My Treadmill

So I've been thinking lately about how inactive I am. My mind goes a million miles an hour, but my body just sits there while I think.

I've been working on eating healthier for awhile now, but I knew that wasn't enough. I had to add in some activity. I'm getting close to middle age, and tons of health problems run in my family. (So far, so good. But I want to be a wise steward of my body, too.)

Well, I sat down and tried to think of what might work for me. I hate to be hot and sweaty when it's already nearly 100* outside, so I knew walking outside wasn't going to happen in the summer. But I also knew that I could do it if I were in an air-conditioned building with a fan blowing on me. (Please don't judge me too harshly. My rosacea acts up in extreme heat, and it's just not worth it to me.)

The only solution I could come up with was a treadmill. The problem is that we're not in a place to be dumping money into a treadmill right now, new OR used. I had resigned myself to seeing if we could borrow my parents' treadmill until we found a killer deal on one.

That was Monday. Today we were out running errands when my husband decided to stop in at a tiny thrift store I hadn't been to yet. What did we see as soon as we walked in the door?

Yes, you probably guessed it. This:



I took a quick look at it but couldn't determine if it worked, where it might plug in, etc. Then the sales lady told me that someone had just brought it in (no price yet), and it didn't plug in. Your momentum is what makes it go. (This is good, since electrical parts aren't the cheapest things to replace on these things.)

I asked how much it was, and she paused just a moment.

"Oh, how does $5 sound?"

REALLY?! It took me all of five seconds (if that) to tell her I'd take it.

Bonus: It's not a huge, bulky thing, so it will fit nicely into an unoccupied corner of our bedroom.

God came through again, and even I was taken off-guard by this one! He knows what we need before we even ask, and He provides for us when we allow Him to be in control of our finances. As someone has said, "God shovels it in, and I shovel it out. But God has a bigger shovel."

posted from Bloggeroid

God provides a bat bag.

I enjoy blogging about these things. I hope you enjoy them, too!

My son went to church youth camp for the first time this year. He loved it! When he came back, he had a list of things that he'd like to have for next year. (He knows I like advance warning so I can look for good deals.)

One of the things he wanted was a bat bag. I'm not a sports type, so I took him to our local sports store so I knew what we were looking for. I know I'm out of touch with regular prices because we shop so much at thrift stores, but I was still shocked at the $40 price tag. I told him we'd look at thrift stores, and our community yard sales were coming up, too.

Well, a week later we were shopping at the community yard sales mid-afternoon when he found a bat bag (the exact brand and style he wanted) in excellent condition. There wasn't a price on it. When we asked, the lady said we could have it for FREE!



We took it home and cleaned it up just a bit, and now that's one less thing to find for youth camp next year.

God is good!

posted from Bloggeroid

God cares about shoes.

If you've been around for awhile, you may remember the story about the Vermont Teddy Bears that my kids wanted when we were on vacation once. We just didn't have the money for them, but God provided one for each of my kids from thrift stores - the exact fur color and everything! (I'll try to insert a link to the post, but if I can't figure out how to do that from this blogging app, you may have to search for it on the blog. It's from May 11, 2011. It's still here and is one of my favorite blog posts of all time.)

Well, my kids have grown up a bit since then. My son turned 12 this year, and he's turning his attention to things like tennis shoes these days. Around his birthday this year, he told us he'd like some expensive Nike shoes that he had seen another teen wearing. Since my husband was unemployed at the time, we just couldn't justify $80 for a pair of shoes when he already had a pair that he could fit. And because of his age, he sometimes seems to outgrow a shoe size in one month. We promised to keep an eye out at thrift stores and buy him a pair if we found them there. We looked and looked ... and were still looking when his birthday rolled around. He had even mentioned that he'd love to have those shoes for his birthday present (a sure sign that he's not a little kid anymore).

I probably don't need to tell you that I had prayed many times, asking God to prove Himself to my son at this time in his life. Yes, my son remembers the Vermont Teddy Bears (we still have them), but I wanted another reminder for him that God hears him when he gets older, too.

Well, we still hadn't found the shoes when his birthday came. On the morning of his birthday, I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus. (I later found out that it was the flu, but I didn't know it then.) My husband had work to do for someone, so I was the only parent around during the day. Since we homeschool, I have the liberty of taking the day off when it's my kids' birthdays, and we always do. We do something special. I asked my son if he'd like to go to the local thrift store to look for shoes, and he said that he would. I felt a bit better later in the morning, so we went.

