Who Owns My Stuff? The Generosity of God

Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. (Luke 12:15-22 NASB)

Jesus not only gave His disciples instruction. He also gave them illustrations to make the instructions clear. The admonition against greed was so important that He followed it with an illustrative story. It went like this:

A rich man had very productive land. He had filled every barn on his land with his crops. When all his storehouses were filled, this man did not say, "I should give some of the excess to the poor." He did not think about selling the excess and using the money to build shelter for the homeless. His only thought was how to store more, to have a greater accumulation. 

What has always surprised me about this story is that the man did not decide to build an extension on his existing barn or to repair any problem with his old ones. He decided to tear down all his perfectly good barns and build new, bigger ones. He'd have been right at home in today's world.

More. Bigger. Better. It's a theme in our society, and it is one that Jesus clearly warned against. 

Let's take a look at our possessions and the things we have spent a lifetime accumulating. Are we like the rich man, constantly acquiring more, bigger, better, or are we content with less? Do we want to tear down and build or repair and preserve? There is a marked difference in the two perspectives that begins with a clear understanding of who owns the blessings we enjoy. 

If every good and perfect gift comes from above (and it does), then the good and perfect things we enjoy and call our own all came from above. They are a gift from God, not a benefit of our financial acumen or hard work. 

A godly perspective toward our possessions and finances begins with an understanding of their origin and ownership. It's all God. Embracing that basic truth brings us to the only appropriate response. Gratitude. 

For today, let's look at every possession as a gift from God and thank Him for them. Individually. One by one. It's a way of counting your blessings that will leave you humbled and in awe of the One who has been so generous to you.

~~~~~~~

Dear Lord and Father, thank You for the gifts You have so graciously bestowed upon me. Thank you not only for my home, but for the generosity that provided my home and the possessions therein. Thank you for a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear. Thank you for extra to invest in the Kingdom of God. Help me to be a good steward of the things you have entrusted to me and help me to use them as You see fit, not simply to please myself. In Jesus name, Amen.

The thanksGiving series: making dried celery

The last time I considered buying celery flakes, I actually looked at the price and was shocked. I had just been through the produce aisle and seen the price for fresh celery. Whew! Big difference! Of course, I thought, how hard can this be? I think that a lot, which leads me down paths that are best confessed another time. Fortunately, this little project turned out well. I've been drying my own celery ever since. 

Since my supply was getting low, and because I thought you might want to try this too, I bought some "name brand" celery yesterday at the little grocery "down the road from my house". They only had one kind and it was $1.39. 

I washed and dried my celery, then sliced it in 1/4 inch slices. (Really, I just sliced it on the thinnish side. But 1/4 inch sounds good, doesn't it?) put it on a parchment-covered baking sheet in a single layer. One stalk of celery needed two baking sheets. I put it in a preheated oven at 170 degrees and left it there for eight hours. Maybe nine. When I finally made it home from errand day, feeding livestock, and hauling water (which is not my favorite) I remembered the celery and took it out. It was fine. You might call it leather hard. It was not hard crispy but not at all soft. If you are making celery flakes, you've seen them before. It's like the ones in the store.

I actually weighed the dehydrated celery and one stalk had yielded 1.3 oz of celery flakes. My favorite place to buy herbs and spices is Penzey's, so I checked their catalogue. They don't have a 1.3 oz jar, of course, but a 1 oz plus a 0.3 oz supply of celery flakes sells for $7.34. I saved $5.95! It took me less than 5 minutes to slice the celery, tear the parchment paper, put it on a baking sheet and slide it in the oven. That's not a bad savings for five minutes of work. 

I don't know if this worked or not, but I sliced a thin slice off the end of the stalk and stuck it down in some water. It may or may not root (which would make my savings the full $7.34) but romaine roots pretty well like that, so we shall see. 

This has been a crazy week, and I've been a little disconnected with the savings jar totals, but at last report, it contained $210.81.  With the addition of the celery savings of $5.95, the savings jar total is up to $217.76! 

Even if you are not trying to save money, drying your own celery is so easy that it's  a shame not to do it (and now you know how!) In case you are new to this series, the purpose for all this saving is so that we can become extravagantly generous and splurge on giving. Don't forget what it is that God loves - God loves a cheerful giver and that is exactly what we hope to become. 

