Friday, April 6, 2012

God Given Gifts

So just now I was reading the latest post from Frugally Sustainable, (as I've said, I'm attached to this blog) and something Andrea wrote yesterday pulled some serious heart strings and really what I've been striving for without having a way to explain it.  Andrea states, "Your job could be lost, your home destroyed, and your possessions stolen…yet your ability to identify and use your God-given gifts to provide for your family is the defining difference between dependence and sustainability."

My job has been lost, it could come back, but my latest client went on hospice and recently died.  Being 8 1/2 months pregnant my Home Health Aide agency doesn't have any new clients for me to take on, so for now and however long until my doc clears me for work and what our life is like after my son is born, I'm essentially unemployed by the job world.  I still have my crafting business which I think is more of a hobby at this point and I pray that this year and my new products I will make enough money to pay the booth fees, my rent on my studio until someone takes over my lease and still help build our savings.  This is by facilitating part of my God Given Gifts.

We have home owners insurance and thankfully we don't live in an area in the US where we are hit by most natural disasters and storms, but anything is possible.  We have been robbed in the past so I entirely know what that feels like.  But what Andrea stated is so true, without our God Given Gifts we can't be sustainable we are completely dependent on someone or something.

This is what has been pulling on my heart strings in the last couple of months as my due date is more near and knowing what kind of a world we currently live in and having my deepest roots with God knowing he will provide and take care and when I'm not sure what to do or how to handle something I give it to him and he will guide me.  He has been guiding me lately into the world of frugality and sustainability and as some people might think that its crazy and will get better, I'm actually thoroughly enjoying the adventure.

I'm using my God Given Gifts to utilize fabric I own to make reusable family cloth vs toilet paper.  This is saving us approximately $7 a month and especially now in my last months of pregnancy where I use the bathroom at least 10x a day it is saving us.  The fabric I already had so it didn't cost me anything to make the switch.  I made reusable diaper wipes for my son out of more flannel I already had and am making the diaper wipe spray to use with it which is not only a lot HEALTHIER and safer then what you buy on the store shelves it's a lot more affordable!  You want to play the devil's advocate and state well, you still have to wash the wipes and family cloth so you're not saving any money.  On the contrary we are, we still have to wash bathroom towels, lights and darks and eventually cloth diapers.  I was most of our clothes on cold because they wash out as well as with dark and saves energy from not heating the water.  Though I do wash towels and family cloth in HOT, but then I also hang dry/line dry as much as possible which saves money from running the dryer.

I used my God-Given gifts to make 90% of the items we needed for the arrival of my son.  I made his towels and wash cloths, burp cloths, diaper wipes, blankets, comforters, my reusable breast pads vs those expensive disposable ones, my mom and I recovered an antique baby buggy on loan from my dad so as an infant he can lay flat, my mom got a free stroller for when he's older that I'm also currently in the process of recovering.  The furniture in my son's nursery was mostly all mine through out time, we're using my crib, my nightstand, my baby mattress, a dresser I got from my dad, borrowing a rocker from my mom.

I'm enjoying the challenges of frugal living by finding out how much protein and fiber are in beans which I've never been a fan of but am willing to buy a few and try them out and see which ones we can make apart of our pantry stock affordably and eat vs red meat which I'm also not a huge fan of but need the protein.  I'm creatively figuring out the structure of our back yard in terms of planting area and full sun to plant a garden to help save money to sustain us as much as possible.  I'm decluttering our home with things we don't need or use to have a garage sale to make money to save.

Andrea also quoted the Bible at the end of her blog post and I had not yet read this, reading the Bible cover to cover is something I've always wanted to do, and I'm sad to say I always get distracted but now with not working I'm hoping I have time to really start and immerse myself.

“…so don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “ –Matthew 6

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