Category: Stewardship
While I was doing a regular shopping excursion to Whole Foods, I went to the bulk food aisle to get what I needed to make homemade granola bars. The price of the blueberries gave me pause. $13.99 per pound. Wow. That seemed extreme. Then I remembered that I had that unused dehydrator sitting on the shelf.
Pin ItI found a really complicated recipe – three different kinds of essential oils, a soap, some household products. Seemed like a science experiment. The next place I looked, I saw one that had two simple ingredients. I thought I’d try that one first, for the ease of the simplicity. I figured if I didn’t like it, I could start getting more complicated.
Halfway through, I could hardly speak because tears were clogging my throat. My 2-year-old looked up at me and said, “What’s wrong, Mommy?”
I could only say, “Nothing. I just love Jesus so much.”
Pin ItOne of the first things I did was create a budget. I created a Microsoft Excel Worksheet and listed anything on which I would likely spend money: food, sundries, dining out, gasoline, etc. Once I did that, I figured what I might spend in a month’s time and set a budget. Once I had the monthly budget, I multiplied each number by 12 and came up with the annual budget. So, I created a worksheet within this spreadsheet that had the annual budget numbers. I work with an annual number, because, for instance, my birthday gift budget is $50 per month. However, there are months that I don’t spend $50, and there are months that I do spend $150 — but what I want to look at is the annual expenditures and budgets.
Seeds of Faith Team MemberWednesday morning, I was feeling really sorry for myself. Wednesday is my day to volunteer and cook at the soup kitchen, which normally is so fulfilling to me, but that day was the day before Gregg’s birthday and I was dwelling on it. That afternoon, a young wife and mother came into the dining room to eat.
I make all of my bread homemade. About a month into making this commitment, it occurred to me that yeast, the way I was purchasing it, isn’t cheap. On sale, it seems like I could find the three-envelops of yeast for about $1.10. One loaf of bread, one batch of buns, one patch of pita bread, two pizza doughs — all of those take one envelope of yeast.I make all of my bread homemade. About a month into making this commitment, it occurred to me that yeast, the way I was purchasing it, isn’t cheap. On sale, it seems like I could find the three-envelops of yeast for about $1.10. One loaf of bread, one batch of buns, one patch of pita bread, two pizza doughs — all of those take one envelope of yeast.