Saving "Sense" (¢ents)

I shop at Bi-lo with coupons because they double the coupons that are valued up to 60¢.  That means that a 60¢ coupon is worth $1.20.  Bi-Lo is good about having BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) deals.  If I watch the coupons and sales closely, I can get things for free or just pennies.  This is how I save the most.  The other way that we save money is by using the fuel perks that Bi-Lo offers.  For every $50.00 you spend you can save 5¢/gallon on gas up to 20 gallons.  If you let that accumulate over time, you can save a good bit off each gallon.  Since this credit is given based on your total before coupons, you can build it up quickly.

Last night, we needed a few things at the store so I went with my coupons.  I had seen online where they had McCormick Spices and Marinades on sale for BOGOF.  I knew that I had 50¢ coupons which were worth $1.00 when doubled.  They had also advertised that if you bought 4 of the McCormick products, you would earn an extra 10¢/gallon.  I had 6 of the coupons for the products.  Here is how I saved:

8 packets of McCormick Marinade Mix= $9.52 (Regular Price)

BOGOF= $4.76 (Sale Price)

Coupons= 50¢ each(doubled)=$1.00 x 6= $6.00

Final Price= -$1.24 (they paid me)

FUEL PERKS

I already had 25¢/gallon credit

I earned 20¢/gallon credit for purchasing the McCormick Marinade Mixes

Total:  45¢/gallon credit

I purchased 11.5 gallons of gas with credit

Saved: $5.18 

Total savings/earnings:  $6.42 + 8 McCormick seasonings FOR FREE

I hope that this makes sense.  This is just the savings on this one deal.  I got several other deals in my grocery order.  I try to not buy anything unless I have a coupon.  I save the most when there is a good sale and I have coupons.  

My philosophy is that my husband makes the money and I try to make the most of it!  I think it is a VERY biblical concept and I consider it my job since I am a homemaker.  

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She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.
She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household 

Proverbs 31:14-15

Working on my Nest

There is something about waking up to cooler temperatures that makes me start feeling like a mother bird working on her nest.  I have a need to clean, organize, plan, straighten, redecorate, etc.  I am not certain what brings these feelings on, but I am almost giddy about the fact that I will soon be able to open windows for fresh cool air.  I am looking forward to being able to enjoy my morning coffee, afternoon reading time, and evening tea on the front porch.  Although yesterdays post was about not longing for something different, I am preparing my home, mind, and heart for something different.  My "nest" will soon feel and look different because I have these needs to clean and rearrange.  My husband says he knows when I sense a change in seasons because when fall is approaching, I play lots of hammered dulcimer music in our home.  I am not certain that is always true, but our home does start smelling like nutmeg, cinnamon, apples, and pumpkin spice.  I will bring out the hot tea and cocoa.  However, before all of that, it is time to toss the things out of the nest that are not needed.  I have a plan in place for the next couple of weeks.  I am going to take one room at a time and clean every drawer and cabinet out.  I will post pictures of my progress and work as motivation for me to continue to strive toward a cleaner more organized nest.

Longing for Something Different

On my 2 mile walk with my neighbor this morning, I was thinking about how it was not as hot as a few weeks ago.  I thought about how thankful I will be when the weather cools off and how miserably hot the summer has been.  As this thought crossed my mind, I thought about how we are never satisfied.  We always want something different than what we have at the time.  Why do we long for something different?  I know that when we are walking one morning in January in three layers of clothes we will talk about how we cannot wait until it is no longer so cold.  We are always longing for something different.  We cannot be satisfied.

All of these thoughts brought to mind:

"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11

Contentment is completely possible regardless of our circumstances.  If I am walking in 105° weather or 25°, I can be content.  I can choose to be content.  How?  By learning to be content.  Contentment does not come easy.  It is something we have to learn to do.  I believe the way we learn contentment is to practice speaking in a positive way.  We have to learn to have a better attitude about things and to be appreciative of the present.  We get caught up sometimes in the complaining that we miss the blessings of the moment.  Our complaining, grumbling, and discontentment ruins our witness.  It all starts with our attitude.  I am going to appreciate each day and be grateful for my morning or evening walk....that is my new attitude.

