Romania--The People and Way of Life

The greatest joy in traveling with Pastor S and Mr. K is to be with the people. The people are the framework of any church. Buildings are nice and I'm glad to be a part of the building and renonvating of facilities, but the real church is the people. And, it is so humbling to be amongst them. They have so little, and they give it so freely! There were days we would eat two or three lunches because everywhere we went they put out a spread.

Several of the church members fed us. This couple didn't even know we were coming, but went home right after church and made us a meal.


This was a special meal. We were really drawn to this family when we visited four years ago. Then two years ago, their daughter came to England for a fortnight and we were privileged to host her for an evening. On this night the mom made a Romanian specialty of minced meat wrapped in cabbage. I've had similar things in other parts of the world, but never as lovely as this. *sigh*


Another one of the sweet ladies from the church cooking another delicacy...tripe soup. (It was actually very good.)


On our first trip to Romania, Jewel was two. She took and immediate love to "Sister Maria" from the church. Maria would come get her and take her who knows where! Jewel was in many more homes than we were. While we were there, Maria was watching her granddaughter (also 2) while her daughter was having a baby. A boy. This trip, Maria was watching that baby boy, now 4, while her daugher had another baby! Here is a picture of my girls with Maria and the "baby". The girls loved playing with the grandson...but mostly they loved being doted on by Maria.

Maria also made the most amazing pastries, cookies and doughnuts for us!


Here are all the little kids (and one big kid) playing in the church yard!


This pastor hitchhikes 15 miles to his churches every week in addition to working in the prison during the week.


One of the families that touched my heart the first trip lived in part of a railroad building. They are actually squatters in the building, and have been for five years. They live in hope that they will someday be allowed to rent it legally, but it is unlikely. Here is the building.

They do not live in the entire building. They live in the two rooms that make up the front, single story level. The rest of the building is condemned. The two rooms would easily fit inside my living room. There is no toilet, running water, etc in the building. SEVEN people live in these two rooms. And I complain about what I have!



We had so many "only in Romania" moments. On this evening, we were traveling home about 10:30 p.m. We saw what looked like a light on a bicycle coming toward us. It was flashing for us to stop. Jeep or bicycle? Who should have the right away? But then we got closer. This is what we saw.

They were moving sheep from pasture to pasture. There were probably 50 of them on the road, with a shepherd leading and a shepherd at the back. They had us turn off the jeep so as not to scare the sheep and then they herded them around us and on down the road. The rest of the trip, the girls job was to watch for sheep!

Some more animals on the road!


Most of the people around this area buy second hand clothing. It is brought in by the truckload from Germany and other surrounding countries. A common morning sight was watching the ladies sort through the clothes.


Here are a few images of rural life as well!

selling onions and garlic by the road


grapes in the garden, notice the well for water


pumpkin growing on trellis


haystacks




transportation (that is a car that the cow is in!)


feeding animals


four generations living together



cows going home at the end of the day

The Roma, or gypsies, have a very definitive caste system which amazed me. "Rich" gypsies and "poor" gypsies would live side-by-side, and apparently have nothing to do with one another because of social standing. Here are some of their homes. Can you tell which is rich and which is poor?

Romania---Ministry Opportunities

Much of our ministry in Romania was simply to be with people. But there were a couple of things that were specifically outreach.

One day we went to a mental hospital that the charity assists with things like laundry detergent and sanitizers. We called ahead to find out how many people were there so we could take something to each person. It was decided to take chocolate biscuits to everyone plus a large bottle of hand cleanser for each room. They sleep three to a room.

This is the lady who is our contact at the home. She is a semi-retired dentist who serves the hospital. Her son-in-law is a pastor in the area.
Actually, before I go on, I want to tell you the story of our getting to go here, because it was such a God-thing. We were chatting around the dinner table about the places we had gone four years ago. This hospital was brought up. Pastor S said that since the dentist had retired, we had no real means of getting in there. We were disappointed because this place and a school for developmentally challenged kids were two places we wanted to go. The school was still on summer break and now no access to the hospital! Anyway, Pastor S is working on his doctorate and had a paper due, so we decided to walk into town center with his wife to give him some quiet to get some work done. We were a block from their house when we met...the dentist and her daughter the preacher's wife! S's wife mentioned that we were just talking about them. By the next morning, the dentist had arranged a visit for us. Isn't God good?!

