Charles Spurgeon once said of politics…
“I have heard it said ‘Do not bring religion into politics.”
This is precisely where it should be brought and set there in the faces of all men as on a candlestick.”
(I know, I know! I said I wouldn’t post for 2 weeks but I HAD to share this before the election! *S*)
Lots of changes have taken place in our home the past few months.
* My son moved to California from Missouri. He and my daughter-in-love (great with child) and their three children moved in with us.
* We moved our home and trucking business from 10 acres in the country to a home half the size on less than a 1/2 acre in town. Major downsizing!!
* My daughter -in-love went into labor during our move and ended up blessing us with our 10th grandchild the day after we moved.
* My husband was having problems with extreme fatigue after our move so the Dr. scheduled an angiogram. They ended up putting in a stent in one of his arteries.
* We had to do a complete overhaul on our rental before the next tenants could move in which meant painting, new bathroom, new appliances, new carpets. I spent a week and a half painting.
* We moved my son and his family into our rental last weekend.
We’ve had a very full couple of months. 
My heart is not complaining. I’m thankful to God for a strong body and good health and the multitude of blessings He has given me!
But, I’m not 25 anymore and this 51 year old body has gone through a lot of physical changes lately. My husband has been ‘watching’ me and came to the conclusion that I needed to slow down for a few weeks. So, he has put me on a ‘rest’ regime for the next couple of weeks. He has assigned me to a daily nap after lunch time. (Major STRETCHER for someone who doesn’t enjoying ‘resting’.) I get up at 4 am to make his lunches, pray and get him out the door so it makes for a long day. I’ve also cleared my calendar for the next few weeks except for absolute essentials. Which means.. I won’t be posting, after today, until the two weeks are up.
I am also praying for the Lord’s direction concerning Xanga. I LOVE Xanga Land. In fact, because of my great affection for it I’m realizing, once my husband has slowed me down a bit to think, that it has crowded out a few other things in my life. The main thing is that it has shortened my devotional time with the Lord Jesus Christ. I find that I hurry through my devotions so that I can get to the computer. Not a good thing. I’m also noticing that it has stolen those little pockets of time that could be spent calling a sister in my church or a loved one to encourage or help them. Not a good thing since my gift of exhortation was given to me by the Lord to build up the church body. ( I’m thinking that possibly I just need to change my posting time to the evenings while my husband is watching tv. I normally sit with him on the couch but I rarely enjoy television watching so I’m thinking I could use that time to post. ) Or maybe the Lord will lead me in a completely different way.
So, I’m not sure where the Lord will lead my thinking concerning Xanga over the next two weeks but I’m hopeful that it will be for my good and most importantly I pray it will be for His glory.
Love to all!
I finally played the WALGREEN’S game this week and found a few great deals. I’ve been reading quite a few blogs to figure out how you can get products for free and/or very inexpensive. I spent a few hours reading and clipping coupons on Sunday after church and I think I’m finally understanding the process.
Here is what I purchased:
1 Arm & Hammer Detergent: $2.99- $1.00 (Manufacture coupon) – $1.00 Easy Saver Rebate = .99
2 Zout Laundry Cleaner (buy 1 get 1 free) : $3.99 x 2 = 7.98 – 3.99 (free) = 3.99 – $3.99 (manufacturer rebate for one free under $4.00) = 2 Zouts for FREE
3 Kotex = $9.00 – $3.00 (register rewards) = $6.00 – $3.00 coupons (1.00 (sunday paper), $2.00 from internet coupons) = $3.00 (that came to $1.00 per box of Kotex)
I also discovered that Nestle’s had a $1.50 coupon you could print out twice to use for chocolate chips. Walmart is carrying them very inexpensively at this present time so I ended up spending $6.37 for each large bag which was the equivalent of 3 bags of chips – $1.50 per bag = 4.87 divided by 3 = $1.50 a bag . I put mine in the freezer for holiday baking. My family loves Mounds Balls at Christmas so this gives me a head start on my baking supplies. I already have a lot of walnuts that I received from our church food pantry. What a blessing!
Here is the Nestle’s coupon link. Click on PROMOTIONS which has a sub-menu for coupons.
http://www.verybestbaking.com/
You really have to watch your sales receipt, though. I didn’t check mine as soon as I left the store but discovered later that the cashier didn’t give me credit for a $1.00 coupon on the Kotex. I debated whether I should take the time to go back for just one dollar but remembered the old saying.. “If you watch your pennies your dollars will take care of themselves”. I figured if a penny was important in the long scheme of things then a dollar would be more than worth going back for. 