Now I have to tell you that my son takes after me. He was a bit skeptical that we were ever going to find those shoes because he knew as well as we did that they weren't a real *need* - just a *want*. Even at his age, he knows that we don't always get what we want.

But we went straight to the shoe section that morning and found not one, not two, but *THREE* pair of those shoes - all different colors - *IN HIS SIZE* and in beautiful condition!! It's just like God to answer my prayer over and above what I ever could have expected. He even got to pick what color he wanted!



Needless to say, my son was grinning from ear to ear when we left the thrift store that morning. God had come through just in time and given him a special birthday present. I made sure he understood that God had provided even more than we had asked for this time.

I knew it would encourage other people, so I wanted to share it here.

posted from Bloggeroid

God shows His care through a teddy bear

I mentioned yesterday that we were on vacation last week. We vacationed at Smugglers Notch in Vermont. All I can say is "WOW!" The accomodations were truly top-notch.

I also mentioned that we went to some thrift stores. Well, we also did some of the usual vacation things. We went to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory so our kids could see how teddy bears are made.

We got the brochure that mentioned kids making their own bear at the end of the factory tour. [They're called "Make a Friend for Life" bears. You can see information about them here, but the real bears look nothing at all like the ones in those pictures.] That sounded like something our kids would like, so we called and found out it was $20 each. That sounded pretty reasonable for as cute as Vermont Teddy Bears are ... until we got there and realized those bears looked nothing like a regular Vermont Teddy Bear.

My kids could sew a cuter bear as a first sewing project all by themselves - really. These bears looked like someone either punched their nose into their face or ran over them with an 18-wheeler. Maybe both. They were completely flat, even after being stuffed, with no snout. I can't find words to describe to you how truly awful they looked. I've seen bears at Dollar Tree that were cuter than those bears.

I'm not trying to be overly dramatic here, but I do want to warn anyone else who might visit and tell their kids about making these wonderful bears after the tour. Don't do it; you'll be terribly disappointed. Our kids were.

The tour, however, was absolutely fantastic. We all enjoyed it, even my husband.

The bears they make are also fantastic - but pricey. The smallest ones start at $36. A 15" bear is $60. Of course, my kids both wanted one of those 15" bears, but it just wasn't in the budget. If I'd had the money, believe me, I would have bought them both a $60 bear as a splurge because we were on vacation. I'm sure you're all familiar with a mother's heart.

Since I couldn't afford the bears from the factory, I promised my kids what I could do - I could sew them each their own customized bear that looks remarkably like these teddy bears. I've made jointed teddy bears before. I even found the pattern.

Then we got to talking about which fur was their favorite, and we hit on a problem. My son's favorite was the one with fur that's spotted like a cow. I've never seen that kind of fur in a fabric store, so I wasn't sure I could replicate that one. Oh well. I could certainly try.

Fast forward four days ... We were headed out of town on our way home. We were going past a Goodwill store that we had been in on Monday. We almost didn't stop, but decided at the last minute to take a quick run through to see if anything new came in.

We walked by the toys on the way to the linen section, and my son grabbed something and started getting terribly excited.

"Look, Mommy!! It's a Vermont Teddy Bear!!"

Do you want to take a guess what fur it had?



Yes, it was the cow fur, just like he had wanted. I nearly cried right there in Goodwill. I think my son almost did, too.

Since we had been on the factory tour, we knew everything to look for to make sure it was a genuine Vermont Teddy Bear.



We checked the tag and saw the price - $2.99! (This is the $60 bear.)



Sure enough, it was the real thing!



We outfitted him at another thrift store for $2.00, and we even found him a bear-sized cell phone (Build a Bear brand) at another thrift store for $0.75.

Can you guess whose little boy got a powerful lesson on God's care for His children? Of course, we made sure to tell him it wouldn't happen like this all the time. But God has done things like this for us over and over and over.

But wait! That means that my daughter didn't get one. Hmm, I'm all about fairness but my kids know that life isn't always fair. And I can't always make it fair. It's a basic life lesson that many parents are trying to shield their kids from. Not this parent.

My daughter was fine with me making her a bear to her specifications. She's generous like that. But my husband and I decided that we would be looking in the toy bins at thrift stores a little more closely from now on ... Would you guess what we found yesterday?



How about this guy (or girl, if you ask my daughter)?! Not only that, but we found him at our local Goodwill, the place that's notorious for taking anything remotely of value and putting it into a showcase for close to the same price you'd pay for it brand-new. Obviously someone has never heard of Vermont Teddy Bears, and I'm thrilled that they haven't. He was only $0.50!