The girls took the soap and the chocolates into the rooms where people were in bed.


I was really proud of the girls. Some of the people at this hospital were really quite disturbed. Not dangerous disturbed, but talking to voices and very low ability challenged. I've worked in that kind of setting and many of these people were lower functioning than I've been with. The girls could have easily been afraid. But instead they just jumped right in passing things out. They allowed themselves to be hugged and have pictures taken and with an amazing attitude. We didn't push them to do anything---more just wanted them to be exposed to what helping the hurting could be like. And help we did. I must admit that my first thoughts were, "chocolates and soap don't mean much" but I was amazed at how much they meant. You can see from the pictures, the rooms are sparse. Everything is common. They have nothing of their own. They cradled those bottles of soap as if we had given them gold bars. Roommates bickered over who got to hold the bottle. It was soap. And they argued over who got it. It made me want to go back and get more for everyone. We really have no idea how blessed we are!

We spent the majority of a day at the House of Hope Children's home, the first one that this ministry founded. It houses ten kids and is a home for life. Some of the kids have been there 7+ years and are now older teens with jobs. They can stay until they are able to support themselves. While we were there, there was one extra child who is the sibling of a girl there. The hope is to bring him into the home as well. We spent the day playing football, making conversation in broken English and hand gestures, singing praises, sharing some of our pictures of the last time we were there, playing computer games, etc. We had a lovely time. The kids were genuine and loving and really took to the girls.




Finally, German was able to attend a Pator's Conference with Pastor S and see first hand some of the work that is going on in Romania. The speaker at the conference was from Atlanta, so he could even understand the message!


I'll do another post of some of the people we met, but these three areas are some of the more formal work that is happening. We have learned since we returned that they are starting a new work along the lines of crisis pregnancy counseling to take in young girls who have been thrown out of their homes and giving them practical help as they look to what decisions to make. There is a pilot program being developed to use a couple of flats that have become available. There is some great hands on and realistic ministry opportunities. I am thankful for the chance to see some of it first hand.

Romania--the Churches

Officially Romania follows an Orthodox Greek Church tradition. According to Wikipedia, only 5% of the population is Protestant. The Orthodox church is a presence in every town with large churches dominating the skyline. The little community where we were staying (maybe 200 families at a stretch) has 3, yes that says three, of them. All within sight of one another. All served by the same priest. But they can't go to each other's church. (Basically you go where grandma was buried type idea). Actually, that statement implies that they go. And they don't. Weddings, funerals and christenings is apparently the only time the church is used. I did not see a single person go into any of the Orthodox churches. I heard their bells at 530 a.m., but saw no life. How sad. [This is not to imply that there are not Greek Orthodox believers, just that the trend in Romania is membership by heritage with no other involvement.]

Yet for the Protestant churches, there are not many pastors available. This is especially true in the little mountain villages. That is why a pastor like S will end up having several churches to lead. And it is not possible, like we would think in our Western mindset, to just combine churches and go to the next community. Most of the people in these mountain churches are elderly and virtually none have a vehicle. If they do have a vehicle it is more likely to be a horse and cart than a car that could get them to church in the next village!

Pastor S. has five churches that he leads. He rotates which church he is at on a Sunday morning and then is in the larger church on Sunday nights (the smaller churches do not necessarily meet in the evening). Each church has an elder that leads the prayer service for one hour before worship and then leads the worship service in S's absence.

While we were there we were able to attend three of the church's services and visit one of the others. The first church we went to was Paros. It is a small church, approximately 30 people. On the morning we were there, S said there were only two members not present and one of them was ill.


German brought greetings from our church and K preached with S interpreting.


The second Sunday morning we attended the church at Coraesti, a church of about 20 members. Everyone, and I mean everyone, brought a song or poem to participate. They might sing in twos or threes, but everyone participated. It was lovely to see so many involved in the service.




Both Sunday evenings we were in Salas, the church where we were also living. This church has about 90 people. It is so welcoming. There is participation across the age groups as well. It is just a blessing to be among them.


The girls participated in every service we were in by singing. Most times they sang "Here I Am to Worship" while Jewel sometimes did the sign language.


The two hour services in another language were often more than the girls could manage. So we brought them posters to color. Flower got a little help!

