Generosity

Psalm 112:5

Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.

A couple of Sundays ago at church we talked about generosity and God's provision. On the heels of my husband being recently laid off I felt God just talking right to my heart. When our associate pastor shared his heart saying that it doesn't come easy him, with a tinge of guilt I realized it doesn't come easy for me too.

Don't get me wrong I love helping people. I love volunteering to make dinners, babysitting kids, cleaning, visiting etc. However I while volunteering my time and efforts when it comes to actually doing it, I tend to feel overwhelmed. Part of this is time management, I know. But a big part of it is, it really isn't my nature to be generous.

While I may be more generous with my time, my money is another matter. We do not have a lot of disposable income but, we do have indulgences that we could cut back on to give more generously. God is really dealing with me on this. I work in fundraising. I know the blessing it is to give to something you believe in.

I do know that God has already shown us ways we can cut back, and we have. Here is what we have done so far:

• We cut out all movie channels which have resulted in a $100.00 savings
• We went from receiving 3 movies on Netflix to 1 and have unlimited viewings online (We use the online service more than anything as we can stream it in through our xbox!) This cut the amount we paid to Netflix in half.
• We are working on refinancing our home, hoping to get a better interest rate.
• I traded in my leased vehicle to a purchased vehicle bringing down my insurance rate and I am hoping to pay it off fast!
• My husband, being the savings rockstar that he is, is shopping sales for our groceries and planning out our meals. He found the lean cuisines that I take to lunch everyday on sale for $1.87 as opposed to $3.87 at another grocery store. He also found deals on meat, buy one package get another free. Our grocery budget has improved so much!
• We have a gym membership as a family and we dropped our son's membership as he is 12 and runs up and down the street and rides his bike everywhere. Gyms are boring to him and we were not getting our money's worth, this was a $29 savings per month.

I'm sure we will be cutting back more and more as God speaks to us and our family. I may do another update to let you know how things are going. I'm praying about being more generous and trying to act out of my comfort zone with the peace that God will bless it and provide for us.

Wild One

Yesterday Dave was sick so we just hung around the house and watched movies. One of the movies we watched was "Into the Wild" (movie website: http://www.intothewild.com/). This movie is written from a book that follows the journey of a college student looking for adventure and working out issues he had regarding his parents. (You can read the synopsis at the above website)

Watching this movie I was struck by the bravery of this kid. I kept thinking what if you get hurt or what if you get sick. But I also thought about how we view life in one way and rarely do we get to view it differently through different lenses or at different angles. I'm pretty black and white. One of the biggest difficulties I have in life is to see it differently.

This movie has challenged the way I see life and the way I live it. Here are some things I learned:

• Share your life - It may be easier to just to be alone without the complications other people bring, but sharing your life with your family in friends makes this very hard and difficult life more livable. It is better to love others than to be alone!
• Possessions are temporary - We put a lot of our worth and security in the things of this world. Being free to give our "things" away or get rid of the clutter makes us freer.
• God in nature - It says in the Bible that we can be still and know that He is God and also that we can know He is God through his creation. Take time to appreciate nature, to be quiet and to be still.

I always admired those who were able to shed the trappings of this world. To rid themselves of possessions and to live a simple life. I desire that kind of life. I'm praying to simplify things and to see our life and raising our kids in a different way.

A friend of ours Bill Holston wrote a great commentary on simple living:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1538320/North.Texas/Commentary.Simple.Gifts

Check it out, it is very moving and inspiring as well.

Simply Yours,

Vanessa