The look on her face says it all, doesn't it? This was the exact bear color that she wanted! Are you overwhelmed yet? I certainly am. God is so good to our family. I hope "little" lessons like this stay with my kids for a lifetime. I hope my kids remember that God cares about children and the big "little" things that concern them.



It reminds me of the verse in the Bible, "Or what man of you, whom if his son asks bread, will he give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9,11, italics mine)

Great shopping deals!

Mom and I headed out to do some grocery shopping yesterday with both kids in tow, since everyone likes to be with Grandma. It was quite an experience, let me tell you. My patience was worn pretty thin by the end of our excursion, and we had only visited two of the stores on my list of four. Note to self: Don't ever plan to get a lot of shopping done with two kids in tow!

Despite the frustrations of dealing with two major cases of the "gimmees," we managed to find some great bargains.



Dollar Tree had just gotten a new load of things in. I picked up the new wall art saying ("Enjoy: to take pleasure or delight in simple things."), a pack of each of the new file folders, and these beautiful dishtowels. Since the dishtowels have the design on each side, I'm planning to make some hand towels -- the kind that button onto a handle or knob in your kitchen. This way, I can get two hand towels from each dishtowel. [And now that I know one of my nieces reads my blog ... Don't tell your mom, but the "Faith, Hope, Love" ones are going to be for her! :) ]



As I was heading to Wal-Mart, we passed by Factory Card & Party Outlet. You couldn't miss the huge sign in the window that read, "$0.75 all clearance." You know I couldn't resist a sign like that, especially since I had been in there and seen the clearance items a few weeks ago (when I scored the ridiculously cheap Cousin Camp pinata candy). Fortunately for me, my mom stayed in the van with the kids while I ran in and quickly picked through the clearance.

I almost missed the DeMets Turtles (24 pieces in a box!). Another lady was checking out ahead of me and clued me in, so I grabbed four boxes of those -- for $0.75/box! One box went to my mom since I know she loves them, so that's why you only see three boxes in the picture. Another box will be a gift for my Secret Sister, and we'll probably keep the last two for family treats.

As for the rest of the items, I got some great prize box and Cousin Camp prize items:

• 12 football-shaped "hacky sacks" - $0.75


• 12 basketball-shaped "hacky sacks" - $0.75


• 4 dog-themed bouncy balls - $0.75


• 12 spiky smiley men - $0.75


• 12 zoo-themed finger puppets - $0.75


• The Kids' Pick-A-Party Book - $0.75


• 3 rolls packing tape - $0.75 each


• "Hope" mug for my niece by that name - $0.75

The last item deserves its own mention, too. It's a box of 50 baby shower invitations (and envelopes), 50 baby shower thank yous (and envelopes), and 50 sticker seals. The original price was $30, and it was marked down to $10 clearance. BUT since it had an orange clearance tag, I got it for $0.75! :) I'm going to cut apart the cards to use them for the decorative paper on them, and I now have 100 more envelopes in my most-used size.

I was quite happy when I left that store, but the deals for the day weren't over yet!

When we stopped in at Wal-Mart, we got first pick on a slew of kids' shoes they had just marked down to $3/pair. I usually get kids' shoes gently used at thrift stores, but these are thrift store prices for brand-new shoes, so I spent some time going through them to find the sizes I didn't already have in my stockpile. My kids were terribly excited about these and wanted to try on each pair I put in the cart immediately. Never mind that they won't grow into them for another year or so ... :)



I got three pairs of shoes for my daughter. These are all regular-priced at $15-17 each. The first one is Athletic Works brand, the middle one is Danskin Now, and I can't remember the name on the third box.



I got two pairs for my son. Again, these were regularly-priced at $15-17 each. The pair on the left is Athletic Works and the pair on the right is Starter brand.

They're not Skechers or Adidas, but you can't beat that price for new kids' shoes! As my kids get into bigger sizes, I'm finding it a little harder to find thrift store shoes that are still nice, so this was a Godsend!

Well, that's about it for today. Enjoy! :)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving ...

Let me share a few of our great "finds" this last week. Of course, we can't take credit for any of our "finds" - God definitely orchestrates these things!

First of all, my husband loves foosball. I never understood the attraction until I played against him and then a family friend - and WON BOTH TIMES! It's not something I'd play all the time, but it is fun every now and then.