We didn't know it, but this lady is not a member of the church. She is a family member that visits, but is not really involved and not a believer. Flower gave her the picture after the service and Pastor S said later that she was so thrilled to have it. Just a little piece of paper can brighten someone's day!

The other church we went to see was Malaesti. Last time we were there, renovations were just being planned. All of that is now complete. It was an adventure to get there, because we arrived at nightfall and the roads were all dug up for sewer lines to go in. So we walked through the village with no lights by open ditches! A few of the neighbors turned their lights on for us to see, and one even opened her gates so we could by-pass a rather large hole!


One of the Saturday's we were there, a pastor from another church brought his youth group down to spend the day with the kids from Salas and participate in the youth service. We started the day with a drive up the mountain and then a hike to the waterfall. It was gorgeous!

Then German, S and the girls hiked down to the water so that the girls could taste it!

Here are all of the kids on the mountain.

Then we went back to the church for lunch of salami, cheese, peppers, cucumbers and bread.

The kids leading the church service.

German was asked to give his testimony at the youth service. One of the visiting teens interpreted. Apparently she did great except for when German forgot to take a breath and let her speak. That flustered her a little.

We took lots of video of the kids singing, but out of respect to them (I don't have permission) I will not post any of it. Suffice it to say, hearing a bunch of teens enthusiastically singing praise songs for 40 minutes on the mountain and 90 minutes at church was pretty incredible!

Romania--the Why and the Where of it All

I am not going to bore you with day-by-day accounts of our 15 days in Romania. But I will do a few posts painting in broad strokes of description and pictures what we saw there. I guess I'll start with why Romania and where in Romania we go.

One of the things that we love about our little church in England (which is big by British terms---150 members) is that it really has a heart for missions. When we came seven years ago there was a full-time missionary from the church in Brazil (now in Peru, 20+ years in the field), a couple in the church that with his two brothers have a ministry to Asia and he has taken couples to Laos with him, an evangelist in the church that works in prisons and schools both in the UK and in Poland (predominantly but also other Easter bloc countries) and a gentleman who co-founded a ministry to Romania. [A side note--we now also have a 20something year old in Thailand for his second year, a 20something in Texas working on the production team of a mission group, an eighteen year old in Texas working in schools and churches, a young man that just went to his first church as a youth pastor and three young people at Bible college training for vocational ministry.] German was immediately drawn to what was happening in Romania. Since that was a place that I had considered when we spoke of adoption as an option to grow a family (pre-Jewel), I was also intrigued. So out of our interest, support followed and then to us it seemed the only natural step was to go. So we did four years ago when I was pregnant with Flower. We promised we would return, and this was our promised trip.

Where we go is in the mountains of Transylvania. It is absolutely a gorgeous place!

The largest church that Pastor S leads (he pastors five churches) has a Christian Centre attached that has a kitchen and dining hall on one level and bedrooms on the upper level. That was home for two weeks.


The needs in Romania are immense. Becoming a part of the EU has tied the value of their money to the Euro. Prices have gone up accordingly. BUT, salaries have not. They were already living in a level of poverty, and now it is even harder. The rural people have it somewhat easier in that they are able to grow most of their food, have animals for food, etc. They have no purchasing money, but they are able to survive. Petrol prices were not that different than the rest of Europe, which is mind-boggling. But things that seem so basic to us are truly luxuries to them. (An example of this...I asked what we could bring the pastor's sons, something that they would like from England. The request came back that what they needed was shoes because good shoes could not be found second-hand. We were happy to help with that. I was able to get name-brand shoes at a good price to take to them. The same shoes (one pair) would cost, new, in Romania an equivalent to 1 1/2 months salary! For shoes! That is ridiculous pricing compared to what is affordable. More than once we stopped at a mall to eat at a food court or use public toilets and I NEVER saw anyone purchasing anything in the shops---and most had signs of 75% off sales.)

The countries infrastructure is poor to non-existent. The road system is atrocious. The three hundred mile trip from Budapest, Hungary (where we flew into) to Hateg took ten hours! And it really is a catch-22. Romania loses out on industry opportunities to Hungary and other surrounding areas because of the infrastructure. But it is difficult to improve infrastructure without industry income. Where roads have been "improved" work begins and when the company runs out of money they just stop. Makes travel an adventure in itself!