thanksGiving series, Part 11

Are you tired of reading about saving money yet? Hang in there! We may be heading into the annual shopping frenzy, but there are things we can do to be better stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. It's probably not popular, but it sure is fun! 

Tomato soup was my mama's favorite, and it hurt her terribly when she was diagnosed with Celiac disease and had to give up her favorite Campbell's soup. Nothing I tried really came close to reproducing the flavor she preferred. Truth be told, it's my second favorite (next to pumpkin soup) and my all time favorite when served with a grilled cheese sandwich. If you haven't tried my recipe for tomato soup, you should. It's wonderful and, if not as convenient as the prepackaged Panera Bread soup, it is definitely as good. Maybe better. 

I've bought the Panera Bread soup before, and was happy to pay $10.98 to have it. Actually, I was happy to pay that price until I started this savings/giving project. I took a look at the price and thought, I can do that myself without much trouble and save a considerable amount. It turned out that I found the canned tomatoes and canned tomato paste on sale for 50 cents a can, grew the onions and basil (I count that as free), and bought a gallon of milk for less than $4.00. A very rough estimate of my cost for making the soup is less than $2.00. That's a savings of $8.98! Not bad for making soup that tastes better than what I would have bought! What's not to love about the last of the basil in the garden in homemade tomato soup? Yum! The savings of $8.98 for making the tomato soup brings the total in the savings jar up to $210.81! 

If the truth be told, I'm tired of adding the savings up. I want to write something funny! I want people to laugh and be moved by a touching moral. I don't really want to write about saving money every day. Apparently, what I want to do and what I need to do are not quite the same. Learning to be frugal and a good steward is an important life lesson, but choosing to be frugal and a good steward just for fun and in order to give what we save away is a little different, isn't it? It's not about us at all. This saving to give IS fun to me, but there is a part of me that wants to entertain the ones for whom this is not fun. When that temptation surfaces, I have to remind myself that the One for whom I write takes great delight in saving to give and choosing to invest in the Kingdom of God rather than in my own selfish desires. 

When I look at what that $210.81 can do for the Kingdom of God, I'm stunned. Bibles for young men and women in jail and ready to consider, perhaps for the first time, that they don't have all the answers, fruit baskets for senior citizens living below the poverty level, and blankets for the homeless are all things my Savings Jar can fund. Now, eleven days into the project, that Savings Jar can fund all of that (not just a part of it), and it absolutely astounds me! This is worth doing, and it will make a difference, so if you are ready to move on, too, let's choose to hold still a bit, deny ourselves a little more, and take up the cross and follow the One who denied Himself for us, sacrificing His very life to save us.

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' (Matthew 25:34-36, 40 NASB)

The thanksGiving series, part 9: The not-so-restful Sunday

My hair was still in a sock bun, but I had begun to get dressed for church when the phone rang. It's usually a telemarketer when my home phone rings, but it was Sunday and I was feeling particularly charitable, so I answered. It was a good thing I did. Sam was calling to tell me my cows were out. I left the sock in my hair, switched from skirt and boots to jeans and coveralls and headed to the barn. 

My first trick was to fill a bucket with feed and rattle it. The cows usually come running if they hear that beautiful sound. Sure enough, I walked to the gate, rattled the feed, and looked for cows. They were just outside the fence. When they heard that lovely rattle, their heads shot up, they saw me, and started running. Mama cows running is a sight to see, and I laughed out loud. They came right up, ate their feed, and relocated to a secure spot. 

They had clearly been out, so I started walking the fence. As usual, I found some crummy areas that needed repair. I was nearly to the end of the fence before I found the problem. An ENORMOUS tree had fallen on the fence. Much to my surprise, the tree didn't look dead. It appeared to have been struck by lightning. I have had quite enough of this lightning strike business recently, but there is nothing to do except keep repairing the damage it has caused. This tree had fallen right in between two brace posts. Oddly enough, it had smashed the wire down, but did not appear to have broken it. There was no way to get to the wire or to fix the fence until the tree was out of the way. 