We had seen a pretty beat-up one at our favorite local thrift store for $10, but it was very beat-up, and so we waited. While he was out visiting last week, my husband stopped in at a thrift store we don't get to as often. Look what he got for $2:



Yes, you read that right: $2. I was expecting it to be broken or missing something vital that they didn't know about (it had "missing ball" marked on the box), but everything - including the ball - was there and in good shape. It's not necessarily the deluxe version, but we really like it and it works great for us!

Last Monday we ventured south for our friends' daughter's birthday party (she's almost exactly a year older than our son). On the way, my husband noticed a sign outside of a consignment shop we had been to once. That day was their last day in business, and they were having a sale.

Of course, things are cheap the last day someone is in business, so we stopped. (The prices hadn't been too great before, but this was worth looking at!) Everything in the store was 75% off, and a lot of it she was just asking $0.25 for. We also got two shopping bags full of clothes for $0.25 each.

And then my husband asked if the beautiful bookcases out front were 75% off, too. As it turns out, they were. They were originally asking $100 for both, but that day they would be $25 for both. My husband was thrilled, since he has been looking for a few bookshelves for his smaller study at the church!

So he went out to see if he could load them into our van. He got one inside, but the other would not fit inside. We have a roof rack, but he wasn't sure he wanted to try it, so he went back inside the store and told her it just wasn't going to work.

"That's too bad," she said, "because if you can take it, they're both free."

Needless to say, my husband quickly changed his mind about getting the second one up on the roof rack! It took a little effort, but it was so worth it! Check it out:



It's beautiful dark wood, made in the USA. The other one looks exactly like it, but the camera batteries died after I took this picture.

Isn't God good?

More clothes!

Remember those bags and bags of clothing that were given to us? I've been going through them the last few nights. I think I'm about halfway through, and I have something like two BIG garbage bags full of clothing in my parents' sizes!

One bag I opened yielded about 10 pairs of pants in Dad's size, as well as 3 tops for Mom ... and that's just one bag.

I think I'm getting to the kids' clothing now. I've already put aside several shirts for my son.

When I'm done, I just might post a picture of how much came out of this. I think I have five large garbage bags to donate to my favorite local thrift store. (Those are the clothes that we won't use and the missionaries we send to can't use.) I probably have another five large garbage bags to send to missionaries. I just can't get over how much stuff is there!

Look what my husband got for free!

My husband and I both enjoyed the basketball courts while we were on vacation, and we talked about saving up some money to buy a hoop for our own house. It's great exercise, and it's fun! We put that on the back burner for awhile, though, because we have bills to finish paying off first.

Needless to say, though, my husband has had an eagle eye for basketball hoops ever since. He noticed this portable basketball hoop lying facedown in the back of the parking lot of a business just down the road from us. Over the course of two weeks, he noticed that it hadn't been moved, so he decided to stop in and see if they wanted to get rid of it, and for how much.

The guy told him a few minor issues it had and then told him he could have it for free if he wanted it. Those minor issues had seriously impacted their enjoyment of the hoop, and they never used it anymore.

Now how is that for God's provisions yet again? I don't think we even thought to pray about a hoop, since we considered it just a "want." And God doesn't provide junk, either. Do you want to know how much this hoop costs brand-new? Humor me a moment and take a guess. Then go here and see for yourself.
Okay, have you picked your jaw up off the floor yet? Yes, you read that right - $600!!! We would never in a million years have been able to afford a hoop this nice. Never. Probably not even used. But God provided it for FREE!

So what are the minor issues? Let me see if I can get this right ... The base is supposed to be able to be weighted with sand or something, but there's a hole in it, so the sand runs out. As you can see, two concrete blocks work just fine to hold it in place! It also has a few cosmetic dings on the backboard, but nothing to prevent anyone from playing a game of basketball with it.

I don't know if you can see it or not, but it's adjustable. I think that might be one of the features that makes it so expensive. It can be adjusted to a child's height, or it can go to its full adult height. It's really easy to adjust, too - you just pull up or down on the lever in the back.

I didn't find out how much this was worth until my husband already went to bed, so you can imagine I have news for him tomorrow morning! :)

Harvest Home: Over $320 in groceries!

Are you familiar with the Harvest Home concept? Some areas of the country call it a "pounding." I always thought it was amusing to hear parishioners talk about giving their pastor a pounding. :)

The concept is simple - parishioners bring groceries or other grocery-type necessities (paper products, etc.) for the pastor and family. I'm sure in pioneer days it was due in part to the fact that preachers weren't paid much of anything and didn't have a lot of time to devote to raising animals and tending gardens. But I'm still grateful some churches continue this tradition even when the pastor is on a salary, because it is always a huge blessing to our family.