Not Necessarily the Necessary

The last few months have been full to say the least.  Not necessarily full of the necessary...but full.  Instead of catching up on every boring and not so boring detail, I am going to share some lessons I have learned through that time:

1. I have been working on some extra weight that I put on through a very stressful 2010.  I have learned that the scale does not define me.  Now, we all know that, but this is a big deal because I learned a spiritual lesson.  If every time somebody says something about us (good or bad) we allow it to define us, we forget and disregard the fact that who we are in Christ defines us.  I wake up and face that scale first thing every single morning. We tend to like a scale when it gives us the numbers we want.  We are mad at the scale when it does not tell us what we want to hear.  We are the same person who is standing on the scale either way.  Life is that way too.  Whatever anyone says about us (good or bad) does not have to change or define who we are.  All we can do is keep doing the best we can and hope that others see Jesus in us.
2. I helped facilitate a Summer Bible Study this year.  Two other ladies and I sat down over lunch and decided what we thought was a random selection of who would lead each week.  I later realized that I was leading the VERY weeks that God had ordained.  We worked through Brave by: Angela Thomas .  I taught one week on being undisciplined and the other on fear.  Wow, it was not random which weeks we would teach.  I learned far more those two weeks as I studied than I would have if I had not been forced to dig deeper and lead it.  So when you start thinking something is random, remember that God is charge of EVERYTHING!
3. Late July I started experiencing some pain in my mouth.  I thought it was a tooth issue.  I have serious dentistry anxiety (remember....I had just taught on FEAR).  It finally got so intense that I had no other choice than to call my dentist.  As I sat in the chair waiting on him to come in, I had tears flowing.  It was not just the fear but the intense pain that seemed to consume me when it would hit.  He walked in and immediately put my mind at ease.  He checked my teeth and then checked my jaw.  Yep, it was a muscle problem in my jaw due to me clenching my teeth subconsciously during the day and in my sleep at night.  He fit me for a bite guard and I had to wait 2 weeks for it to come in.  By the time I got the bite guard it had been a month since I first started experiencing the pain.  I cannot describe this pain in words.  It was like these intense muscle spasms in my jaw that radiated all over the right side of my face and head.  My ear, my teeth, my lips, my jaw, my forehead, etc would all hurt so terribly.  Some spasms would last a couple of minutes and others would last over an hour. During this month, I learned several things but the biggest lesson....TRUST IN THE LORD!!!  We are all so quick to quote Proverbs 3:5-6 when we are talking to others about their struggles, but I had to quote it over and over to myself.  Fear would set in each time I would have a spasm.  Doubt and fear would take over.  The day that my dentist fit me for the bite guard he said for me to trust him and know that I would get pretty quick relief once it came in.  People would start questioning me and saying things to me that would scare me.  Finally, a very soft spoken lady at church came to me and said that she had suffered with the same thing and the bite guard worked.  So many people kept trying to convince me it was something far worse.  Well, 24 hours after getting my guard adjusted and wearing it for all but one hour, I felt like a new person.  I still have to be careful because it has been less than a week, BUT I am better.  
4. Finally, I could not attend a meeting about our Fall Bible Study and found out later that I will be facilitating that one.  It is going to be another one that God will use to teach me LOTS of lessons.  It is Lord, Change My Attitude:  Before it is Too Late by: James MacDonald.  Trust me, it is not a coincidence that I am leading this one!  There will probably be LOTS of blog posts on this one.

Bottom line is this, I thought I was just busy busy busy throughout the summer months with very unnecessary things or mundane things, but as I look back God had a lot to teach me through not necessarily the necessary.  

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Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all. 

