providing for my needs

I have said before I work for a large church, in an affluent area. I do not live in the area where I work, I live about 25 minutes away, and the median income is smaller where I live, as well as more blue collar.  Where I work the median income is probably 300,000 dollars, perhaps much more.  Some of our proffesional sports teams live in this area.  It is booming here.

I see excess every day in the area I work. I see people complaining of not having things. I was talking about cars to a person who is struggling with debt payments.  He did not want to drive a five year old car! There were various reasons why I just can't even respond. The first being I drive a 1995 Baretta, we put a new motor in it, it came from MO where they do not use road salt and was in excellent condition.  We have never had a car payment. It has always been just a means to get from point a to point b. I have to roll my windows down by hand! GASP!  We actually drive cars until they are dead and gone. We always get our money's worth out of them to say the least.

I am two years away from payoff on our house. We only have one outstanding credit card debt (we have medical debt as well) we purchased a much needed furnace for our house and we are trying desperatly to pay it off in a year or as fast as humanly possible.

We save for everything we want.  If we want a vacation, we save.  If we want a car, we save. If we want clothes we save. We never use credit ever for anything other than emergencies, then pay it off FAST. 

People think we are crazy. We decided we want a vaction next year. So we are already thinking of ways to make the money to go.  I am going to raise tons of heirloom tomatoes and pepper plants and sell them this coming spring at a farmers market and out of my yard which has tons of  traffic.  I am buying yard sale finds and repainting them and making them "chabby chic"  basically old looking and am taking them to consignment. We plan on doing a whole bunch of it over the winter and trying to get a booth at a flea market and sell it all in a weekend. Any leftover will go to consignment. This is the way we are going to take a vacation. We could put it on a credit card, but we choose to save for it instead.  Also when we go, we do not stay in extravigant places or eat in the most expensive places.  We are frugal by nature. People do not understand that.

Our home is small.  It is two stories and a basement. ONE BATHROOM! People cannot believe we can funtion with one bathroom. Why don't we  sell and get a bigger home?  Well let me answer that question.  We bought a house on the premise that we would be able to always make the payment, even if we lost our "good" jobs, we could each work two part time Walmart type jobs and make ends meet.  We live pretty much paycheck to paycheck, but we have never over extended ourselves. If we could not afford to pay cash, we did not NEED IT.

People think we are crazy. I like to say I live the way God intended for me to live.  He told us in the bible that He will supply all of our NEEDS, and He has!

I have needs and I have WANTS. Wants we need to work for, to earn. God gives us this ability.

So this is how I try to live.  In an affluent area, people look at me like I have two heads when they realize how "poor" we live.

But I know I am not poor at all! I am rich~ I have a roof over my head that I love, it has enough room for all my family, but it may not have an extra family room.  We have an acre of land, and if I had to, I could grow what I need on that acre to sustain us. My one bathroom works well, my bedroom gives me privacy and peace. I raised a family there, and have grandbabies who cannot wait to come to Grandmas house!

Could I get greedy and want more? Sure, some days I have to pull my brain away from the "I wish we had xyz"  Who would not want the newest most awsome washing machine? Or a new car? Or the best shoes and clothes?

It is human nature to want, but it is biblical to live knowing that God will take care of my needs. Not easy, but Christ never said it would be easy, He said we had to pick up our cross and follow him. I know that means that life will weigh you down, it will be hard, but I will be with you all along the way, and I will take care of your needs.

Thank God for that assurance~

Peace and Blessings!

LTW

sorry it has been so long!

I am sure most of you understand the end of summer and what that means when you are a gardener!  Canning season starts.  I was so sad, I had to buy my tomatoes this year because the dag nabbed deer ate all my tomato plants. But I got a good deal on a bushel of beautiful roma's and made fire roasted sauce and some salsa as well. I canned green beans and peach preserves as well. The peach preserves are a lower sugar recipe and they came out divine! I cannot wait to open it in the winter, maybe on some french vanilla ice cream!

We had a lovely ride for our anniversary, the weather was perfect, not to hot to enjoy the antique stores but nice enough to not have to wear a jacket riding the bike.  We got to see many Amish farms, and I have to say, I have never been to a better kept area of the country.  We traveled all over 2 counties on the bike, and there was not one abandoned house or crumbling garage or shed falling down. All the yards were pin neat, with great flowers and beautiful gardens. My handsome and I wondered why that is, because where we live you see old crumbling buildings everywhere.  Their farms are so beautiful! When we were riding some of the back roads we commented on the corn, we have never ever seen corn that tall, even in the midwest. It was at least ten feet tall, maybe even taller than that!  The air everywhere smelled of cows, not a bad smell at all, but clean air and farms air.  I think of all the farmers that put all those chemicals on their crops to fertilize them when the Amish use what God provides, poop! and they have the BEST corn I have ever seen!
We went to Stausburg PA and road a steam train, and went to an amazing train museum, if you love trains, that is the town to go to!
And all the fun antique stores that were around every corner it seemed. Because we were on the bike we could not buy too much ( which for our pocket book was good!) but we made some cute little finds. I found a great old bottle that says durahm drugs and elixers on it, it is blueish tinged. My handsome got a 48 star flag, he has wanted one for ever, It was only $12 and it was in good shape, a ton of "patina" but it will look good in the shadow box he is going to build.

We are going to try starting a small at home cottage industry (term used very very loosly!), We have a bunch of old advertising from old life magazines ect. Not photo advertising but hand drawn, my grandfather used to do that as a living, and I love looking at old ads, knowing that they were all painted by someone by hand, there is some beautiful ads out there. Anyway, we are framing these ads, then I am buying old frames and mats and distressing them and painting them in the "shabby chic" style, or using reclaimed wood we are making the frames.  I also am buying cheap mirrors and some small furniture and or accesories that can be remade into shabby chic or primitive looking items. I have my first batch done and am going to take them to a consignment store and see what happens. I will post pictures when I finish this batch. I have a beautiful Mazola oil ad in a distressed frame, I have a three stick candle holder, I have a mirror and then a wall rack thingy. Better to take a picture of it. We are hoping to make enough over the winter to take a nice vacation next year.  I also am planning on planting a whole ton of heirloom tomatoes from seed and sell them out of my yard over memorial day, that is when everyone goes crazy here on their yard and garden.  I also have a ton of perenial flowers that I am going to divide up and sell.  I know a woman that made over $600 a year just selling her perenials that she divided up from her yard. I am really enjoying making the furniture and stuff. I love anything creative, I love to paint and I think my stuff is turning out pretty neat looking. I am going to try to insert a picture of the wall rack thing.

I did it!

They are not the best pictures but it gives you an idea. I have two more old type seed packs for the bottom two small frames.  I think it was intended for pictures of family,,.but I like it like this it would make a neat key holder for a kitchen or dining area.

What do you think? I have very little money invested in this piece. Other than time I paid $5 for it so I can sell it for a reasonable price.

I hope that everyone is doing well and getting all their summer work finished up!

Peace and Blessings!

LTW