Category: financially savvy

Surviving Materialism

My eyes have been opened to materialism and silent materialism all around me lately. And with the Christmas season, materialism seems to be amped up almost as loudly as the selfishness bug. You know what I’m talking about, it’s that “buy this for yourself for Christmas because you’re only going to get lame gifts” message that seems to be attached to every “higher priced” item on the commercials these days.

Actually, to be honest with you, I block out the commercials. We rarely watch any “live” TV these days, and no we don’t have some cool dish network stuff to record things on live TV. Quite honestly, we just don’t find the need to pay for that in our list of priorities. I have also discovered with exposure that my kids become more whiney, demanding, and selfish with television added to their daily repetior. It’s like a cancer, they only want to watch more and have major meltdowns about who gets to have control over the TV. So we skip the coma-like experience and find our joy in playing together instead.

That being said, there seems to be a greater and greater need to choose to focus on Jesus and family during the holidays over the constant materialistic message coming from all directions.

It starts out subtly, relating happiness to an object and later flourishes into happiness only being tied in objects. Fisher Price ran an add line this year that models it so clearly. Their focus is on a parent’s interaction with a child, capturing that cute moment of discovery and squealing and delight. And while I find it sweet how they have highlighted on the innocence of a child, I find it a bit distracting that the honkin’ obnoxious toy is in the way. 😉 The funniest one I saw was the toy kitchen that tells the child when it’s time to clean up. Good… now take the parent’s authority right out of the equation – one less time to have to listen to Mom’s direction.

Am I being overly critical? Maybe. But maybe it just makes me yearn for a parent’s interaction and teaching of their child not to be linked to some $40 learning toy, but instead to be fueled by their desire to just absorb the moment with their delightful child. Who cares what the kid’s doing… unabated joy can come from a pile of rocks… or sticks… or a box. Do we really need a toy to teach us how to interact with our children?

Beyond the commercials is the constant breathing of dissatisfaction with what you have. Sure this fuels the economy. Basic economics: If I can convince you that your life is terrible without my product, then you buy my product… and a shelving unit for all my other products.

This is part of the reason that we usually skip the previews before watching a movie. No need to encourage “I need that” to fall from our sinful lips. No need to hunger for more, more, more, losing track of all that we have.

We’ve been simplifying around here. I find that less toys = more creative play. I find that less options forces sharing situations. I find that a few community-oriented toys and open space fosters more giggles than “think for me” toys and “good for only one” toys. Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a time and a place for alone, individual play. But too often I find the toys on the market pushing distance between kids and “only for me” interactions.

I guess it’s just when you start looking at the messages that are all around you it gets you thinking, “is that something I want to teach?”

Each of us in this home will always need to make a conscious effort to be thankful for what we have – otherwise we will find themselves always unsatisfied and creating an unnecessary state of inferiority. It’s a crippling spiral of selfishness.
It’s so easy to get lost in the “but we need that” mentality to the detriment of true relationship interaction.

All this to say, materialism is just one more challenge to rise above in repeating, no matter what we hold or don’t hold in our hands, that we are a blessed and grateful child of God for one reason alone: we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Is He really more than enough? Or are we storing up treasures that will be scattered to the wind?

It’s when I stop seeking more material gain that I realize You really are more than enough, Lord.

*This image is shocking, but let it remind us that many times we forget the definition of true need in our comforts of blessing.

– please help us stay focused, Lord.

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How to Live

Sometimes when you feel that “gotta buy something new for this house” bug bite you just gotta rearrange the furniture. I’ve found it makes things feel fresh and gives me a renewed appreciation for what we have.

– Living within your means and finding contentment in what you have = financially savvy.

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Ninepence’s Less

I sat down to read the usual Adventure Missionary reading while the girls fell asleep. Hannah, who had waited patiently for her lunch, snuggled in for her feeding as I rocked, read and fed. Rachael and Abi laid silently in their beds, initially twiddling a finger here and there and later fast asleep.

I love reading the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series to the girls. I love that in one effort my little ones get to fall asleep to my voice, have a specific and daily set-aside time to hear the testimony of heroes of the faith, and that I get the privilege to soak in some “beyond picture books” reading.

I read this today and it really resounded in my heart:

Gladys realized that she could not leave the little girl to possibly die in the hands of such a heartless person. She stopped and turned and stared at the woman. “I don’t have that much cash, but I will give you what I have in my pocket.”

