I’ve been spending my days at the courthouse this week! I was called for jury duty on Tuesday but the jury selection didn’t start until today. I was selected to sit in the jury box but by the end of the questioning they let me go. I’m not sure exactly why but I’m thinking it may have been because they found out I was a Christian. They ask a ton of questions and then by your answers they decide whether or not they feel you would be best for that particular trial. I had my heart set on serving so I was a bit surprised when they let me go.

I kept glancing over at the accused and wondered about his life and how he had ended up here.  He looked hopeless… lost… without God! He had been accused of carrying a firearm as a felon, possession of narcotics and domestic abuse. I will continue to pray that the Lord will save him and send laborers into his pathway. “Oh, Lord! Please save this sinner, this lost soul! We ask, dear Lord, that you would save him from a hopeless life without You and grant Him eternal life. We humbly ask that you would send laborers into his pathway from every direction. We ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.”

I’ve never been involved in a jury selection. I was very impressed with the care that went into providing this man the best possible chance of a fair trial. Other countries would have offered him so much less if anything. He may have been immediately sent to prison without a jury. We live in such a great nation! We are so blessed.

What a privileged to serve the Lord and our neighbor by making ourself available for jury duty.  I know it can be an inconvenience and can cause a hardship on some. Yet, it seems like such a small price to pay for the freedom it allows each and everyone of us. 

The grandchildren and I are learning a song on the piano called, Busy Beavers. It’s about being busy for the Lord. The song reminds me of our quilting group. A small but BUSY group of ladies from our local rural church have been meeting in my home weekly for the past month or so. I have enjoyed their fellowship so much.

This is our ‘sewing group’ in the picture above. These ladies are working on a jeans quilt.

This is our ‘cutting group’. These ladies are cutting jean blocks with our youngest quilter (on the floor) doing the supervising.

After we finish our work we all gather together for lunch. I make the main dish, dessert and a mid-morning snack. The other ladies bring a salad, vegetable or bread to fill in.

Our Pastor is still deciding where he wants to use the quilts. He has a few really good ideas. Meanwhile, we’ll be busy beavers and get done what we can. This week (Lord willing) we will be sorting clothes for our ‘clothes give-away’ and a few of the ladies will work inside on the quilting. The weather station says another storm is coming the following week so we’re going to try and get some sorting done while the weather is nice.

So, that’s a little of what has been going on in our home this week! How about yours?

It was so fun reading all of your posts on how you save money in your home. Thank you.

The greatest thing I’m discovering about ’living below my means’ is that it is so much FUN! I enjoy finding ways to save money and stretch a penny MUCH MORE than buying everything I want. Frankly, the ‘want list’ never runs out. There is always something MORE I think I HAVE to have. The more I have, the less I enjoy it. It reminds me of snacking all day and then being full for dinner.

Living frugally brings out a sense of creativeness. I enjoy thinking of ways to make do with what I have on hand rather than buying something new. It feels good.  Maybe it’s the biblical principle that when you do right your emotions will follow. (Gen. 4:7) I just find so much more pleasure in getting by with less than giving in to every desire of my flesh.

“The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials.” – Lydia Maria Child, The American Frugal Housewife (Boston, 1833).

I like this quote. Jesus also told His disciples to gather up the fragments so nothing would be lost.  It reminds me of the mindset of my mother and grandmother. To this day my mother lives a life of true economy in housekeeping. She doesn’t waste time, food or materials in her home. My own personal family lived this way out of necessity when my children were young and in the home. But, when our income increased so did our spending.

So, I’ve been spending the past few years trying to get back to that frame of mind where one lives BELOW their income. The only place that I can really find this example is in older generations. I love to go into ‘grandma’ homes and see how simply they live. If a couch is in good condition they wouldn’t consider getting rid of it because it’s out of style. They use an item until it’s worn out. I have a 96 year old friend who paid off her home and has a good savings account from a very small salary.

I’m trying to retrain my thinking to ‘make do or do without’… basically to relearn contentment with what I already have. If I never received another item of clothing or furniture my entire life I would guess I could get by just fine. I’m following CINDYS PORCH advice and SHOPPING AT HOME FIRST. That has been saving me a ton of money. My menu is first made from what I have on hand. Before I go shopping I check my fridge and freezer first.

How do you stretch your money and resources in YOUR home?

The ladies from church met at my home for a day of quilting. Some of the ladies cut blocks while others sewed them together. We’ve just about finished a twin size quilt top. We’re a small group but we got quite a bit done. A young neighbor girl also came to help. I don’t believe she knows the Lord so I was excited to have her visit. I pray that we can influence her towards the Lord.

I provided lunch for the ladies. I spent most of Wednesday in the kitchen. I love to cook!  I made a couple batches of homemade bread sticks (recipe is from Laine’s Letters), a big pot of homemade chicken vegetable soup, red cabbage slaw with walnuts and celery (recipe from Grannyfox), applesauce cake and banana muffins. Emma Lee brought strawberry jello and artichokes. My daughter in love, grandchildren and our new office assistant for the business joined us, too.

Saturday is my grandsons birthday. If it rains the party will be moved to our home. I’ll make a large bowl of macaroni salad for the barbecue. Seems like just yesterday that his Daddy was turning 5 and now he is nearly 30. Where does the time go!

I found this poem on another blog and loved it. Since my children are grown I replaced the word ‘children’ with ‘grandchildren’.

God, give me wisdom to see that today is my day with my (grand)children,
That there is no unimportant moment in their lives.
May I know no other career is as precious,
No other work so rewarding,
No other task so urgent.
May I not defer it nor neglect it,
But by Thy Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by Thy grace realize
That the time is short and my time is now–
For (grand)children don’t wait.     By, Helen Young

  I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Phil 3:8

“It (midlife) is a time when I really begin to understand that no other glory (relationships, career, health and physical beauty, or material ease) can compete with the glory of being loved by Christ.”

Taken from ‘Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God’ by Paul David Tripp