The main purpose of this trip was to see the progress of the Children's Home that is being built and then to encourage the people of the churches. The home has been a dream for four years. It was hoped that it would be finished at this time, but rising prices of materials, a by-product of becoming part of European Community, falling value of money and the slowness of funds coming in has it delayed. The hope is to have it finished by next Spring and the first kids in it by September. It will utlimately house ten children and will be their home until they are adults and leave for their own jobs or family.

Here is how it looks right now. Don't be misled by how "finished" it may look. In Romania the concrete floors and walls are erected first. Then layout and plumbing is decided and the concrete must be cut through to put in plumbing and electrics. That is really the next step. Walking through you could not envision what was the bathrooms, kitchen or bedrooms because everything looks the same!

One area is mostly finished, with the exception of the stairs to get there, and that is the loft! As a recent addition, they decided to finish the loft space off into two apartment rooms so as the children grow into young adults they can have some space away from the others. German and Mr. K. (charity founder) used the rickety ladder by the wall in the above picture to climb up and check it out. It gives a good idea the standard of finish the rest of the home will have.


I'll stop for now, but I'll have more about the people and the churches in another post.

In Other Words--Who Is the Pharisee? That Would Be Me.

“A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself,
but a spiritual man is easy on others
and hard on himself.”
by A.W.Tozer

I had just finished my graduate studies and taken my first real job. I had moved from Kentucky to Washington, but the delivery of my furniture had been held up along the way, so I was in temporary housing for a couple of weeks waiting for my things to catch up with me. In the meantime, I set about the task of making a life for myself. The first step was find a church. My first weekend I drove to the "big city" 25 miles away and attended a largish Baptist church. I dutifully filled in the visitor card, writing in my new address--the one where I was not currently living.

Tuesday night, I was surprised to hear that I had visitors. It was three people from the church that I had visited on Sunday. I was quite impressed that they had not only driven the 25 miles out to the little town where I was living, but when the house on the address appeared abandoned they had taken the initiative to check with a neighbor. The neighbor happened to be my new landlord and he told them where to find me! Viola, visitors! We had a very lovely visit. They told me about the church and the area. I told them about my seminary studies and how I felt God had orchestrated the move to Washington as everything had happened so easily.

I was beginning to think, "this could be a place I could be a part," when it happened. The visit was coming to an end. There was an awkward silence. Then the leader of the trio asked the question. Or maybe I should say THE question. She said, "So, at any point in your life have you come to a realization that Jesus is salvation?" What?!! What had the last hour been about? I smiled, said "yes" and showed them the way out. I felt like I had just wasted an hour of my time talking to air.

The problem was they missed the relationship. They were so caught up in the "rules" of church visitation to see the essence of the conversation. The "rule" says "ask the question and present the gospel." It doesn't matter if the question had already been answered in the course of the visit. The rule said "ask it explicitly." Problem for them, my rule said if they weren't interested in hearing me as a person but only saw me as a prospect, I wasn't interested.

It is easy to judge the experience as poorly managed. For a long time I carried not just a feeling of "that is not the church for me" but a feeling of disdain. I quickly labeled an entire congregation with one Pharisaical moment. I decided that the church must be more about rules than people. Whether or not that was true I'll never know. I never went back to find out differently. God did lead me to a wonderful church where I was able to serve and grow (and meet German but that is a different post altogether).

I wonder now as I reflect on that moment, how many times I have been that leader to someone intrigued by my church, or more importantly my Savior? How often have I been more interested in the rule than the person? What are my rules? Does someone have to make the 'right' clothing, music, entertainment choices for me to listen? Do their children have to stand and participate in the service or is coloring in the notepads okay? How many church services a month give someone the value to have their opinions heard? Do I have any idea the heart of someone who is doing a job, and do I have the right to say it is for recognition not service? Wow! I think there is probably a Pharisee living in me all the time. It is a constant battle to silence her. I must daily (some days hourly) take her to the throne of God and beg Him to help me keep her quiet. Why? Because it is much easier to judge others than to judge ourselves. It hurts much less. But the only way we become like Jesus is when we are most concerned about dealing with our own sin. We show we are disciples as we silence our box-ticking, judgement wielding, rule following Pharisee and extend grace to others while asking God to mold us more into His image. Who is the Pharisee? That would be me...but with God's help you will never have to meet her because His grace tempers her expectations. Praise Him for that!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:1-3

