Sign of the Times...

Before I started working on Saturdays, my precious hubby and I would spend wonderful hours during the warm months at garage and yard sales. One Saturday I was worn out from all the sales we went to and opted to wait in the car while Roger "hit" another sale. He came back to the car, got in and paused before driving away. He had found an old handmade wall hanging that he really liked but didn't know if he should buy it or not. (I think it was $5.00.) I told him to get it if he liked it! He came back to the car carrying his treasure and I fell in love with it as well.

Little did I know it was going to be a sign of the times in our household! We're not exactly doing without a LOT of stuff, but we are learning to use what we have, make it do...and sometimes do without.

I was raised with that mentality because I did a lot of my growing up time out in the country. We didn't just "run to the store" if we were out of a particular item. Often we were out of milk and had a cup of hot tea for breakfast. (Maybe that's why I'm so very fond of tea!) We RARELY had orange juice. I remember when my parents would go to a big outlet style grocery store in Indianapolis. It was a long way away from our house but they would go about once a month or so and stock up on all kinds of things. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. It was kind of like feast or famine time in our house!

I think that my YOUNGER children and MOST children today haven't learned about going without very long. I didn't raise my kids to be spoiled brats but they certainly think a major travesty has happened if we don't have milk or cereal for breakfast. They are appreciative, I believe, but sometimes they just don't get it. There were times when their big brother was a baby that we didn't have diapers and I had to fashion a dishtowel into a diaper for his little bottom. THAT'S poor.

I don't regret those days necessarily but I think it probably has contributed to my problem with my "need" of things. I find it hard to get rid of something..."WHAT IF I NEED IT SOMETIME?"

I really do struggle with this. I need to learn to trust God. Philippians 4:19 states that He shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. Not your "wants" or your "I have to haves"...but your needs. I know that He has never failed me AND He has also blessed me with many many of my WANTS as well. It is during those times that I rely on Him to supply our real needs that He blesses me with some item of "Wants", too...and I appreciate it all the more because I know that God has given it to me. I realize more and more that God really loves me and knows the "desires of my heart." (That is one of my favorite little framed thoughts I have hanging in my house...it always reminds me that God has given me my husband Roger. God knew that he was perfect for me before I even knew it...and I think I knew it before ROGER knew it!)

So that's my thought for the day as we continue to go through and weed out some of my sinful, untrusting hoarding of unnecessary STUFF. One of these days I would love to be able to post some pictures of our clean, neat uncluttered home! BUT....that's gonna be a while......