10 for 2010

The following are 10 goals I (we) have set for myself (ourselves) in 2010:

• Drop satellite TV (done)
• Replace Seth's vehicle
• Pay off 2nd to last student loan
• Organize/clean out the filing cabinet in our home office
• Learn a new craft (like crocheting or knitting)
• Make my own all-purpose cleaner, scouring powder, and laundry detergent
• Drink two quarts of water every day
• Begin teaching flute lessons again (done)
• Get a summer job
• Finish reading the Old Testament

How many jars can your God fill?

"The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.' Elisha replied to her, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?' 'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a little oil.' Elisha said, 'Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.' She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another one.' But he replied, 'There is not a jar left.' Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.'" ~2 Kings 4: 1-7

I am ashamed to admit that I have not read the entire Bible. I have read the entire New Testament several times, and I have read some of the more common books of the Old Testament, but many books remain unread in their entirety. One of those books is 2 Kings. Last Saturday, God gave me a hunger for His Word, and I sat and read eight chapters of 2 Kings. I was drinking it in, excited to find out what would happen next!

Then it came: The story of the Widow's Oil! I was deeply touched. I began to think about how many times in scripture the Lord rewards the faithful. Jesus healed a leper, but only after the leper uttered the words, "You can make me clean" (Matthew 8:2). The Roman Centurian asked for his servant's healing, and what was Jesus' reponse? "It will be done JUST AS YOU BELIEVED it would" (8:13).

What about those who walked away from the abudant life Jesus had to offer? The rich young man described in Mark 10 comes to mind. When Jesus asked Him to give up worldly wealth, he couldn't because he lacked the faith to believe his Heavenly Father could provide for him with a far greater treasure. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus as the Messiah because the God of the Universe could not possbily come to dwell in their ordinary town. In these cases and others, the people lacked FAITH. They simply did not believe Jesus could do what he promised.

Do you believe I can provide you with what you need? Over the past several months, God has been asking me this very question. On Saturday, the question jumped right off the page and into the depths of my heart. The only thing that has ever stood in the way of God's abundant outpouring in my life is my lack of faith. If the widow had believed that God could fill one jar, He probably would have. If she had believed he could fill a few, He would have. Instead, she believed He would fill every jar she could get her hands on. AND HE DID! PRAISE GOD!

How many jars can my God fill? Lord, give me the faith to say, "My God can fill every one!"

A Lesson in Trust

My husband and I have discovered a new kind of "bonding time" this week: home haircutting. In our quest for frugality, we are trying anything and everything to save money. We realize not everything we try will prove to be practical or sustaining for us, but I try nevertheless in the name of research.

Normally, I would pay $63.00 every 2 to 3 months for a haircut and color. Seth normally pays $20.00 every 1 1/2 months. Because my mother-in-law has always cut her husband and sons' hair, I asked her to teach me how to cut my husband's. One afternoon, she let me serve as her apprentice, and although I am most defnitely a novice, I now know that I can cut my husband's hair.

But what about my hair?

Lately I have been asking my sister (who enjoys doing hair as a hobby) to color and cut my hair whenever I travel to my hometown. I quickly realized that I could not possibly make it home at exactly the times my hair stood in need of a touch-up, so I asked my husband to try coloring it for me instead. He did it with success! When I then asked if he would cut my hair, he was VERY reluctant, but eventually conceded when I reminded him of the money we would save and when I quoted my grandmother, who told me, "The difference between a good haircut and a bad one is two weeks."

Today was the day! After trying to back out one last time, my husband did cut my hair, and I think he did a wonderful job. He even tapered it around my face in the front. But this does not get to the heart of my post.

After updating my status on Facebook, where I told my friends about my husband's triumph, one friend responded, "Now that is trust!" The more I think about this experience, the more I believe that this was most definitely an exercise in trust for both of us. Could I let go of my perfectionism enough to believe my husband could do a decent job on my hair? Could he rely on the fact that I would not be upset if the cut went badly? For that matter, could he trust me with his haircut, when the only other time I had attempted it was with my mother-in-law at my side?

