"Older women are to teach young women ... to think before they act ... to be workers at home, to be kind..." ---Titus 2:4,5
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So these past two 'covid years,' what's the most haunting image you've seen online? Mine is this: families standing (or seated in cars) in huge lines for hours so to receive food. To me, that's horrifying.
Now, also these past couple years while our government proclaimed, "All is spiffy down at the supermarket," many of us conservatives used words like 'food shortages,' 'inflation' and 'famine'--
--then were repeatedly called conspiracy theorists (and worse).
Well, last week that quasi leader in the White House (the nicest phrasing I can choose) finally spoke of food shortages and stated they are going to be real. As in, a real problem unless things change fast.
Chalk-up another thing appearing on the conspiracies-come-true list.
Anyway, again because it rips my heart out to watch people lining up for food, here's a thought:
If (let's call her Anyone) had, during these 2 covid years, shopped for food just twice a month, each time buying 2 extra cans and 1 package or box or bottle of anything edible or useful--then hidden them away-- she would now have:
104 cans
and 52 packages/boxes/bottles set aside.
If she'd shopped once each week, instead? She'd have:
208 cans
and 104 packages/boxes/bottles set aside. (All at lower prices than what she's paying today, I'll add.)
Seriously. Anyone could actually be prepared for many emergencies, including job losses, sickness, more lockdowns, weather-related disasters, or the aforementioned shortages, if she'd shopped this simple way.
And according to Glenn Beck, Anyone would've actually earned money:
"Food shortages and inflation. Just by not panicking, just by buying two every time you go shopping and using only one, you'll have made more in just what you're saving, because you can dip into your food storage. You will make more money ... by not buying (your food) at that future high price ... it will boggle your mind on how much you're saving. It is something that you truly need to consider." ---Glenn Beck, here
Remember my last post about enjoying challenges? May this nudge you closer to that by learning to:
--make wonderful homemade soups, side dishes and desserts for pennies.
--dress warmer rather than turning up the heat.
--eliminate extra online memberships.
--walk/ride a bike more often both for exercise and to save on gas.
--barter for what you can't do by doing what you can.
--buy enough groceries on sale to last till the next sale.
--stay healthy.
--shop thrift stores, yard sales, consignment shops.
--make household cleaners and room refreshers for cheap.
--skip 'ready-made' items whenever possible.
--make terrific coffee at home.
--run your appliances at times when others aren't using theirs.
--hang laundry instead of machine-drying it.
--sell what you no longer need.
--when possible, leave appliances unplugged.
--store fridge leftovers in permanent dishes rather than disposable ones.
--discover places online like OpenLibrary.org to find free resources.
--group errands and/or find ways to do away with them.
--make two meals at once, freezing one for later.
--make basic home repairs.
--trade items with neighbors/friends/relatives.
--mend clothes.
--trim small trees, mow lawns, grow gardens.
Basically, may each of us--when theses turbulent days are over--exclaim, "Whatever else happened, I certainly had adventures!"
"During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it." --- Genesis 41:47,48
When God asks us to do a thing, He provides a way to do it. Have a small house like I do? If you'll ask/search, He'll provide clever ways to store all the groceries you need.
Will you ever hear me say, "Just trust God to do everything?" Uh, no. He has a part and we have a part. Both work together, both are vital, for hey... faith without works is dead, after all. (Yikes.)
"I’m not stressed or freaked out what is happening because in my young days I too lived pay check to paycheck. All of this is in my wheelhouse and it’s like riding a bike - you don’t forget. I’ve been ready - and have been watchful for sometime now. I’m happy I listened to God about no worrying. I choose to enjoy my life regardless of the dark times we’re in."
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"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15
