being frugal

this has been a subject i have toyed around with diving into. becuz of the economy it seems to be of more interest to people. but that's not my only motive for bringing it up. rather, moving to boise we have downsized. we went from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1940's tudor style home with a full basement and single car garage, fenced yard in a great n'borhood to a 2 bedroom student apt across the street from the university. hubster used to work part time to subsidize our disability income and i picked up odd jobs now and then. now we are living in a more expensive area with less income. we are hoping that a job at the university comes thru for hubby next semester, but regardless we are having to tighten our belts.

in years past, i have had to be frightfully frugal, and other times i have been able to spend more freely. i am wanting to revisit my previous frugal ways and learn some new ones. i know i can do it cuz i've done it before.

meanwhile, our pastor at the Pursuit has been preaching a 3 part series on Money. entitled appropiately enough: MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (you know the tune!) one thing he keeps stressing is that money, finanaces, moulah is really a matter of the heart. its not so much about how much we have or don't have, but what is our attitude about how much i have or dont' have. and that leads me to the question of the day: am i content?

there is a verse in timothy that says godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 tim 6:6) now i confess that while i have tried to live a godly life, it has not always been a content life. and therefore, there has not been a whole lot of gain, let alone great gain in my life up to this point. you see not being content, even when we had more, robbed me of so much. it robbed me of my joy, it robbed me of being able to give of myself and my resources, it made me continually be in search of something else ...

knowing this about myself, coming into this move to boise and downsizing our stuff and our lifestyle, i have been making an effort of being conscious of where my contentment/discontent equation lies. i have been making a concerted effort to be content in where we are in life. part of it has been easier, since i know that this will most likely be temporary. michael has 2 years of schooling and after he graduates he will be looking for a job that pays more like we were accustomed to be being paid. but there are no guarentees in life; as james says "come now you who say. "today or tomorrow we shall go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit" yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

so i'm trying not to just look to the future and wait this time out, but rather i am willing myself, choosing to be content, to be happy even in this season of life. even if it lasts for the rest of my life.

yes, we need to pay down and pay off our debt we have foolishly incurred. yes, i want to get to a place of financial freedom where i can give financially to ministries i believe in. yes, we need to build up a savings nest for unexpected emergencies. pastor paul's sermons covered these areas and showed the truth from the Word as to how we should do this and why. if you're interested, you can go to the pursuit and download the sermons onto your ipod or mp3 player.

but for me, from this day forth, i am choosing to be content.