So I did!
I looked at the Rite-Aid and CVS ads but they didn’t seem to have anything that I was interested in. Here are a few blogs that I’m keeping an eye on to watch for FREE DEALS. These ladies are much smarter than I am so I’m gleaning from their hard work.
There are new deals each week so it’s necessary to buy a Sunday paper and keep a close eye on what is available. I paid $20.00 a year for the weekend paper only. I’m confident I will save more than the subscription price over the next year.
Have any of you ladies learned how to save money or get free products through these stores?
My heart’s cry!!
I’m beginning to teach myself that my full days are the new norm in my life. I keep looking forward to the day when things will ‘settle down’ but I’ve come to the conclusion that ‘those kind of days’ are a thing of the past… a previous season of life. This is where God has me today and I need to accept His will for me each day and not complain but be thankful.
Our renters moved out and left the house in bad shape so I have been painting and cleaning for the past 2 weeks. I’m thinking I may have another week to finish up and then hopefully I can get back home to finish organizing my garage from the move. I grumbled and complained a lot the first day after I learned how much work was ahead. This was NOT the way I had planned on spending my days. We were in our new home and I had so much that I had planned on doing. I had waited two years to move and my nest was needing more fluffing. But, I determined after a full day of complaining (a.k.a. sinning) that I would die to my will and submit myself to the Lord’s plan for my days AGAIN. Such a hard lesson for a ‘control freak’ to learn.
We don’t always get a glimpse into God’s plan for our lives or why He has allowed certain things to take place in our days. But, last week I was actually able to see the ‘good’ coming out of the financial mess we’ve incurred from the damages done to our rental. Because I was working on the rental I was able to have a long talk with a family member about Jesus Christ and give him the gospel, give a gospel tract to a sales clerk at Sears and many opportunities to give strong exhortations to another Christian who is planning on doing something that would not glorify God. Most likely none of these things would have been done if I had been given MY WILL to do what “I” wanted to do.
I pray I am making progress in this road of sanctification but oftentimes I wonder. If it were not for His Word promising that He is working in me I would despair that I was not!
…. for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil 2:13
These lessons have been confirmed to me as I’m nearing the end of Stepping Heavenward. What a blessing it has been for this season of my life. I’ve gleaned so many wonderful instructive gems on submitting to God’s will in the daily, common place things. Here is one of my recent favorites…
“Katy?” Helen suddenly asked, “Do you always submit to God’s will thus?”
“In great things I do,” I said. “What grieves me is that I am constantly forgetting to recognize God’s hand in the little, everyday trials of life, and instead of receiving them as from Him, find fault with the instruments by which He sends them. I can give up my child, my only brother, my darling Mother without a word, but to receive every tiresome visitor as sent expressly and directly to weary me by the Master Himself; to meet every negligence on the part of the servants as His choice for me at the moment; to be satisfied and patient when Ernest gets particularly absorbed in his books, because my Father sees that little discipline suitable for me at the time; all this I have not full learned.”
Continued from yesterday’s post….
So.. how do I tie menopause in with frugality???? Big jump, huh!!! 
Actually, it’s a perfect fit!
This is what I’ve been chewing on the past few days…
Yesterday I wrote about Katherine in Stepping Heavenward (book link in previous post) and how she had goaded her nerves into a frenzy by overloading herself with work. I’m guilty of doing the exact same thing. I’m a worker. I like to work. I thrive on working. BUT… I’m beginning to see that as I age (51 yo this year) my body and brain are wearing out and I’m not going to be able to keep the pace that I did when I was younger unless I want to compromise my relationships.
My body is still able to keep up a pretty good pace but emotionally I end up crashing and burning if I’m not careful.
So, how does this tie in with frugality?
IF I set unreasonable goals for myself in the area of saving money which in turn places me in a position for temptation because I have taxed my nerves and I then turn around and snap at my husband or I’m cranky with my children then what have I really accomplished? Is God pleased that I saved money if I end up sinning in another area? It’s kind of along the lines of 1 Cor. 13. If I do wonderful works and deeds yet have not love then of what use am I?
Another thread to this whole line of thought is to evaluate exactly HOW I am spending my time to determine what is of greater worth. Comparing the different chores we do to save money to see which one is the best use of time is of great value. Large businesses make this a common habit and I’m seeing that it’s a wise endeavor. There is no end to the amount of activities we can do to save money. Which ones will be of greater value and save us more money in the long run? I want to be careful to not spend an hour on a project that will only save me a few cents if I can spend that same amount of time and save five dollars. My time is of value.
