Musings by Melissa

Someone challenged me awhile back to try to do one thing every week that would help my family survive if things ever get really bad.  In other words, learning how to be more self-sufficient.

So, in the past six months or so, I’ve been steadily working at building up our food supply.  When I see food on sale, I’ll stock up.  I haven’t been using our freezer though because if the power goes off for any length of time, I’d loose all that I’d put in there.  So, I’ve been a canning maniac!  ~smile~

So far this year I’ve canned maple syrup, chicken, ground beef, and strawberry jam.  This past week I added carrots to the mix.  They were easy to can.  The local store had the one-pound bag of baby carrots on sale for 50 cents.  Not knowing how many bags would fill a quart jar, I bought 14 bags.  Well, one bag is one quart!  So, I now have 14 quarts of carrots lining my pantry shelf!  They look so pretty.

That’s one thing about increasing the amount of food onhand– you have to have a place to store it.  But if you can use your imagination a bit, I’m sure you can come up with a place to store at least some food.  Even if someone lives in a smaller manufactured home or apartment, they can find a closet or space under a bed.  (Granted, they may need to get rid of a few things first.  It does come down to priorities.  I’ve heard of people who stack cans of food under an end table and cover the whole thing with a floor-length table cloth. 

And you don’t have to can everything you store.  When things go on a good sale, if it’s something you eat, go for it.  We enjoy a particular brand and flavor of spaghetti sauce.  When it went on sale for 75 cents a can, I bought enough to last us a couple years.  Granted, I spent a lot on spaghetti sauce that month, but it’s something I know we all like, and I know we’ll use it.

What about you?  If you or your spouse lost your job and had no income for awhile, would you think, “Oh, if only I had done _________ before now!”  You fill in that blank, and then go do it!  You might never need it, but then again, you might be glad you did!

It’s been a number of years since we had been invited to any graduation open houses, but this year I think we ended up going to five or six of them.  And of course, that left the question: What do we give for a gift?

Eek!

Those of you who know me know that I hate feeling obligated to find a gift for someone.  I’d much rather give a person a gift “just because I saw this special widget and it reminded me of you.”  But alas, sometimes gift giving must be done, and graduation open houses are one of those times.

So, what to give…  Money’s always a sure bet, but that always seems like a cop-out to me.  Besides, most of these kids weren’t going on to school, and I really didn’t want our gift to be used to pay for gas for their car.

Tangible things usually seem lame to me.  A lawn chair?  Really?!? 

Gift certificates are appreciated, but impersonal.

(Can you see why I struggle with gift giving?!?)

Well, we hit on a good idea that both Wayne and I liked.  We gave each grad a magazine subscription to a magazine that God has used to strengthen our faith on numerous occasions.  It’s the “Answers” magazine put out by Answers in Genesis.  Yes, it was a bit more than we usually would have spent, but every other month each grad will be reminded that we are praying for them and wishing them the best in whatever it is they have decided to do– whether that be further education, work, or the military.

So, the next time you need to buy a graduation present, consider giving a magazine subscription.

Now, what to get my daughter for her 11th birthday…

Hey, I just found out that one of my all-time favorite songs has two verses that I had never heard before.  Here’s the whole song…  Enjoy!

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

Every once in awhile money gets a bit tight.  Usually it hits right about now.  Between paying the property taxes and prepaying our propane for the coming year, ouch!  Those are two BIG bills that are due at the same time, and in another month or so all of our insurance is due.

We do our best to set aside some money every month to pay for these bills as they come due.  So, while the bills will get paid, things will be a bit tight for awhile.  But I’d rather have things be a bit tight than to fall into the payday advance loan trap.

We have friends who fell into that trap.  They didn’t know how to budget, and so every month they fell a bit more behind and a bit more behind.  Enter: payday advance loans!  Eek!  With these loans, they thought they had the money, and they lived like it, but alas, by the time payday actually rolled around, most of the money was gone already.

This was a big trap, and they couldn’t dig their way out of it.  They had to ask their parents for money to bail them out. 

Did they learn their lesson?  Oh, how I wish I could say yes, but to my knowledge, they haven’t paid their parents back, and they are still spiraling into the cesspool of debt. 

As Dave Ramsey says, “Today I live like noone else (by living frugally), so that tomorrow I can live like noone else (by being debt free and enjoying life).