Proverbs 3:5-7

"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

This time 17 years ago, I was trying to figure out how I was going to survive the heat of the coming summer while pregnant.  I was awaiting the birth of a baby that I had longed for and thought I would never have.  I had already buried two babies and could not wrap my head around the fact that everything seemed to be going well this time.  I had no idea if we would be the parents of a son or daughter.  I was struggling with my blood pressure but was willing to do whatever I had to do to bring this baby home from the hospital.  In September, I gave birth to a beautiful blue-eyed, blond-haired, and precious baby boy.  We named him Austin and I fell immediately in love.  My heart was as full of love as it had ever been.  I decided to make Austin my career...literally.  2½ years later we had our daughter.  They have been what I have wrapped my life around ever since.

A few minutes ago, I hugged that sweet boy as he got in the car with his best friend and his best friend's mom to head out on a 10 day trip to the other side of the country.  I am thrilled that he has the opportunity and I look forward to hearing all about the trip, but that is my baby (even if he is 16).  I miss him already.  He can make me laugh more than anyone else.  He has been my buddy for all these years and I wish we were making this trip together.  He has never been away from home for this long.  He has never flown anywhere on a jet.  He has never been more than 400 miles from home.  He is going to have a lot of "firsts" in the next ten days.

As I sit here with all these mixed emotions, I realize that a day is coming when he will not live here and will have his own life elsewhere.  I am not certain that I am ready for that day.  Today has been hard enough.  I also know that this has been my job description all along...raising them to be independent.  As much as I miss him, this is a process.  This is God's way to prepare me for the day when he leaves home.  My prayer is that he has a great time on his trip, but for now, I am glad this is where he will return to.  I am enjoying every single day with my children at home because the day is coming when they will not be.

The Finish Line

I realized that I do my best when I have a goal.  I think we all do.  In fact, I think what keeps people strong when they are going through the hardest of times is when they think "Heaven is my goal".  Keeping our eyes on the prize is something I have heard my entire life but what is the prize?  As I sit here, in my "place", Starbucks, I have been thinking about goals and the ones I have made for myself.  I am actually researching how to go from an okay walker to a finisher of a half marathon in 193 days.  I am not certain how it is going to happen or how I am going to train for it but I already see myself crossing the finish line.  I have pictured it all as I have thought about it and I know it is a real place.  I am fully aware that other people have been there.  I have read about what it is like and I can feel it in my soul as I think about it.  The reality, I have never crossed the finish line of a half marathon.  I know that to get there, I am going to have to make a daily choice to think about it and to act as if I am going to cross that finish line.  I don't need to say I am a runner, I need to become one.  I will have to push myself to be more than I ever thought possible.  I am going to get blisters, bruises, and burns as I train, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will cross that finish line on October 29, 2011.

What about my spiritual finish line?  What do I choose to do each day that causes me to focus on that finish line?  Do I think that I can live as a lazy Christian and feel like I have run the race that was set before me?  Will I train daily regardless of how I feel?  Will I act Christlike or will I be Christlike?

Funny, I have volunteered for many athletic events and I have watched as many people cross the finish line.  Many of them have a look of thankfulness, others have a look of exhaustion, and some have a look of surprise that they made it.  At these events I help, I watch, and I encourage, but I am not a participant.  I leave the events tired and with a t-shirt that says I was there.  I do not leave the event as a successful participant though.  People who see me wearing my t-shirts would assume that I participated.  I do not want my Christian life to be this way.  I don't want to look like a Christian and not participate in all that the Lord has for me to do here in the race of life.  I want to cross that glorious finish line with total thankfulness and even exhaustion but not surprise.  I want to hear "Well done Jamie!"  

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"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"

Hebrews 12:1

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Hearing Him

Last night was the first night for our Tuesday Night Bible Study Group to meet for this session.  We are working through "Discerning the Voice of God" by Priscilla Shirer.  The DVD we watched last night REALLY spoke to me.  One thing that she she said that keeps playing over and over in my head is that we have to be prepared to hear Him in order to know when we hear Him.  