Anyway, here's a (really small) picture of what we received in groceries for our Harvest Home this year (sorry it's small - it didn't resize well):

I logged everything and tried to figure an estimate of how much these groceries were worth. I'm sure I gave conservative estimates on most of it because I'm so used to sale prices, so it's probably well over $350 worth of groceries. Many of these items are things I consider luxuries and would probably not buy for us if I had to do the buying. Our church people know me well! :) I really appreciate all the treats, as well as the basic staples, we get every year!

All of this, and a sizable cash gift, from a congregation that numbers under 40! These people are so generous it's almost unbelievable. They have us thoroughly spoiled!

Another answered prayer - for my sister's daughter!

About a month ago, my sister and I were discussing finances and she mentioned that they were having to put their much-needed "new" van on hold because money was so tight through the end of the year. That got me to thinking about Christmas. I asked if there were any toys her kids had specifically asked for that I could keep an eye out for.

I try to do this on a regular basis. Her kids are like mine - they don't care where the toys came from or if they're brand-new or used. They're just grateful to get something they really like. Just last month my sister and her husband were able to give their youngest son the motorized 4-wheeler he has been asking for. We found it secondhand for $5, and it works perfectly. You couldn't find a happier birthday boy!

Anyway, the only thing that came to her mind this time was a dollhouse for her daughter. She has been asking for one.

Would you believe I actually dreamed about finding her one at a yard sale for a terrific price? When I woke up, for a few moments I couldn't remember if it was just a dream or not.

Then last week I found a Fisher Price house at a thrift store for $6. I almost bought it, but then I saw that the top floor was cracked badly. So I passed it up, hoping I hadn't made a big mistake.

Fast forward to last night. A lady from church called me and asked if I'd like two dollhouses and accessories for my daughter - not just one, but two! They had been given to her, but her granddaughters aren't "into" dollhouses, so she thought of my daughter. Would I like them for free to put away for Christmas? Absolutely!!

Tonight she came and we sneaked them into our house while her granddaughters played with (i.e., distracted) my kids. They need a little cleaning up, but I couldn't wait to share this wonderful answer to prayer!

First of all, the Playskool Victorian Dollhouse from the front:
And the back:
Then the Little Tikes Place dollhouse from the front:
And the back:
And here's the big bag of accessories that came with it:

I can't wait to root through the accessories some more! I found quite a few dolls in there - something like three sets. Now I need to go through and match the furniture to the dollhouses. Oh, and I need to wash them, too!

God is so good to our families!

Garden bounty

I've been busy the last few days processing lots of garden bounty. Not all of it is from my garden, but it's all fresh and local.

There's a farmer down the road that plowed up his potatoes recently. There are bunches and bunches of potatoes left on the ground and he said anyone was welcome to take what they want once the machines have gone through the field. (Is it any coincidence that my mother just mentioned that she'd like to get 50 pounds of potatoes? I don't think so!)

A friend from church knows the farmer and stopped at one of the fields (yes, there are several!). He got several bushels and shared a bunch with us. He said I'd have to pick through them because there were a few bad ones in the bunch, but I haven't found a bad one yet. These look better than anything I've ever bought at the store.

Here's part of the first batch that I finished yesterday:

Five quarts and twelve pints - about 11 pounds. You can't beat FREE!

I decided to can them so they'll keep until my parents get here at the end of the month. The idea is that they can just open a jar, heat them and make mashed potatoes (which is what they usually make). Most of the work is already done.

I have probably twice as many to process tomorrow (or the next day, since we're getting company). I'm thinking about making some French fries for the freezer. I'll let you know how that goes.

I also canned two more quarts of pickled banana peppers (from my garden) and froze two quarts of freezer pickles (from a friend's garden).

Someone asked about how I do the actual canning. I could do a lengthy post, but I might omit something and you'd end up with botulism. :) How about I refer you to my online source for canning instructions? You can find the instructions for potatoes here. They have lots more instructions on their site. Maybe someday I'll break down and buy the Ball Blue Book, but right now free Internet instructions suit me just fine.

(By the way, do you notice the pressure canner in the instructions? You know, the really expensive one? That's the kind I got at the auction for $3!)

Do my kids have a direct line to heaven?

You know, I don't mean that to be trite. I think I've said it before, but it seems like all my kids have to do is get their hearts set on a specific toy, and we find it at thrift stores in no time. My husband and I are convinced it's because we have given control of our finances to God and give sacrificially (i.e. above what we could usually afford) when prompted.