There was plenty of other fence work to do, so I text'd Bill the Magnificent to let him know there was serious tree cutting in his future and to come on so I could get the fence fixed. Unfortunately, he had worked last night and was asleep. Sam, my neighbor who is 84 years old, is 6'4", recently gained up to 120 from eating peanut butter, and has bad double vision as a complication of cataract surgery, was going to help me. We started at the corner, where the fence was loose and soon to be down. I took the fence down so I could put it up correctly. Since Sam is about the size of a breath of air, I was going to pull the wire and he would hammer the staple. It seemed like a good plan until I realized he was hammering all over the post but never hitting the staple. I said to Sam exactly what he'd have said to me. "Sam, that's some bad hammering you're doing. You haven't hit the staple yet, but you've come close to my nose and my hand!" He shook his head and said, "Well, you know I see two of everything, and I can't tell which steeple to hit (that's what he calls a staple), so I'm trying to hit all the steeples I see. I thought one of them might be the real thing." None of them were. We switched jobs. I would pull the wire, Sam would hold it, then I would hammer the staple. It took us a long time to get the fence fixed. 

I walked along the fence that joined the one I was repairing and saw a sight I hoped never to see. Someone had tried to repair my fence and had used baling string to connect two pieces of barbed wire. I wanted to howl with indignation. Really, I like fencing. All that is needed is tell me a piece of my fence is down and I'm on it! There is never a reason to connect barbed wire with baling string. Just so you know. "Sam," I said, "We are going to have to take this down and get some barbed wire in here. Did you do this?" He wouldn't say. Finally, he found a good answer and used it. "Well, it looks like I should've known better than that." Indeed. I just shook my head and went to work. Once the fence was repaired, we had a good laugh about the baling string. Sam has a baling string collection and he uses it to repair everything. Apparently including barbed wire fences. 

Sam and I took a break for lunch and went back to fencing. We found more horrible repair jobs, took more fence down, and redid it all. When we got to the tree, there was no repairing it until Bill the Magnificent got the tree cut up. He worked on it, but it is so huge that he will not be through until Wednesday or maybe Thursday. I am just reporting what he said. 

At that point, Sam and I had literally done all the fencing we could do, and about all we could stand, so we headed back toward the barn. I fed the livestock, finally convinced the cows that I had water for them, and headed to the house. You might be surprised about this, but I was tired and dirty, and in serious need of a shower. 

Finally, we get to the point. I love great soap. Sometimes I make soap. Often, I buy great soap at my favorite "fashionista store". When I have wonderful soap that has been used down to the little scraps, I stick the scraps in my pink travel soap dish. I was recently at the end of some terrific soap and thought, "I need to go buy some more great soap," however, I'm doing this frugal, savings month so I hated to go buy overpriced soap. It turns out, however, that I was safe because my scraps of great soap have made a "greatest hits" bar of soap that is just wonderful. 

The soap is not at all pretty, but it has a lovely fragrance and the soap is all my favorites at once. Using this scrap-soap instead of buying more saved my $4.98. Incredibly, that brings the total to $201.83! In nine days! Without doing anything hard or strange, I have saved hundreds of dollars from simple, easy changes that will allow me to make an investment in the Kingdom of God. I can't wait!  

How's your savings jar going? Have you thought about what kind of Kingdom work you are going to do with your savings? I can't wait to hear what you all do, so keep me posted!

The Wonder Girls Join the ThanksGiving Project

(The Savings Jar after seven days. $156.85 with simple efforts that are easy to do)

We've had some Wonder Girl adventures in the name of saving money the last two days. Things did not go well. In my defense, I have experience clipping show goats. In the interest of full disclosure, my son once took the show goat I had just clipped into the show ring. The judge said, "Son, this is a fine goat, but it seems to be limping. What's wrong with your goat?" My son, who had been taught the importance of always telling the truth, said, "My mom just tried to clip my goat and when she trimmed his hooves, she cut his foot." The judge just smiled and announced it over the loudspeaker. Everyone heard. The goat won its class. I was really glad the bloody hoof-prints were obscured by the shavings. 

I told you I had experience clipping goats. I did not claim to be good at it. 

When I got Maggie the Wonder Dog, that long Shih Tzu hair was more than the two of us could handle. I did what any former goat-clipper would do. I bought dog clippers. Commercial dog clippers. If I was going to clip the dog, I wanted to do a good job. I didn't. The first attempt was pitiful and left me considering Rogaine to speed the recovery. I thought I would get better with time. I was wrong. Eventually, I did what any former goat-clipper turned dog-scalper would do. I hired a groomer. Every month, I have paid Miss Amy $40 to do a lovely job with Maggie. It was worth it. Once Mamie the Apprentice Wonder Puppy joined our family, she, too, had a monthly visit with Miss Amy. 

