expenses, but I'm a paper and pen type of person.

We have an account type book with 11 columns going across:
Date and Name of Store
Grocery
Clothing and Household (shampoo, toilet paper etc)
Utilities (hydro, gas, water, telephone)
Gas and other vehicle expenses
Vitamins/Medical
Taxes/Travel/Insurance
Missions/Church/School Donations
Miscellaneous
Home/Yard Improvements

Each month we tally up each column and then come up with the total expenditures for the month. Having done this now for a good length of time, helps us to compare and stay on track.

I'll sign off with a quote, "Live simply so others can simply live"

Beautiful Day - Thank You Lord!

Stuff

Clutter can creep up - maybe even suffocate or overwhelm us. Homes today generally have a lot of storage space and, for many, more storage space equals more stuff.

Decluttering is freeing - the thrift store benefits from the excess and we benefit from reclaimed space and organization. Less mess equals more time. Hopefully the 'one in - one out' rule will keep clutter at bay. Less shopping helps too, of course. While we can't cut out shopping entirely, less shopping gives us time for more meaningful activity.