The woman smiled slyly. “And how much would that be?” she asked.

Gladys fished around in her jacket pocket and pulled out a few copper cash coins, equal to ninepence in English money. She held the coins out on her open palm for the woman to see.

“Done,” the woman declared, grasping for the money. “Take her away.”

Gladys took the hand of the little girl, who she decided must be about four or five years old. Together they continued on down the street. By the time Gladys reached the inn, the enormity of what she had just done began to dawn on her. She had just bought, or adopted, as she preferred to think of it, a little girl. Just like that, she had become a mother. 

Ninepence, as the girl quickly became known, gulped down every scrap of food she was given. Within weeks she had turned into a healthy, happy little girl. She loved living at the inn, and Gladys never had a moment of regret that she’d followed her heart and not the mandarin’s command. 

One day, after Ninepence had been living at the inn about six months, Gladys was standing on the upstairs balcony. Suddenly, she saw Ninepence come running through the gate into the courtyard.

“Ai-weh-deh [name given to Gladys by the Chinese and translated: “virtuous one”],” Ninepence yelled, “are you hungry tonight?”

Gladys thought the question rather odd, but she answered it. “Yes, I am, and Yang is making us a delicious millet stew.”

Ninepence looked up at her. “I’m going to eat a little less at dinner. If I eat a little less, would you eat a little less, too?” she asked. 

“Why would we do that?” inquired Gladys. 

“I found a boy out here, and he is hungry,” Ninepence said, pointing to the gate. “If I eat less, and you eat less, and we put those two lesses together, we would have enough to feed him, too.”

Gladys smiled to herself. Ninepence was always on the lookout for children in need. “Yes, I will eat less with you, and the boy can eat with us. Bring him in,” she said.

 And so it was, that an eight-year-old orphan boy also became part of the family. 

 – excerpt from “Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime” by Janet & Geoff Benge

It just got me to thinking and praying…

Lord, that I would eat less.

Lord, that more would eat less. Then we could put our lesses together to feed others and bring them into the family. 

… Amen.

– To God be the glory.

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Wordless Wednesday: Aglow!

A play fort and some glow sticks make for an afternoon of jubilation.

Our fort.
Lights on.
Lights off. =D
Hannah’s participation.
Hannah’s glow sticks in live action. =D
Picnic lunch, follow the leader, drumming, light swords, and glowing bath play all resulted in MUCH delight for us all. 
– Gotta love great fun with simple stuff.
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The Last Few

So over these last few days I’ve found projects to keep me busy and distracted.

After being given the first letters of Rachael and Abi’s names a good while back that I hung above their beds on the wall, I decided it would be cool to have one for Hannah as well. Before we got a second glimpse at Hannah’s gender (when we found out that she was breached) I was debating leaving the letter off the wall until we were certain of gender come delivery day. Even though they get a good look at her gender at 21 weeks, you never know. After we discovered she was breached we were certain of her femininity with a clear, unmoving picture. At 37 weeks she would have had VERY obvious boy parts should she have been an Elijah Joel. 😉

So the letter on the wall was now an option.

I started off to the craft store with the girls to buy an H in the same letter series that the girls’ letters came from. Unfortunately in the past two years the craft store had stopped selling that line of letters. So I became more creative. Still wanting things to be reasonably priced, I opted for the simpler letters for $1.50 a piece instead of the $3 ones since I’d now be purchasing three letters, one for each of the girls, so they matched. With the $1.50 letters I was also able to give Rachael and Abi a choice from a few decals to put on their letters. Hannah got the default one after Rachael and Abi picked.

When we got home and the girls were down comfortably for their nap, I used some nearby paint left over from painting the nursery “back in the day”. I painted all three letters the same so they’d match and then attached their decals to the letters with sticky tac so they could exchange decals later if they wanted or the decals could be used to decorate other things in the future.

Thus I give you their letters: It was a few hour project due to allowing paint to dry.

I also decided to label the girls’ drawers and put up words/pictures to help them in putting away the laundry. Rachael has her drawers memorized as to what should go where, but Abi often will forget between the couch and her squealing run down the hallway just what drawer you asked her to put her clothing into. So in an effort to reinforce literacy for Rachael and encourage Abi’s independence, I found these labels online. I printed them off and slapped their beautiful black/white selves on the drawers.