We recently missed the grooming appointment, however, and the Wonder Girls were looking scroungy. Their hair was covering their eyes and it was a mess. The reasonable thing to do was take the girls to see Miss Amy. 

Because of the saving money project, I had a better idea. I would clip both Wonder Girls. Somehow, I managed to convince Sam, my elderly and very frail neighbor to hold a dog while I clipped her. He said I must have stayed up all night long to think of such a scheme, but I should have stayed up two nights and figured out how to do it right. Needless to say, he didn't think much of my attempt. 

I managed to get Maggie clipped. That's all I can say about it. She growled at me and tried to bite the clippers. It didn't go well. I did manage to get the hair that was blinding her cut, but Miss Amy I am not! 

We took a day to recover from Maggie's clipping and attempted Mamie today. I know how it looks. Please don't tell me. She needs serious Rogaine. It's bad. Somehow, her body hair clipping was not too terrible. The head clipping can only be described as catastrophic. Sam looked down at the dog in his arms and said, "You have her bleeding in three places!" I did not. I had somehow cut the hair so extremely short in three places that you could see pink scalp. She was not bleeding, no matter what Sam says. I tried to even it out. I made it worse. He suggested I stop while I was ahead, if you could call it that. Once we were done, he summed our experience up with these wise words. "All I can say about it is at least it will grow back. Keep her inside." 

Do not even ask me about pictures. If you come to my house, the dogs will probably be upstairs. Maggie might greet you. Mamie probably won't. Until her hair grows. She has a skinned head, a lion neck, and a bear body. Poor Mamie!! I am considering a dog-kerchief or cap until it grows. 

In good concience, I cannot really say that I saved money with this clipping business and, unfortunately I cannot say that it has not impacted my lifestyle. I didn't cry and the dogs didn't bite me. That is the good news. For that reason alone, I have decided to claim a $40 savings. (I still need doggie Rogaine). It brings the Savings Jar amount up to $196.85. If you need your dog clipped, let me recommend a good groomer. If you need your goat clipped, you are on your own.  

There is a saving grace. I did it for a good cause. In a few weeks, this money will be used to bless the Kingdom of God in some way. When that day comes, all this hair clipping business will not matter at all! Thank goodness! 

The thanksGiving Series, part 7

(This is the Savings Jar after the Misto assist brought the savings total up to $137.35)

Today has been super busy. I've been working on my novel all day. The characters have had an astounding time, complete with a prayer vigil, a bona fide miracle, and an unrecognized sick heroine. You will likely not be surprised to find faith and medicine all mixed in with this story. 

Anyway, I read in the Martha Stewart magazine recently that we are all wearing out our clothes with dry cleaning. She suggested that we should start hand washing them and drying them flat on a rack. I just happened to have some Woolite and a drying rack, as well as a stack of four sweaters. I usually dry clean them, but the tag actually suggested hand washing. 

I remember a Woolite commercial about "soak your finest clothes clean in three minutes" (or something similar) so I filled the bathroom sink with water and 1/2 oz of Woolite, soaked my sweater clean for more than three minutes, rinsed it, and laid it flat on the rack. It took a while, but I got all four sweaters washed and looking good. Cost of the Woolite I used: less than 50 cents. Cost of dry cleaning four sweaters: $5.00 apiece (or $20) total savings: $19.50. 

The Savings Jar now holds $156.85. Seven days of savings. That's pretty amazing to me, and makes me think I've been throwing a ton of money away needlessly. That's changing day by day, though. There's a point here, and it is not so we can spend more on ourselves. Begin now to look for the need you should meet and save until you can meet it. 

The thanksGiving Series: part 6

(Doesn't the Saving Jar look wonderful? After only 5 days of mostly painless spending changes, I have managed to save $134.35! All of that is resting in the Saving Jar until the end of the month, when we see the final total and look for a way to invest it in the Kingdom of God.)

If you are just tuning it, you have landed right in the midst of the thanksGiving series. We are focusing on the "giving" part of thanksgiving this year. I'm reporting daily on my efforts to cut back on spending, while still living well, and corralling those daily savings in one place. It keeps me accountable for following through on my plan, which is essential to its success. At the end of the month, I plan to use that money to invest in the Kingdom of God in some way. 