Well, the answer to all those questions is a resounding "yes!" In stepping out of the box and trying something new, my husband and I found that we enjoyed this quality time together. We talked and laughed and flirted shamelessly. Who would have that a high-risk haircut would become bonding time for us? Ladies, if you want to add a new dimension to your relationship, home haircutting may be for you!

The Holy Spirit and Children

I make no claims to be a theologian, but I do enjoy contemplating the cornerstones of my faith and asking questions based on my observations of people. There is a little girl (around age 4) at our church who seems to have something special in her heart when it comes to praising God. As soon as the worship music begins, she is up from her pew, clapping her hands and raising them toward God with closed eyes and a remarkably sincere expression. When the people around her are not activitely participating, she looks at them, points at their hands, and then claps her own as if to say, "Praise God with me!" Once when I was moved to tears as I prayed, this child asked me, "Why are you crying?" to which her grandmother replied, "She's just loving Jesus." The child then asked me, "You're loving Jesus?" with the most tender concern, just to make sure that was true. Just today, this little one stood and began to clap, soon realizing that her doll was impeding her movements. She discarded the doll on the pew and went on praising. In a world where many children are segregated by age everywhere they go, church or otherwise, I am moved by this 4-year-old's active participation in the multigenerational body of Christ.

Often I ask myself, is this simply imitation? Is this child mimicing her grandmother's heartfelt expressions of praise? Can the Holy Spirit come to the hearts of children and inspire them in ways we (and they) cannot comprehend? I believe it to be so, but whatever the case may be, this child is an inspiration to me each and every Sunday. She, in her innocence, represents the heart of worship for me!

Movie Critic

I keep a Movie Log Notebook, where I record basic information about the movies I watch and rate them from 0-5 stars. I would consider a movie for 5 stars for a variety of reasons. Maybe it was lifechanging, maybe it was artfully visual and poetic, maybe it was hilarious, maybe it was riveting, maybe it was inspiring... Many of the movies I watch are older because my family didn't watch a lot of movies when I was growing up, and Seth always said I had a lot of catching up to do! Following is a list of my 5-star movies from 2009.

• The Namesake
• The Kiterunner
• Daddy's Little Girls
• The Miracle Worker (Disney)
• Fireproof
• In America
• Paulie
• Swing Vote
• Miracle
• Cool Runnings
• Goodnight, Mister Tom
• Taken
• Spellbound (Documentary)
• Blast from the Past
• Julie and Julia

I guess this list says a lot about me! What are your favorite movies from 2009?

Price's "Price Book"

My interest in frugality has remained strong and constant. In my previous post I mentioned some tricks that I planned to implement. I have tried a number of things, including but not limited to the ones on my list, and have discovered that the most powerful tool of all is my price book. In it, I record the lowest price on the items I normally buy. This way, I can keep track of which store has the best price on which item and when. For those of you not familiar with this system, I took a spiral-bound index card notebook and placed a stick-on tab on every third page or so. On each tab is written a category such as "dairy" or "canned goods." Each page is divided into several columns, including "Item," "Regular Price/Amount," "Sale Price," "Price per unit," and "Store." This has caused me to put many items disguised as good deals right back on the shelf where they belong. After just a few short months of using this approach to shopping, I am beginning to memorize my bottom line for a particular item. For instance, I now know that I can regularly purchase store-brand cold cereal (which my husband and I genuinely like) for 10-12 cents per ounce, so when a store sale and coupon combo looks promising, I whip out my cell phone and calculate price per unit. It rarely beats my 10-12 cents per ounce rule! On a related thread, I now understand how stores can get away with claiming so many sales. Many of the sales are just overly-priced items marked down to a more reasonable price. Occasionally, there is a genuinely good deal, and when I see a price that beats the one in my price book, whether by coupons or close-out or store-brand options, I do a little happy dance in the aisle, figure out how much of it I can store, and buy buy buy! This shop-a-holic is finding a new and more fulfilling way to get her "fix!"