So, my frugal tip for the day is to not wear yourself out in planning too many money saving projects in one day if your children and husband are going to end up suffering in the long run. Pray and ask the Lord to give you wisdom in this area. Seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness and God will provide what we have need of.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matt 6:33
ESV
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Cor 13:1-3 ESV
You can find more frugal tips at Biblical Womanhood.
This post will probably only interest my older Xanga friends but if you are in your AUTUMN YEARS of womanhood then you are likely to relate to some of the things I’m going to share here today. And for you younger women… you may want to take note of what I’m about to share and tuck it away in your memory for later in life.
There are so many dynamics in this phase of life caused ‘menopause’ that can touch just about every aspect of a woman’s life. I’ve personally seen it effect my emotions, my physical state and also my walk with the Lord. Recently, the Lord has been teaching me some lessons in the area of my emotions which seem to greatly effect the physical area, also.
My ‘nerves’ seem to be one part of my body that are being changed through this process. Things seem to ‘bug’ me that I used to be able to just dismiss with seemingly no trouble before. Thoughts seem to get stuck longer and more exaggerated and I find myself going over and over them if I’m not careful to cast them down. Anxiety and the temptation to ‘fret’ have increased. Once I find myself in an agitated state it takes much longer to get back to a calm disposition. In the middle of all of this the hot flashes kick in and I feel like someone has just thrown me into a hot oven and shut the door so I can’t breathe! Can anyone else relate? 
I work VERY HARD at not allowing my emotions to have free reign but I’ve found that this whole menopausal ‘thingie’ can be very challenging.
So, I’ve been praying and searching for help in this area. Not only for my sake but for my dear husband’s sake and my children and grandchildren who are living with us. I oftentimes do not even realize that I’m being hormonal until I’m in the thick of it and by then I’ve already caused some discomfort to my dear husband. (He is a saint by the way!)
Recently, I’ve received counsel from several sources that seems to be bringing great results already. Believe it or not I’ve received great comfort from the book called Stepping Heavenward. This is the only book I own (and I own a LOT of books) that I try to read every year besides my bible. No matter what I seem to be going through at the time I find new little nuggets on how to handle some situation in my present circumstances. Recently, I picked this book up again because I remembered the main character of the book had family members living with her and I thought perhaps I could receive some instruction on how to love those currently under my roof even more.
There is one section in the book where Katherine’s sister-in-law has left their home to be married. It seems Martha carried much of the workload so once she left it fell to Katherine. The family was under financial strain due to the father-in-law (who also lived with them) past debts which Ernest (Katherine’s husband) was paying off. Katherine wanted to help her husband as much as possible by sewing and knitting all the families clothes.
Katherine’s nerves were goaded into an irritable state by the workload she had put herself under to save money and cut expenses. It was greatly distressing her that she had been so impatient with her children and husband. Her wise husband gave her this counsel after she had apologized to him for her ill-temper:
…”I want you to make a distinction for yourself, which I make for you, between mere ill-temper, and the irritability that is the result of a goaded state of nerves.”
“Now I am sure if you could once make up your mind in the fear of God, never to undertake more work of any sort than you can carry on calmly, quietly, without hurry or flurry, and the instant you find yourself growing nervous and like one out of breath, would stop and take breath, you would find this simple, common-sense rule doing for you what no prayers and tears could ever accomplish. Will you try it for one month, my darling?”
Then he goes on to tell her, ” You are not ill-tempered but quick-tempered; the irritability which annoys you so is a physical infirmity which will disappear the moment you cease to be goaded into it by the exacting mistress you have hitherto been to yourself.”
Such wise counsel and it hit home! How often I have wound myself up physically and mentally because of a load I have put upon myself that neither my husband or anyone else has demanded. My nerves become agitated and I have to fight with everything in me not to vent it onto my husband. Yet, no matter how hard I try he can also SENSE the turmoil within me. In turn I end up taking my eyes off of him and onto myself. I find that I am no longer the kind wife but the hired slave who is resentful of the seemingly ‘hard taskmaster’ which really is not my husband but ME!
This counsel came right on the heels of the example from another woman in not taking on outside obligations at this season in her life that may cause an extra burden on her nerves that would in turn cause her the temptation to be irritable with her husband.
Both spoke volumes to me. I hope to share how the Lord is using this to instruct me on how I choose to save money in my home. Hopefully I can post it in a few weeks on Frugal Friday. We’re in the middle of getting our rental in shape to be rented so I’m spending my days painting for the time being.
Hope everyone is well! I feel bad I haven’t responded to the last comments but hope to soon!