Yesterday's savings was so big that there was no way to top it. I actually did a savings effort that was very wild, kinda hard, required help from Sam, and saved not as much as yesterday, but still a nice amount. It will take too long to write, though, so I'm saving it for tomorrow. You will not want to miss it. (Hint: there could be a little Wonder involved!)

I was filling up my Misto today and realized it is also part of my savings effort.   

In case you are not familiar with the marvelous Misto, it holds oil, you pump it up, causing pressure in the canister, then you spray the oil out wherever you want it. That is not the physics explanation. It's the mommy in the kitchen explanation. I've had my Misto for several years, so I'm counting use of the Misto as cost free. I bought a gallon of olive oil on sale a while back, got a great price, and the oil I put in the Misto today was less than 50 cents' worth. 

The Misto replaces the commercially available cooking spray. The last time I looked at the ingredients on the can, it included silicon. I can't see any reason to spray silicon on my food, so I have not bought silicon spray since I read the label. I checked the price of the name brand cooking spray and it sells for $3.48. To avoid a subtraction issue, I'm saying I saved $3.00 with my Misto! How great is that? The great thing is that, every time I fill up the Misto instead of buying cooking spray, I'm saving $3 again. I love my Misto. 

That brings the total savings in just six days to $137.35! When I think about saving that much in six days, just by making more frugal choices, I am astounded! Over the course of a year, savings at that rate could easily add up to thousands of dollars. It breaks my heart that I haven't been this frugal all my life. (It might be better said that I haven't been this faithful about stewardship, but I sure wish I had been.)

Anyway, we've all made a start, we are learning as we go, and it is making a difference! So, how are you doing with the frugalness project? Are you living well? Remember, this savings is not about ourselves.  It's about allowing us to invest in the Kingdom of God, so keep up the good work!

The thanksGiving Series, part 5

(Here's the Savings Jar after four days. $34.45 so far!)

The Savings Jar got a big boost today because I saved a bucketload yesterday, but I didn't know it until today. In case you missed the beginning of this thanksGiving series, we are focusing on the "giving" part of thanksgiving this year. In a nutshell, I'm making consistent efforts to cut back on spending, while still living well, and corralling those daily savings in one place. At the end of the month, I plan to use that money to invest in the Kingdom of God in some way. 

On Monday, I was to the sick-to-death of the struggle point, and ready to pay any amount of money to get the last bit of formatting done in my new book. I could not making facing pages, couldn't get my page numbers where I wanted them, and couldn't construct the table of contents. Well, I could construct it but the one-click method was not working. I called the book coach. "See how much it will cost to get the designer to fix this," I said. "Send it on," she said. "I'll tell Vinnie. He can do it." 

I was delighted to hit send and be through, but in a few minutes, Vince (the designer) called. He had many lovely things to say about my formatting and publishing skills and then he said the words I did not want to hear. "There is no sense in you paying me to do what you can obviously do yourself." "Vince, if I could do it, I wouldn't have called in the cavalry!" "Ha!" he said. "I'm telling you, you can do this and while you are at it, I have a couple more suggestions." Vince went on to tell me how to do what needed to be done and said to call him "if you start pulling your hair out. I'm telling you, you can do this!"

I was pretty close to pulling my hair out before I was done, and it took hours and hours yesterday. Jacki, my book coach, kept calling. "Vince said you were sending a new text file. Where is it?" I wanted to shout, but I just kept repeating my mantra, "Still working on it. Sending soon." I decided Jacki and Vince were both big bullies! Finally, I was done. Well, I wasn't sure if I was done, but I had done all I could stand. I exported the text file to PDF and hit send. 

Today, Jacki called to ask a question about printing. "How was the file?" I asked. She was positively breezy. "Oh, it was fine. Vince said you fixed everything. You're ready for the printer." "It was right??" I demanded. "Did Vince call and complain?" she asked. "Of course not, because it is right. Relax. You did it." I was thrilled. Apparently the only one worried was me! Have I mentioned how much I adore Jacki and Vince? They have pushed me to be better than I am, and I am incredibly grateful!

