Proverbs 31:16 was our verse for yesterday's PEARLS. "She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard." This woman was thrifty. She thought about her purchase and then she used what she made to plant a vineyard to either provide for her family or to make more income.
We spent a great couple hours in Mary's beautiful home (thanks so much Mary for going out of your comfort zone to have us!) having great fellowship and being encouraged by Tina who led the devotional and gave tips on how to be thrifty. We began the evening with a game of "Who is thrifty". The idea was to have the most pennies when the game was over. You received a penny if you were thrifty, but had to give one up if you were not thrifty. There were questions asked like...
1. Do you reuse cool whip or sour cream type containers.
2. Do you hang clothes out on the line.
3. Do you pick up pennies off of the ground.
4. Do you wash your clothes in cold water.
Mary ended up with the most pennies and Tina was the second Thriftiest person! It was fun, but it also was a good reminder of ways that we can be thrifty in a day in age when everything is costing more!
Tina then led us in a devotional about how being thrifty is one way that God prunes us. One of the scriptures that she used was John 15:1-12. Since the Proverbs woman was thrifty and planted a vineyard, this passage was appropriate because it talks about Jesus being the vine and we are the branches who need to bear fruit for Him. As we bear fruit, we still need to be pruned in order to bear much fruit. Struggles and circumstances in our life will prune us. Learning how to be a godly woman who is thrifty is one way that God might prune us. As good stewards of what God has blessed us with, we should be thrifty.
Tina shared the story of Charles Spurgeon's wife. She was pruned by God when she came down with a serious illness. No longer able to really leave her home, she still was determined to be used by God no matter what her circumstance. She had been saving money here and there and was able to purchase 100 copies of her husband's book and place it in the hands of pastors who could not afford it and therefore they were able to better serve God through Spurgeon's teaching. Each time she saved, it wasn't much, but it added up to a lot in the end...100 books and probably a lot of lost souls being saved more than you could count.
So the true lesson of the night was that it is important to be thrifty, but it is more important to use the circumstances that God puts us through (learning to live on a budget) to be pruned and used by Him.
Tina did a great job sharing and I'm sure I still left out some key points that she made. Feel free to ask her about what she shared.
After the devotional, Tina shared some tips of how she is learning to be thrifty and led us in discussing how the rest of us are thrifty. Here are a few of the tips that were mentioned.
1. Buy in bulk. Ex. Tina buys a bag of wheat and then grinds her own to make all of her baked goods from scratch. This is much cheaper and healthier. (she did add that true junk food like brownies should not be healthy!)
2. Shop thrift stores or garage sales.
3. When you want something new...repaint it! Bev has repainted her canisters 3 or 4 times. She also repaints lamps. This way she gets something new without it costing a lot of money.
4. Garden to have your own vegetables.
5. Buy clothes at the end of the season for the next year.
6. Once a month grocery shop and meal plan.
7. Keep track of your expenses.
8. Wash plastic Ziploc bags and reuse them.
9. Buy generic diapers (Csilla said that target brand are great!)
10. Use old Christmas cards as the name tags on the next year's presents.
There were many more ideas. As prices start to soar, it is really important to count every penny and do the best you can to make ends meet. Being thrifty is just one way to help your family do a better job of being good stewards of what God has given you.
Our next gathering is June 3 and will be held at the church. We will be doing a service project and reaching out to the missionaries that our church supports. Please be looking for more information! I'll let you know the details as soon as they are all worked out!