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:37-38

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Matthew 23:25-28

Father forgive me when I act the part of the Pharisee. Forgive me when I worry more about what others might think than about how much you love them. Forgive me when I set up rules that may fit with the path that you have called me to walk in but then expect everyone else to conform to my path. Please give me eyes to see with grace that you have set other paths for other people. Father help me to always see the relationships with others are more important than the jot and tittle of the law. But please do not allow me to become complacent with my own sin. Let me see the planks in my eye and give me the courage to have you remove them. Because it is only by the blood of your Son that any of us are able to stand. In His Name...Amen.

I wrote about this same struggle two years ago. You can find the post here. I still need to remember this!

Amy is our hostess this week. You may find links to other reflections on this quote at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31.

In Other Words--Let Your Light Shine

“There are two ways of spreading light;
to be the candle or the mirror
that reflects it.”
~Edith Wharton~

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Mark 5:14-16

Our church is the only church in our town that stands on a natural hill. For the last several months we have been claiming this verse. That we are a light to the community that cannot be hidden. It is easy to say the words. Much more difficult, however, is putting action to those words.

How exactly are we a light to the community?

Obviously we are open for worship and prayer. The preaching is honest, Biblical and God inspired. Anyone that comes in from the community will encounter the light. But that is in the church building.

We have made intentional efforts this year for the church building to be open at least some part of every day of the week. We want the community to see it as a community that is alive and well. Youth activities have been added and expanded to encourage the kids in and off the street, and in turn here the Gospel. One community officer recently told our youth pastor that on the night of our youth evening there was very little trouble in the town from kids because our church and another church were providing a place for kids to hang out. Light in the community.

Once a month we hold a service where the offering is not monetary, but is food and staples. This is then taken to a community center to be distributed in Jesus' name. A little more light is shed.

Direct shedding of light is important. It is important for people to see that God is working in a group of people. As opportunities arise, it is important that we tell those people the good news.

But as this quote implies, we are not always able to directly shine a light. We may not be able to tell of the love of Jesus for any number of constraints. Sometimes we are just reflecting it. But being a reflection is no less important. The definition of a reflection is "an image, representation or counterpart." When we are reflecting the light, we are being an image or representation of Jesus who is the Light! We are putting flesh onto the idea of Jesus for those around us to see. We are showing that He is mercy, good, truth, integrity, forgiving and redeeming. And in that image in us hopefully they will want to see more of Him!

German works in the business world. He is often the lone Christian in an office, especially now that we live in Europe. He is not in a position where he can be a direct light quoting scripture or openly praying about issues in people's lives. He is often not able to directly discuss God with a colleague. But he can reflect it! He can operate with an integrity that is often foreign to negotiations. He can keep his cool when all around him is battling. And when someone says (which has happened often) "how do you deal with this foolishness without losing it?" (or a more colorful paraphrase of that), he can answer, "because God gives me grace to handle it." His reflecting the light often leads to a little more sharing. On a few occassions we've rejoiced as someone to whom he has sought to reflect light has contacted us and said, "just wanted you to know, I've become a Christian." Reflection brings the light! We know it because that is exactly how German came to know Christ, through the "differentness" of his peers which led him to ask "why?"

Back to ways our church is light in the community. Even a church congregation is sometimes reflecting instead of shining. One way is availability, love and tolerance until the heart is soft enough to accept a direct message. We offer our building for groups such as Narcotics Anonymous and Parenting Classes. No direct preaching at them, just a place where they are welcome to meet and we even provide the tea and biscuits! Shedding a little light. Maybe that little reflection of God's love will entice them to get to know us better. Maybe they will seek answers in another church. Maybe it won't do anything more than plant a seed of love, but we are faithful to loving the community no matter the response.

Are you a candle shining in the darkness? Are you a mirror reflecting His love? Be faithful to the kind of light He is calling you to be. He will do the rest!

Father, help me to shine and reflect your light in my home, in my church, in my community, in my blog, and ultimately in your world. Amen.
Bonnie is our hostess this week. Please join us at Ink It Blog.