All that to say that I didn't have to pay anyone to do the work I finally did myself. That horrible day of agony saved me quite a few dollars. Judging by the cost of his other designer fees, I'm pretty sure it would've been $100 for what I needed. At least. That's what's going in the Savings Jar. That brings the total to $134.35! I can not wait to see what we have in there by the end of the month!! 

So, how's your Saving Jar doing? What interesting ways have you used to save money? Keep at it. We are going to have some fun doing God-work once we get our jars full, and we will have lived well and enjoyed ourselves all along the way. 

Happy Saving! 

The thanksGiving Series part 3

(This is the savings jar after day 2. There's a total of $2.49 after using regular popcorn instead of a bag and clearing my drains with vinegar and soda)

Back in the spring, Ryan and I went to the Bahamas to see my cousin Christy and hear her musical group, C-Force, in concert. They are awesome, play Cari-classical music (basically Caribbean music that has been written down), and you should check them out on YouTube. Before I left, I enrolled in international texting. They told me to wait a few weeks after I returned to be sure all the charges had come through. I waited and watched, then forgot about it.

When I started writing about fiscal responsibility, you can well imagine that God had some refining to do. That texting package was right near the top of the list, so I stopped by the ATT Store. It turns out that, a few months later, I have still been paying for international texting. $30 a month. I'm ashamed to tell you that, but this is the evening confession and, more than likely, I am not the only one with an absurd outlay of money for nothing. I cancelled it on the spot. 

The young man helping me said, "Wow! $30 dollars a month is a lot. That ought to make a difference!" The automatic draft notice came yesterday and it is now $30 less than the previous month. That's $30 for the Saving Jar. How about that? 

The Saving Jar is beginning to look a little different, isn't it? The total in that jar after only three days is now $32.49! I've lived well, and not one frugal thing I have done has been hard at all. 

Do you have your Saving Jar yet? When it's time to invest our thanksGiving Savings Jar money in the Kingdom of God, you're going to wish you did. It's not too late, so get going today and have fun spending less!

The Recognition, part 10: lifestyle

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:24-26 NASB)

We've come to a hard part. You may wonder why this series is called "The Recognition" when what Jesus has been discussing is the taking up of your personal cross. This series began with Jesus' question, "Who do people say that I am?" In the verses that follow that question, Jesus revealed more of Himself to the disciples, more about being a follower. It turns out that Jesus is more than a fun guest at a party, more than a miracle worker, more than compelling words. Jesus did not come simply as a sacrifice for our sin and to thus change our eternal destiny. He came to change our present, as well. He came to be our priority, to infuse our entire life with His Spirit. 

In this passage, He begins to talk about losing your life and saving it. The one who wants to save his life, Jesus said, will lose it. The one who loses His life for the sake of Christ will save it. "Whoa!" you make think. Is this a call for some kind of Christian jihad? No. It is not. This is a multi-layered passage and we will cover it in detail over the next few days, but for today, remember that this verse follows the one about taking up your cross and following Jesus. He who left the riches of heaven for us expects the same willingness to leave a life of luxury for a life of service to Him.  

This "life" Jesus speaks of saving is not that of our "life of luxury". He is not saying that, if we follow Him, we will somehow save the lifestyle we have come to enjoy. The median annual household income in the United States in 2013 was $51,939. Compare that to the median annual household income worldwide of  $9,733.  Big difference. The median annual household income in Rwanda is $1,101. In Liberia, however, it is only $781. This difference is incredible. 

A mother and father with children in their home in Liberia will feed and shelter the family for $781 for an entire year. We who are so accustomed to a very comfortable lifestyle, one that would seem luxurious by the standards in much of the world, would do well to consider whether or not we should try so hard to "save" our lifestyle. Perhaps, if we were less committed to our comfortable lifestyle, we could do more to help our brothers and sisters around the world. 

Jesus went on to say, "What is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" All the riches this world offers will not save us. It will not matter one bit how much money we have in the bank, how many expensive toys we have accumulated, when we reach eternity.  If we have forfeited our soul in the process, it will be disastrous. 

A wealthy widow was once asked how much money her husband left behind. "Every bit of it," she replied. Not one dollar, not one toy will make the journey to eternity. The only way to store treasure in heaven is to invest in the Kingdom of God, to live a lifestyle of generosity. 