Whatever the reason, we're certain to tell the kids each time that God has provided this toy for them.



So, what was it this time? I'm sure you're familiar with the Fur Real animals. Somehow my son had seen one in the store and got his heart set on one. For $40 for the large one and $15 for the baby, I think they're way over-priced. So we told him we'd keep our eyes out at thrift stores. And since then, while I usually ignore the bins of stuffed animals, I've been rooting through the stuffed animals at thrift stores. Today we found not one, but two Fur Real cats - a kitten and a small cat. Do you want to know how much they were? $0.48 - for both of them. Yes, God is better to us than we deserve!



So here's what else we got at the thrift store (when we dropped off several bags of donations): Harvest Ministries (my favorite local one)

• Osh Kosh jumper for my daughter - $0.50


• Fur Real cat (furthest left) - $0.38


• other animated cat (on the right - I forget the brand name, but it's similar) - $0.38


• canning funnel - $0.38


• Pfaltzgraff Tea Rose hand soap dispenser - $0.38 (My kitchen is decorated in Tea Rose.)

Salvation Army (my second favorite local thrift store)

• 3 books - $0.05 each


• Fur Real kitten - $0.10


• Little Tykes police helmet - $0.30


• bike helmet - $1.00


• basket (to hold a gift) - $0.15


• and this winter decoration that is as high as my chest:

It was $0.75.

It was a good day!

"Small" blessings

Tonight at church a lady gave me these tea towels and dishcloths.



She ordered them through the mail and they ended up not matching her kitchen. As you can see, they match my kitchen perfectly. She knew that, so she gave them to me!

Here's the wonderful thing about it all ... Just today I was looking at my worn-out dishcloths and tea towels and thought, "I really need to get new ones." If you'd see the dishcloths, I'm sure you'd agree. I tend to use them until they're in tatters.

I would probably have bought a "value pack" at Wal-Mart which wouldn't come close to including 9 dishcloths and 9 tea towels like this set. And I would have paid anywhere from $5-15 for all of this.

Small blessings? No, not really. All blessings are big blessings when you realize just how much God cares about the little details of our lives. If He cares enough to provide dishcloths before I even asked, certainly I can trust Him to provide in the big issues of life!

Now I'll be reminded of God's provisions every time I do the dishes!

A sale at the perfect time!

My blog is full of "sales at the perfect time," if you've been reading ver long. But I wanted to document yet one more blessing from God in the form of a great sale at the perfect time ...

Just this week, our computer gave us a huge scare. It looked like our operating system was trashed and we would lose all of our personal files on it ... including some irreplaceable files. I hadn't done a backup in awhile. (We could get the OS back, but not the personal files.)

Thank the Lord, it booted up just fine after sitting for a few hours turned off, and we were able to backup the most important of our personal files. Our computer technician, who answers all of our questions for free, recommended buying one or two flash drives to backup those files on a weekly basis - if not more often. [He still has no idea why the computer did such a thing ... ]

The only flash drive I had was a 512 mb freebie from Rite Aid. It worked in a pinch, but I had to go through and make some tough decisions about which files I could potentially live without. So we decided that we needed to buy another flash drive or two.

I remembered that they were pretty pricey for the larger sizes, but I checked at Staples first since they run some fantastic sales sometimes. Wouldn't you know, the flash drives were on sale? It doesn't look like they're advertised in the flyer, but the prices were reduced by almost half. I was able to get a SanDisk 4 gb flash drive for $25, as opposed to the $50 price tag from Wal-Mart for the same exact thing. 4 gb is plenty of room for the files we need to backup.

Isn't God good??

Tomato stakes at just the right time!

My garden is beginning to produce, and I've been needing to buy some tomato cages for awhile now. I'm getting desperate, but I've been told that the tomato cages (Wal-Mart style) are pricey and mostly worthless.

So I decided to look for tomato stakes this week ... but I never got the chance to step inside a hardware store, what with the company and all.

Imagine my surprise tonight when a church member told me he had just made me three stakes for each of my tomato plants! Talk about perfect timing!

He also informed me that it wasn't too late to plant corn, as I had originally feared. (I misplaced my planting schedule and missed my original planting date by over a month.) So hopefully I'll get to plant about four rows of corn next Monday, which happens to be my next available day.

I'm so excited to see recognizable banana peppers on my plants already! And did I mention that three of my tomato plants have nice-sized tomatoes on them? They're still green, but they look beautiful.

