I learned a hard lesson this past week. Make that LESSONS, in the plural.
All were financial.
All brought me to a place of extreme thankfulness and renewed focus as the keeper of this home.
New circumstances always bring with them a learning curve. Because of not knowing where to do my grocery shopping, I fumbled around and ended up buying groceries at one store for one hefty price. I also realized this week, I could no longer continue with a certain costly curriculum item because it did not share our worldview. Beyond that, there was the digital camera that broke, but would have been returnable had I not accidentally thrown away the receipt.
But worse than these was the passivity and dare I say it, wastefulness, with which I was keeping my home, caring for my realm, tending to my domain.
I had abandoned my budget. I was careless about lights left on, checkbooks left unbalanced, and hearts left unguarded.
Being a homemaker takes creativity.
It takes a woman who knows how to tighten budgets without feeling pinched, feed a family without starving the checkbook, find resources in her own backyard, and create beauty from the ordinary.
As I looked around at the messes I had created, that is what struck me most…my lack of creativity.
You see, when you begin to live on whims and unbridled impulses, you lose true creativity. Most people assume those who live in the moment, who are footloose, fancy free-spirits are somehow more creative than the woman who diligently creates a meal plan, crafts a homeschool schedule that meets the needs of 4 different children, and knows exactly what time baths need to begin in order to have everyone bathed, jammied, and in bed before nine.
But true creativity has a component of crisis.
Necessity in the face nothingness.
Perspective, focused and driven when there is little motivation and even less energy.
The woman who gets up in the morning and greets the day with a sense of stewardship, determination, and thankfulness is the woman who rules her realm wisely.
As I sat amongst my tears over my mistakes and the frustrations that resulted from them, I was blessed by the presence of another godly woman…one who’s creativity and stamina never cease to amaze me. As she poured over unit prices of every single item on her grocery list, deciding which she should keep and which must wait for another day, I quietly resolved to find creative solutions to my problems and continue on with the creativity I had shelved for lack of wisdom and lack of vision.
We’ve all made costly mistakes as homemakers. Some have been financial mistakes. Others have been much worse.
It is for us, Christ died. And He is faithful to refocus our hearts and minds on Him when we meander away.
That night, after I had planned out a way to make the groceries stretch, I had resolved to find a creative way to fix my curriculum woes, and I had found another solution to my camera mishap, I sat down in my chair and read these verses:
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
~Proverbs 2:1-6
And I was thankful.
corine says
Oh… you are NOT alone. I can not count the number of mistakes and lessons I have made and learned from. Thankfully, we can always do better and find joy in doing so! ;D
Corine
Sarah Painter says
it makes me feel like i’m going to have a panic attack when i think about a budget. i know i need it.
Amy says
I don’t do a strict budget, but rather tell myself to be “budget minded.” It’s when we just willy nilly purchase things, we get into trouble. If we stay budget minded, we realize there are priorities and we must stick within those priorities.
Tracy @ Hall of Fame Moms says
Well, Amy, don’t be too hard on yourself. Your life changed in a big way when you moved away (and out of your comfort zone, no less 😉 and you need to find a way to make your new surroundings work for you and your family. It will take time and you have a good attitude about it.
And at least you didn’t lose one of the kids 😉 hehe
Amy says
Thanks, Tracy! 😉 In many ways, the move brought some things into focus for me…nothing like a little upheaval to make you realize your priorities!
Jenn says
I love your transparency here.
No more Sonlight? What’s not working?
Amy says
Hmm….how did you guess? 😉 The cons I had seen from the beginning began to outweigh the pros. Plus, I realized I could accomplish the same things I enjoyed about Sonlight, but do it much cheaper and do it in a way that is more in line with our family’s worldview. It was a very difficult decision.
Laney says
Did you purchase the whole core from sonlight? If so, has it been a year since you purchased? Remember the Love to Learn Guarantee. You can send it back if you haven’t used the supplies past week 18.
Those mistakes can be so frustrating! I was tackling our new grocery situation just last night. And have definitely tweaked Sonlight more this year than last so we can continue using it.
Oh! and I ended up buying some of those hairclips. Tired of looking like a frumpy mess since we’ve been here. 😉
Laney
Amy says
Thanks for the reminder; however, I went ahead and put the dots on each book, so they are not eligible. There are some of the books and things I do want to keep, so it’s not a total loss. Just sad I didn’t realize all this sooner.
Wendy says
I really appreciate this post, as I’m facing similar struggles this past week. I’ve honestly never thought about my menu-planning, checkbook balancing and budgeting, and curriculum research as creativity. Thank you for giving me a whole new point of view on these areas that I’ve (embarrassed to admit) been lately tired and stressed about.