Jesus taught that the love of money is the root of great evil, and it is true. That love of money is closely tied to the love of the things money can buy. As we begin the study of losing our lives and saving them, we would do well to consider whether or not our present lifestyle is a deterrent to following Jesus. Does it limit our ability to invest in the Kingdom of God? Will we try so hard to keep our lifestyle that we fail to save our soul? How tragic that would be! Is there anything in your lifestyle that needs to change? Perhaps today would be a good time to invite our Lord to change what He will and make us into the disciples He intended us to be. 

Oh, dear ones, there is great joy in following Jesus, and it is worth any sacrifice we are called to make. Fear not. He is worth it. 

Lunch Bag Popcorn

The problem of personal extravagance has been on my mind recently, and has triggered a serious effort at better stewardship. I've been attempting to be more frugal in every area, so, since popcorn was on my grocery list, I decided to start trimming my budget right there. I had seen something online about microwaving popcorn in a brown lunch  bag. It is supposed to be much cheaper and better in every way. I didn't believe the hype but decided to give it a try. 

Of course, I had to buy popcorn and opted for name brand at $4.98 for 45 oz.  According to the nutrition facts, that will make 32 servings, which ends up being 15 cents a serving! I thought I might have hit upon a great deal. I checked the price on the brand and flavor I prefer. $2.18 for four servings, or 54 cents per serving. That's a real savings! (If you eat a lot of popcorn.)

Since I couldn't find my brown lunch bags anywhere, I used a white one. It matches the popped kernels and I really like for things to match.

Unfortunately, the white bag is not as thick as the brown ones, and the popcorn blew out the end of the bag. It made a nice pop and was kind of exciting, so I counted it as a plus. Next time, though, I'm using a brown bag or two white ones. 

I used 1/4 cup of kernels, poured it in the bag, folded the top over twice, and put it in the microwave. The instructions said to set it for three minutes or until the popping slows. It took mine 2 minutes and 13 seconds. I burned a few kernels though, so set it for 2 minutes if you try this at home, and pay better attention than I did. 

I still remember popping corn in a pot on the stove, so that is my standard. Next to that, the usual microwave popcorn is pretty poor fare. This lunch bag popcorn is light and fluffy without any of the weird stuff the bags usually have. It was a little boring but Maggie and Mamie thought it was terrific. They didn't get much, though, because corn makes the Wonder Dogs itch. They can get by with just a bite, though. Wonder Dogs LOVE popcorn!!

Well, to tell the truth, it was a lot boring. I  added a little salt and, because I don't like boring, I added a little butter. Still HoHum. I added some Parmesan cheese and that helped. Finally, I added some chili powder and that added just the right zing. It turned out that the lack of zing was partially due to all the zingy stuff going straight to the bottom of the bowl. Without the oil in the commercial bags, there was nothing to which the zingies could cling. 

This was a lot like air-popped popcorn. I had an air popper once. I used it to roast green coffee beans. It works great for roasting coffee, but not so great for popcorn. 

The popcorn was okay. Not great, but okay. For 15 cents a serving, it was fabulous. Next time, I will try a brown bag and add a little oil to the bag, as well as a pinch of salt and whatever zingy hits my fancy. It has potential and, since the price is right, I'm willing to make an effort. I'll keep you posted. 

By the way, I'm not just being "cheap". As you will know if you saw the Flipping Food post, my goal is to make a habit of generosity and to splurge on giving. Being intentionally frugal is the best way I know to finance that kind of spending. I saved 39 cents for the giving splurge tonight. Give it a try! Just think what a difference we could make if we really make an effort! 

Flinging Food

Belle, our very beautiful Quarter Horse, has taught herself a new trick, and I can't say I'm pleased. This morning, she went into her stall for breakfast, stuck her lovely head into the feed trough, and immediately began flipping that fine head back and forth, flinging food out of the trough. She made several passes through the feed, then settled down to eat. In the process, she lost a fair amount of her meal. 

Lest you think that something was "in" her trough and she was just trying to get it out, let me assure you that the trough was fine less than sixty seconds prior, when I put the feed in there. Unfortunately, this is not the first time she's done the head-flipping, feed-flinging trick. She persists despite the fact that the "flung food" is never replaced. My explanations about wasting food and starving horses around the world have not helped, nor has putting the feed in the trough while she watches. When she's in a mood to fling, she just flings. Belle is extravagant with her feed and wasteful, as well. When I see her flinging the feed out of her trough, it does not make me want to feed her more. Less, maybe, but not more. 