Marriage Monday--10 Tips for Frugal Living

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I almost skipped this month's topic. Not because I don't think it is important, I do. Not because the current economic situation does not impact us, it does. More because I am accused often of not being frugal and I didn't want to seem hypocritical. However, those who accuse my family of not being frugal are looking at externals and don't really know the meaning of the word. They see the car German drives (it's a company car), or the neighborhood we live in (for ridicuously affordable rent), or the vacations we take (addressed below) and they assume that we must be living extravagantly or pridefully. That is not the case. Frugality is not living on nothing, it is living as a good steward. Dictionary.com defines frugal as:

1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: a frugal manager.
2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty: a frugal meal.

Economical in use. Not wasteful. In other words, doing the most with what you have. In praying about this post, God has once again reminded me that He determines if it is extravagant, prideful, or as His steward. I'm going to let Him be the judge. (For what it is worth, I believe that we can fall into pride of not spending as easily as we can fall into pride of showing off what we spend. I pray that across the Marriage Monday posts this week, we are reminded that we are sharing what God has taught us about frugal living and not falling into the temptation of pridefulness.)

My top 10 Tips:

1. Tithe. Honestly this could be all ten of my tips. It belongs to God. Don't scrimp in giving it back to Him. The Old Testament defines a tithe as 10% of everything. The New Testament challenges us to be cheerful givers. I believe that the tithe will look different for every family, but if we honestly seek God's will of how to use our money, resources and time He will lead us to give, usually more than we ever dreamed possible.

2. Discuss all major purchases as a couple. You will have to define what a "major" purchase is for you. Discussing purchases before making them allows you to be in synch of what your needs are, plan for how and when to pay for it and saves a lot of headaches later if one partner does not see the need for the purchase.

3. Research, research, research any major expenditure. Find the best price out there. Read the reviews and make sure it will meet your needs. And then enjoy it. This goes for appliances, electronics, cars, and (for us at least) vacations. We travel a lot. We have the blessing of living in Europe with its five weeks of paid vacation time and want to see as much of the world while we are here as possible. Every week I'm on the look out for cheap airfares. Often I can find roundtrip tickets for 1 penny plus taxes. That means the four of us can fly roundtrip for around 60 pounds. We can't eat out at some of the nice restaraunts around here for that! But it is not a bargain if the hotels and food are going to break the budget. Know what you are buying and make decisions based on if it is really the best use of your money at the moment.

4. Once you decide what you want, save for it! We try not to carry a credit card balance. We have an upper limit of what we are willing to carry as a balance and we don't go over it. Instead we wait and save for what we want. Delayed gratification means you appreciate it so much more when you are able to get it.

5. If it is something that should last more than 3 years, buy the best you can afford. It does sometimes pay to spend more. Our computers, though nearing obsolete now, have lasted years because we bought cutting edge at the time of purchase. We also bought expandable--easier to add memory than replace the entire system. Think about how long something needs to serve you and spend accordingly.

6. As much as possible, use fewer pre-packaged and prepared foods. Convenience is lovely, but the savings I see from making my own baked goods, or fresh versus tinned vegetables is amazing when I really compare cost to cost. Plus it tastes better as well.

7. Plan your shopping days so that you can get everything in one trip. This may be one of my favorites because I am becoming more of a homebody, but I really hate having to leave the house 3-4 days a week for a "quick errand." By planning the trips together I save money on fuel, but I am also a better steward of my time.

8. Take advantage of all those schemes to earn points. My grocery store and our petrol station participate in a scheme that you get points for each purchase that can be used for other types of purchases. One of the places the points can be redeemed is Blockbuster. Free movies for buying groceries or getting gas. Yay! Another grocery store will send a coupon every month as a percentage of the points accrued shopping with them. But you have to remember to use the coupon! Sometimes it means a savings of 10% off my grocery bill. It matters. My drug store accrues points to buy their products. I never pay for toothpaste, shampoo etc because of the points accrued buying diapers up until this year. Many credit cards accrue points for purchases. These are great advantages, but it is a waste of energy to carry the cards if you aren't going to actually use the benefit at some point.

9. Reuse and recycle as much as you are able. Every little bit is being a good steward. If you have curbside recycling, take advantage of it. Keep a reusable grocery bag in your car (or better in your handbag) and you are never caught without one. Small steps help our environment.