Maybe some of those tomatoes will be ready by Monday, too. You never know! What with the kind of weather we've been having the last few days, my plants have been growing almost in front of my eyes. I can't believe how much they've grown overnight when I check them each day!

So God has provided again! This time it's tomato stakes. :)

And God provides again!

Last week we got a love offering from our church, just in time to buy the white shirts my husband needed for this week's revival meeting. He wears white shirts at least 4 times on a regular week (6 times during revival week), and we only had 2 really good ones for him.

They discontinued the Towncraft shirts that he liked, and we've tried nearly every white shirt on the market. Most of them aren't durable enough. He likes them just so, and I can't blame him. It was within the last year that we finally found a good replacement - the Stafford Super Shirt. The only trouble is that this shirt costs $34 regular price ... and I think we paid in the $20s for the two we got him last year.

So I went to JCPenney expecting to pay $136 for 4 dress shirts.

When we walked into the store, I saw they had a sale on John Deere shirts - buy one, get one for $0.99. I promised my son we'd check what they had in his size since he's just about outgrown his first John Deere shirt.

Then we went to the dress shirts. When I saw a sale tag hanging in front of them, I got really excited. We were going to save some money! And when I got closer and saw that it was the same deal - buy one, get one for $0.99 - I almost cried! Not only that, but my husband needed four shirts. I checked his size, and there were exactly four left. God takes such good care of us!!

So we happily tripped over to the boys' section where we picked up two John Deere shirts for my son - one in each of the next two sizes, so he will have a John Deere shirt to wear for the next few years. I figured we saved so much money on the dress shirts I could afford to splurge on something that might as well have his name on it since it was so perfect for him (one of them had a picture of a John Deere tractor and it said, "My Best Friend")!

Our cost at checkout was $93.24, a total savings of $42.76 over what I was expecting to pay. And to think I even got two shirts for my son out of the deal!!

Isn't God good?!

Our *brand-new* gas grill!!

Yes, you read that right. It's brand-new. We were expecting a decent used grill, and our church people got together and bought us this brand-new $350 Kenmore grill. WOW!
I still can't get over this. These people are way too good to us!

Not only did they get the grill, but they also had it completely assembled (thank goodness - it looks complicated), bought a filled tank, and got a grill cover for it. You might notice it's a little fingerprinted in the picture. That's because it's stainless steel.

Wow!! Isn't God good? And His people are pretty awesome, too! :)

God's provisions

Okay, I knew there was something else I wanted to blog about tonight. It just came to me!

Just Thursday I was in Rite Aid picking up the weekly freebies and thought about leaving the TheraGesic pain relief rub since I have several tubes of similar product already. (I have to use it for frequent leg aches, but I have enough to last me quite awhile.) I almost left it, but then I thought, "Hey, somebody might need this when they visit. I might as well pick it up!"

Since we pastor and live in the parsonage, we have a lot of visiting missionaries and other speakers that stay overnight. Most of these people are on extremely limited incomes, so I like to send something helpful along with them when I can.

Okay, fast forward to today. After lunch, I overheard a lady recommend pain relief rub to a man who suffers from terrible leg cramps. She was telling him where to find it in any drug store section. I ran to the closet where I keep my stash of products to give away. Sure enough, that's exactly what she was talking about. So I was able to help him out (and hopefully get him some relief so he can sleep at night).

That got me to thinking about how God provides for us.

You remember the Scotch tape runner I mentioned in my shopping post this week? Well, I was just in Michaels the day before bemoaning the fact that they quit carrying my favorite tape runner so I couldn't use my 40%-off coupon on it anymore. Was it coincidence that I "happened" to find the tape runner on clearance at Staples the very next day - with a savings of 90% off what I paid for the other tape runner? I don't think so!

And here's another one for you ... Just today my husband mentioned that we really should get a grill sometime since we have people over so much. Sometimes it would be nice to just grill out, and when you're feeding 23 people, a medium-sized George Foreman grill takes awhile. We've talked about this before and decided to wait until they go on clearance at the end of the season, but last year wasn't a good time for us to buy, due to other financial commitments when they were clearanced. And we haven't gotten even close to "clearance season" on them yet this year.

Get this ... As one of our workers was preparing to leave today, his wife called on his cell phone and asked him to stop by Sears to help her pick out their new grill. He mentioned it to my husband after he got off the phone. Well, we have seen their old grill and thought it was pretty nice. So my husband asked what was wrong with the old one, mostly to make conversation. It turns out it's a relatively minor problem, but they were wanting to "upgrade" anyway. (You know where this is going don't you?) He offered to just give us their old gas grill!