Kerry says
Hi, Amy! I don’t know if you already tried this, but have you tried to bring the camera back anyway, even without a receipt? If you charged it on a credit card stores can often find the charge. Even if you pay cash, you can usually get some sort of credit with a driver’s license. Ask to speak to a manager and sincerely explain your plight. My philosophy with all things is “it never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is we can’t help you.” My friends marvel at how often I’ve gotten something free or taken care of just by asking, and not being afraid to talk to a manager. And I don’t mean being rude or ugly. 🙂 Politeness, sincerity, and willingness to accept no for an answer go a long way. Thank you for all you are sharing, and have a blessed week!
Amy says
Yes, I did try to take it back. It was a firm no. However, after a lot of research (and considering sending it in myself for nearly half the original cost of the camera *gasp*) I realized my problem could be fixed by buying an inexpensive adapter online! I haven’t gotten it yet, but I am hoping that is all it needs and will work just fine once I have that.
Kelly Howard says
AMY! Good morning! Oh, how I have traveled this road! Thank you for sharing your heart with us on this…we ALL have things/areas that need improvement and as long as we allow G-d to open our eyes to these areas, then we can become who HE wants us to be! You are a special lady and I appreciate your blog!
MamaLaundry says
Oh Amy 🙁 I’m so sorry, friend.
To say I can relate is an understatement. It seems I make daily mistakes these days! Ack! I keep thinking, “When will I get my act together??”
But the lesson He is trying to teach me personally? Rely on Me.
When will I learn??
Praying this is an easier week for you. 🙂
Love,
Lauren
Jamie says
Once upon a time I thought I was good at money-management, but it’s only in the last few months that I’ve realized how poorly I budget. I let the budget determine what is realistic to spend (on groceries, for instance) rather than determining what we are willing and able to spend. It’s been through posts like yours that I’ve started realizing that I don’t have to do things that way, and we really can free up so much more money than we have been. I very much enjoy your blog, but I also find much encouragement and useful life-application stuff here, too. So thank you! 🙂
Amy says
Thanks, Jamie! You have been an encouragement to me this morning! 🙂
Casey says
Oh I have made the same mistakes. It is a big responsibility taking care of the home and we are human so we make mistakes
Mary Joy @Seeds of Encouragement Sewn with Grace says
Amy,
Your openness and candor have blessed me once again! I too am going through the figuring out where to shop and how to make our limited resources work for supplies and such as we continue to adjust to living in this new community. We are also learning how to budget our time and trips to town (shopping is 10+ miles away!). Its amazing how much money on gas and food when I am a better steward and spend a little more time planning and less time doing things on a whim! So many lessons learned in these areas this year.
Suggestion on curriculum…have you tried Simply Charlotte Mason? Its so easy to use it with many children and the curriculum is free…the resources to help you create it are very reasonably priced and she has an AMAZING on-line planner/record tracker that does the tracking for you that is only $99 at year per family! Its what we will be using to keep things in our budget and follow along our family’s beliefs and values…with a few things thrown in that I find on-line for free and from Vision Forum Ministries. Just a thought…
Thanks for the encouragement today!!!
Kimberly says
You had to go and bring up the whole checkbook thing.
Oh no…you went there!
Sigh…
Now I have GUILT!
clarissa says
enjoyed this post! 🙂
Valerie says
Amen and Amen. I threw away one carton of organic Kafir, some all natural chicken breasts, and 6 organic apples that had gone bad this week. All because of my laziness and lack of planning and creativity (not saying yours was laziness, that’s a particular issue of mine) My dishes are piled up and my costly curriculum is not being used to it’s fullest potential. I am SO grieved over this. I am READY to get back into the groove 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration
Gayle @ TrainingOlives says
Hey sweet Amy! I’m about to go crazy catching up on your blog. What a great post to start with. Such excellent insight. I just blogged with that very verse in mind last night. He is so faithful even when we are not.
dionne says
Amy,
Depending on where you live you may want to check into United Buying Clubs. You can Google them for a phone number and they’ll give you the info. for a group near you. Every group works just a little different. We have been buying our bulk items from they for many years.
Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says
Thanks for sharing this very personal insight, Amy. We’ve all been there and many days I feel the same in so many ways. Luckily, we are forgiven, God is good, and we have another chance, with His help, to be the women we’d like to be!
Karen says
Amy, I haven’t been reading any blogs for a while and I’m catching up! What a great post. It is such a challenge to me, as your posts always are.
Lisa says
Amy-
Awesome post! So true!!
I love how you clairified that structure and planning actually do involve creativity. I am both and often feel I am not creative because I trend toward structure.
Thanks for the reasurance and perspective!
🙂
Warrior MAMA Lisa