10. Most importantly, pray about how God wants you to use your resources. This, obviously, ties back to number one. But it also goes beyond that. Praying for wisdom in purchases helps you recognize is this a want or a need? If it is a want, does it detract from your walk with God? Is it a blessing that He is giving to you? If it is a blessing, give Him the glory and accept it!

I find that the more I seek to be a good steward of what God has given me, the more content I am. As contentment settles in me, I find that I want or "need" less. And it becomes a rewarding cycle.

For other posts on frugality, please vist Marriage Monday at www.chrysaliscom.blogspot.com. Be blessed this week!

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To my readers who use Firefox. I'm aware that my blog is not displaying correctly for you. It is working in IE. I have no idea what has happened since I had not changed the template or settings. If any of you have any ideas of how I can make it more readable for you, I'm happy to listen. Just email me (address in the sidebar) or post a comment here and it will be emailed to me immediately. Thank you and I apologize for the inconvenience.

In Other Words---Faith to Believe

If God said that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, then the whale swallowed Jonah, and we do not need a scientist to measure the gullet of a whale. ~ A. W. Tozer ~

My early theology was built in play dough, Sunday School Songs and building blocks. I cannot remember a time when I wasn't involved at church. That faith of a child came naturally to me. "Aunt" Josie taught it and I believed. Granny sang it to me, and I believed it. Noah took all those animals in the ark. Of course. Moses and the children of Israel crossed on dry land. Uh-huh. Jonah lived three days in the stomach of a big fish. Right. I didn't question. I had faith that the Bible was true and right.

And you want to know something? I still believe it. I never question those things. I believe the Bible to be an accurate picture of the movement of God through His people on the earth. And if He said it in His Word, then I can accept that.

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:2-4

Honestly, the fact that I am able to respond in that kind of faith is a gift of God. I question everything else.

What does the red sunset mean? Why do children have ears when they have no use for them? Does a triangle always have 180 degrees? (aside, non-Euclidean geometry was a favorite, and this was my prof's favorite question to confound non-class members) Can any politician really represent "main street"? How does anyone survive in this world without faith in God? (Actually I ask that one alot!)

I love the quest of knowledge. Logic fascinates me. I want to understand how things work. And I can really drive you mad with my questions sometimes (hmmm...maybe those children come by it honestly). But I find no need to question my faith. That's what makes it faith. It is accepted as truth.

Faith:
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
(according to www.dictionary.com)

I'm thankful that my personality has allowed me to accept God easily, without hours of debating the authenticity of the miracles. That is not the case for everyone. I have a friend who has probably the most brilliant mind that I will ever encounter in day-to-day life. Incredibly logical. Irritatingly logical at times. Yet a few years ago he had a life-changing encounter with Christ. Since he is the type that would know off the top of his head what a cubit is, or how much fish a whale can swallow at a time, or any number of "facts" that could call into question the miracles, I'm sure that reading Scripture is somewhat of an adventure for him. But he comes with the same faith. Whether he knows that a whale's gullet is big enough to swallow a man, so God used an available creature (made by God btw) to teach Jonah a lesson or he knows that there is no way the whale could have swallowed Jonah alive but somehow God made that happen, he still must accept that the story has truth and purpose. His being logical does not stop him from being faithful. Instead it leads him to a point where he has more facts than many of us and he still chooses to believe God! That may be more faith than I can bring because he is coming to a place where all logic says "no" and he still believes "yes."

Whether you come today with child-like faith that says, "you say it I believe it" or you come with faith that encounters your logical mind and still believes or you come as Tozer saying that there is no need to question, the faith you bring is all you need. God only ever asks us to bring our mustard seed of faith. He grows it into what we need to believe Him more and more. Are you bringing Him your faith today? What is stopping you?

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20b

Father God, thank you for giving me people in my young life that would channel that child-like innocence and teach me about you. Thank you for protecting my faith from science and logic teachers that could see it only as something to ridicule. Thank you for giving me friends that show me that the path to faith may be different, but you are always the same. Help me to teach my little ones of You so that their imaginations and hearts may be captured by a faith that will sustain them through life. Amen.

Deborah is our hostess today at Chocolate and Coffee. Please join us for other interpretations of this great quote.