Why am I writing this? It's certainly not to imply that we are God's pets and He is our glorified "fairy godmother," as some people think of God. No, I'd serve Him if I never received any free gas grill! I'm writing this to tell you that God provides for our needs - and many of our wants - when our money is surrendered to Him.

You see, when my husband and I made out our budget, there was no question that 10% of the gross income goes directly to tithe. And since we live in the parsonage, we don't have rent or a house payment. We have decided to tithe the value of our housing, as well. (It is a benefit of my husband's employment, one that we would otherwise have to pay ourselves.) Added to that, my husband has felt led to add a percentage on top as extra offering.

As a result, our weekly tithe and offering check is actually 20% of our take-home pay. You better believe that it's not always easy to write that check every week, knowing the other financial commitments we have. But we have always taken it out first. There is never any question about whether we're going to tithe this week or not.

But I also want you to know that we have never, ever gone without. My family eats the best of any family I know, all on $120 a month. My family is as well-dressed as the most wealthy person in our congregation, all on thrift store and yard sale finds. My children have the nicest and widest selection of toys of any child I know of, thanks to incredible thrift stores. (Remember the art desk for $0.80? And I don't think I've ever mentioned the $0.80 full-featured Baby Alive doll!)

Why is this? Is it because I'm such a great shopper? No, it's because God has provided for our needs - and many of our wants. Not only that, but He is always on time. Remember our Easter outfits? How about the bread machine?

So I want you to know that no matter how bleak your outlook is, realize that you can trust God! I am not a trusting person by nature, but you can well imagine that by now I have no problem trusting God for anything. He has proven Himself over and over and over again in our 5-1/2 years of marriage!

[Whew! That was long - good thing I'm not the preacher in this family!]

Why I know this John Deere bed set was for us ...

Take a look at the picture of my son's new bedding. It came in the mail today, and I can't tell you how blessed I was when I opened the package to discover two shams, two pillowcases and two flat sheets, in addition to the fitted sheet and comforter.

You see, I was under the impression that I was only getting enough for one bed set. All this lacked to make two complete sheet sets was a fitted sheet for the top bunk. And, thanks to a friend, I already had a perfectly-matched green checked fitted sheet.

As a general rule, we don't use flat sheets in our house because they're such a pain to keep tucked. So we have those two John Deere print flat sheets that I'm thinking about making into priscilla curtains for the window. (Just add a casing and hem a little ... nothing that couldn't easily be undone if the need arose.)

Once the quilt is done, it will go on the bottom bunk and this comforter will go on the top.

Now we are doubly convinced that this set was for us! Isn't God good?

These yard sale finds cleaned up pretty well, didn't they? They were both a greasy, dusty mess when my husband brought them home (see previous post), but a little elbow grease does wonders!

I doubt the previous owners used the bread machine more than 2-3 times. The plastic protective covering (the kind you peel off) was still over the keypad, and it was extremely clean inside. The toaster oven probably wasn't used much, either. Although it was pretty dirty on the outside, the inside was almost spotless. We tried them both, and they work great!

Organizing
I've been busy going through closets and cabinets today. I got rid of a 13-gallon trash bag worth of clothing and my closet is still full. (It used to be bursting at the seams!) It's much more organized now, too, for which I am grateful.

I've decided that organization books don't always have the final answer on some things. For instance, every organization book I've ever read has told me to organize my wardrobe by putting outfits separate - so you can see the different possibilities. I've done that for years. Recently, though, I've noticed that I am wearing the same outfits all the time and forgetting about the other wonderful clothing I have in the closet.

So I decided to organize by outfits. Now, it's not what you might think. I own a lot of blazers that I like to pair with skirts, jumpers and dresses. So, as an example, I put my green blazer first, then all the skirts, jumpers and dresses that I would wear with it right next to it. I actually matched up a few things that I hadn't even thought of ... And got rid of a few things that I thought were "must haves" but didn't match a thing I own.

Renewing
And while I'm on the subject of clothing, I tried one of those clothing shavers on my "old" winter coat last night. It's the shaver that's supposed to take the "pills" off sweaters and the like. Well, my coat is wool and somewhere around 13 years old, but I still like it. However, it was starting to pill and it looked horrible. After about 5 minutes invested in shaving it, I have a great-looking coat that should last me at least a few more years.

That was my first attempt at using one of those shavers. I'm wondering now if it harms the fabric in any way. Of course, I had nothing to lose with a 13-year-old coat, but I'm curious. Has anyone had experience using these?