And that happy little project also extended to the closet where the organization is a happy perk in easy communication of hang-up items.

Then I saw a pinterest post of a do-it-yourself butterfly mobile and thought instantly “I’d like to do that….. some day” well some day came over the last few days. While I chose not to use the above tutorial, I did print off a basic outline of a butterfly from searching “clipart butterfly” on google images. Then I printed off 10 pages of black/white butterflies. Since I wasn’t worried about rushing the project, but instead about filling time with a fun craft, I wasn’t concerned that I planned to color each of the 60 butterflies’ front and back (120 total) and then cut each one out. I used a cross-stitching wooden ring as my circular base. I then painted it white as a primer and a light pink (mixed from the old nursery colors). I used some clear fishing line found in the bracelet section of the craft store ($2). Thanks to borrowing a friend’s glue gun (I don’t have one), I tied and glued the fishing line to four spots on the top of the circle, attaching a small washer to the top as a “hanging hook.” I then glued nine butterflies around the upper circle. Then I attached the various lengths of fishing line hanging down from the circle. After each butterfly was colored and cut out, I hot glued each at various places to each of the eight hanging strings. I did some basic math to use the remaining butterflies to attach at least six butterflies per string.

Now I did have some battle scars from gluing the butterflies on: burnt fingers, two thumbs, a spot on my wrist, and, sadly, the pad of my  right foot from dripping glue. But honestly I really enjoyed the project without the time commitment feeling too laborious. And thus the product that hangs above the changing table in the nursery:

Fun projects. More simple home improvement. And time well spent. =D

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Another Addition to the Fam.

Before Matt and I had kids, we decided it would be a priority in our household to sponsor children in poverty-stricken countries and situations “overseas”. We decided that our family would add one additional sponsored child per biological (or adopted) child in our household. We figure if we can afford to add on a child to our mix, we should make it a priority to afford a $30/month sponsorship as well. God has blessed us beyond measure and we trust He will continue to enable us to glorify Him, even if things get tight. Priorities require sacrifices, but some sacrifices are so right they feel like breathing.

With that being said, we first picked our Lidia back when Rachael was a baby. Sweet Lidia was the youngest child available that day when we walked into a local Family Christian bookstore and checked out their “World Vision” sponsorship rack. Sweet Lidia was just a petite little almost two year old (who looked more like a new one year old) when we first sponsored her and is now a thriving five year old starting school this year.

When Abi was born we discussed another sponsorship child. Our dear Tofic fell into our laps when the youth group was no longer able to provide funds to upkeep the little guy’s needs. So we joyously took on our dear Tofic in Abi’s honor. Tofic is currently an active seven year old (his birthday was 8 days ago) enjoying his second year of schooling. We love the hand-drawn pictures he sends us.

Lidia and Tofic are precious in our family as we learn about their loves, lives and families. We have clocks hanging on the wall to remind us of their real-life times and schedules. We pray for them at meals and talk about them during the day. They are two sweet kiddos who have just been  dealt a hard hand and we are so beyond blessed to come alongside of their families and their communities to help them “learn how to fish” in a desolate place.

So with the addition of Hannah to our family on the horizon, Matt and I took the girls back to the bookstore to the familiar World Vision rack. We studied the faces, learned new name pronunciations and worked together to pick out Hannah’s sponsor child.

It was a given when we came across her. Valentina from Colombia. She’s a cute little two year old with a birthday split between Rachael and Abi. The sweet thing is the only child of a single mom, for whatever reason, who is doing everything she can in upholding a daily wage earning job to try to provide for herself and her little girl. Valentina is growing up in a poor community in Colombia. World Vision just recently expanded their efforts in Colombia to come alongside struggling families after a devastating earthquake.

While we still have much to learn about Valentina and anxiously await our packet of information about her that we will be getting in the next few weeks in the mail, it was so neat to watch Rachael’s excitement and curiosity about this precious life. And our dear Abi clung to Valentina’s brochure with joy. We read and reread the few paragraphs we have about her before bed that night and since then.

It’s such a blessing to watch our children’s eyes slowly opened to the precious opportunity we have to love on children in the name of Jesus that we may never meet.

So welcome to the crew, Valentina. Rachael wants you to know that she loves you very much.

*** This post is in no way to bring glory to us, but to give it to God in thanks for the privilege of bringing Him glory in our daily lives.

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