As I watched feed falling to the floor this morning, I wondered how God views my extravagances with the resources He has entrusted to me. Does He sometimes shake His head and think, "If she could be more faithful with what I've already given her, I could trust her with more?" How does He view my waste? My lack of stewardship over some of the things He's entrusted to me? Frankly, God has blessed me with so much that I find it nearly impossible to responsibly manage it all. 

In fact, I'm not the only one with extravagances, nor am I the worst. We live in a nation of extravagance and we are a decadent society. You may disagree with me, but take a look at the definition of "decadent" and you might change your mind. "Low morals and a great love of pleasure", "luxuriously self-indulgent", "decay in standards or morals". Does that sound at all like our country? 

Scripture tells us, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."(Luke 12:48 NASB) WE are the ones who have been given much, and much will be required of us. Those are frightening words to me. Much will be required of us. It is required of stewards that they be found faithful (1Cor 4:2) and that is exactly the requirement for which we, who have been entrusted as stewards of wealth and freedom, will one day give account.

It breaks my heart to see the tragedies around the world, the hungry people, the homeless people. It breaks my heart that I could do more, but don't, because of my own extravagance. By the standards of many, I'm not at all extravagant, but by the standards of most people in our world, I am, and you are, too. I am not proposing that we stop enjoying the blessings God has given, but perhaps a little less pleasure would be in order. Perhaps a little less self-indulgence might allow us to give more, help more, do more. Those of us who can help, should help. 

Dear ones, take a few moments to consider your own stewardship of the blessings God has entrusted to you.  Have you invested in the Kingdom of God? Have you made a lifestyle of generosity toward those in need? How will you give an accounting when that time comes? 

May we not be like Belle, needlessly extravagant and wasteful. Instead, let's make a habit of generosity and splurge on giving so that, when the time for accounting comes, we will have only good news to report to the One who has given so much to us. 

The Journey, part 27: Divine Mathmatics

Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full. (Luke 9:16-17 NASB)

Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. (John 6:11 NASB)

The account of the feeding of the five thousand is given in all four gospels. In my Bible, I have a notation at the verse in John that is listed above, and it is the mathematic signs for subtract, add, divide, and multiply. It was written as a reminder of the mathematics of faith. 

When we relinquish all we have to Jesus, here's what He does:

Subtraction: Jesus took the loaves

Addition: He gave thanks

Division: He broke the loaves 

Multiplication: He distributed the food to all that were seated, everyone had as much as they wanted, and there was food left over. 

In the economy of God, what He provides IS enough. That comes with a caveat, however. For what He gives to be "more than enough", we have to begin with divine subtraction. That which He gives to us must be given back to Him, to do with as He wills. No hoarding for ourselves allowed. 

The boy who gave his lunch had two options. He could give his lunch to Jesus, or he could eat the whole thing himself. He would likely have had his hunger satisfied either way. By giving it to Jesus, however, he not only had his hunger satisfied, but he also was allowed to be a participant in a miracle so big that we still speak of it more than two thousand years later. Because of the willing participation of a young boy in the demonstration of divine mathematics of God, thousands of people were satisfied, thousands personally experienced the miracle of Christ. 

This business of holding our resources with open hands is difficult for those of us with much. We want to continue to have much, and we fear risking our lifestyle by relinquishing control of those resources to God. We instinctively know that He wants it all. We also want it all. It is an epic struggle for surrender, and one we cannot win. Our resources were entrusted to us by God and were His initially. He has loaned them to us for a time. They are in much better hands when we return them to Him. 

This does not mean that we empty our bank accounts and put the money in an offering plate. It means that every expenditure is filtered through the will of God. It means that our desire for acquiring more is replaced by a desire to give more, to help more, to make a greater difference. Perhaps our desire to "modernize" our homes could be replaced by a desire to make the home of someone in need more secure. Perhaps we could do more for others if we did less for ourselves. 

What resources has God placed in your hands? How are you using them for the Kingdom of God? Do you hold your possessions with tightly clenched fists, hoping to keep control, or with open hands, allowing God full access to all He has placed there?

In God's economy, all He has given us is more than enough, but only when we relinquish control of His gifts and let Him have His way. Open your hands, friends. Open your hands.