Saving Money Takes Time

I used to be a great money-saver. I clipped coupons. I studied the sale flyers. I went to this store and that store getting the best deals on the things I needed. Now don’t misunderstand. I was never an extreme couponer. It was just that in my role as a stay at home mom, I knew part of my job was to stretch our money as far as it could possibly go. It made me feel as if I were contributing to the economic health of our family when I would save $20 on a trip to the grocery store. 

Lately most of my money saving habits fallen by the wayside. Not because I don’t want or need to save money. After all, come August I’ll have two kids in college! But all of those money-saving techniques require something I don’t have right now.

Time.

Yes, saving money takes time, and my obligations now have crowded out those other habits. Oh, I still watch the flyers, but I have less time to sort through and organize my coupons. Or to make trips to multiple stores. I prefer to shop in bulk, for even the time it takes to buy what we need is at a premium. Yet even in this I see the hand of God. Ultimately, I must trust Him as my provider while being a good steward of both the time and the money He’s given me. And what better reminder than a pile of unsorted, mostly expired coupons! Suddenly I find myself talking with the Lord more frequently about my shopping than before. And in spite of the change, I’ve managed to stay within the bounds of my budget. Funny how that happens!

What area of your life is the Lord showing you He can control better than you can? What have you recently surrendered? What are you having trouble surrendering?

Exposing My Selfish Heart

In Phillipians 4:12 Paul says “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.”

After 43 years of living on this earth—23 of them with a household of my own—I can identify with this statement. Days of scraping together pennies to split an ice cream as a treat when my husband was in law school. Years of scrimping to pay off student loans. Breathing easier, only to have him put aside a regular salary to form a small firm. Months of zero income with three small children. Suddenly enough to take a modest vacation on occasion, to visit our out-of-state family. Overflow for other things—including 4 trips to Africa for our daughter. And now squeezed in again, letting go of little luxuries we’d come to enjoy.

We’ve always been frugal, even in the good times. We’ve been savers, knowing life can turn on a dime. And yet as I consider the journey of these last two decades I begin to see a pattern. We have little, so we trust God to provide for needs that arise. God grows our faith. He also blesses in ways that allow us to get ahead a little, grow our “emergency” fund. But funny thing about those funds—when they are there, so are the needs that require them!

Why has all this been on my mind lately? Because I’ve been selfish. You see, when I got my book contract, it came with a bit of money. Not a ton, but enough that I breathed a sigh of relief, of space between my husband’s new salary and our expenses. But I didn’t count on the fact that Lord continues to prod me to rely on Him instead of money, to not hold those dollars so tightly in my fist. So, reluctantly, my money went toward a new furnace that we weren’t expecting to have to purchase. It wasn’t the way I wanted to spend “my” money. But I’m reminded again of the rest of the verse in Phillipians.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:12-13

I certainly haven’t attained to the level of Paul, but I’m learning. I’m learning not to rely on the size of my bank account, big or small. I’m learning that in want and in plenty He gives me His strength to live on. He provides what I need. Always. I just don’t always need what I think I do!

As I type this, the cool air blows on my feet. And I am grateful. As I will be in the winter when warm air cuts through the chill. I have plenty. I always will. For I have Jesus.