Raising children has taught me so much about the Lord.  Most of the time, whatever I say to my children in a moment of discipline or correction, I hear the Lord say, "You too, Jamie."  Listening and really hearing what I say is something we have worked on since my children were really small.  My son is 16 and his mind is always on music, songs, lyrics, or computers.  He is super talented but not always fully attentive to what I am saying.  He likes to hangout in the kitchen with me and talk while I am getting things done.  A lot of those times, I use him to put things up or hand me things from either the pantry or refrigerator.  Recently, I was making sandwiches and I handed him the mayonnaise and sandwich meat and said, "Put this all back in the refrigerator".  He never skipped a beat in his sentences as he chattered right through my instructions.  I later went to the pantry to get something and there sat my quart of mayonnaise and a package of sandwich meat.  My first thought was, "He never heard me because he was so busy talking about what was on his mind.  In his distraction he just put it in the pantry and not the refrigerator.  He needs to really listen when I speak and things like this would not happen."  Well, you probably know what happened next.  I hear in my heart that I am no different. OUCH!  I know that God must be thinking those same exact things about me.  He wants me to stop talking about what is on my mind long enough to hear Him and know what to do.  I have been guilty of doing things that I am certain are the opposite of what God has tried to tell me.  I have been guilty of standing up after some time with Him and never really waiting to hear what He was saying.

I am really looking forward to this study.  Those that know me, know that I love to talk.  Nobody knows that better than God!  I am going to take the time to listen so that I do not miss a thing!

Time Away

Sometimes we just need time away.  I took some time away from my blog and now I am back.  I needed to regroup in several areas of my life so I took the time to.  I am so glad that I did.  I feel better and I feel more capable of keeping up with a blog...or two.  I guess my year in pictures (other blog) will be missing several weeks but that is okay.  So here we go...back on the blogging bandwagon!

Don't Forget Who You Are

How many times in 16+ years have I said something to my children to correct or guide them and I suddenly have heard the Lord saying the same thing to me???  MANY MANY MANY TIMES!

This happened just recently as I was talking to my son (16) about why we put him on restriction.  Restriction for this long has NEVER happened before and I am not really certain who it has upset more.  I had talked to my sister who has three grown boys in order to get some perspective.  She shared with me that there was an incidence when they had to confront one of their sons and his answer was "Mom, I just forgot who I was".  WOW!  That hit me like a rock. I thought about that for a while and decided to talk to my son again about some poor choices that he had made which led him to being on restriction.  I told him that I wanted to remind him of who he is and who he belongs to. This is not only true about teenagers but it is VERY true about adults.

I have decided, based on this very principle, that I will surround myself with people who remind me who I am and who I belong to.  I am a Christian which means that I belong to God.  If I surround myself with people who do not care about that or who pull me away from that, I am only going to make more mistakes in judgement.  If Christians treat each other as we should, we will encourage righteousness and spur each other on in our walk with the Lord.  I am grateful when people care enough about me and my relationship with the Lord to hold me accountable to what He desires for my life.

Correcting and disciplining my children is my job but it is not always easy.  The blessing that I see that reaches beyond them is that I learn in the process.  As I remind them who they are I am reminded to not forget who I am and who I belong to.

Fresh Start

I am not certain how many times I have journaled, blogged, or thought about this concept.  I seem to always be longing for a fresh start.  I am glad that I serve a God that gives those freely and without holding my failures against me.  

Tomorrow, some things HAVE TO change for me.  I have to get back to exercising every single day.  I have to get back to eating healthier.  I have no choice!  Well, I do have a choice.  I guess it would be better said that I am not giving myself a choice.  I am planning to bundle up and go walk first thing in the morning.  

Tomorrow, I plan to get back to waking up early.  The holidays and the lazy days we were in with snow on the ground have really spoiled me.  Tomorrow, the alarm will be set.  I will rise early and get a good start on my day and the week.

Tomorrow, I will have my quiet time as soon as I get home from my walk.  I will not let anything take priority over that time with my Lord.

So, I have all these plans, but what about today?  What am I going to do with today?  I have already had my quiet time where I spent the time catching up on my Bible study homework.  I did not go walk this morning.  Today, I will get ready and go to the church house.  What will I do with my time there?  Will I exercise my faith?  Will I eat the "meat" of the word or need milk?  Will I quiet myself before the Lord while I am there or will I think about everything that has me stressed?  I have today and I am not guaranteed tomorrow.  Each day is a fresh start.