On Gods Errands
A beautiful day again. Yesterday was filled with mundane running around, errands. It's so hard to make days like that enjoyable. It's so hard to be blessed by the mundane; to see God's hand in a grocery list or an overdue library book. Does He really use these moments? I believe he does. We just need to listen carefully over the din.
The first step is to acknowledge that we are stewards of all that passes through our lives, whether it be our time, money, an overdue library book, or what goes in our trashcans. My errands include several stops for recycling various items. I always think carefully before throwing ANYTHING in the garbage. While I accept that gas prices are skyrocketing, and extra stops mean extra gas and time, I also think that we must be responsible in our consumption. I don't usually make extra stops JUST to recycle something - but it's so simple to just drop off an ink cartridge while I'm in Staples (sometimes they give me a $3 coupon when I do it), or drop off the plastic grocery bags at the grocery store entrance when I go in (some stores give you credit for reusing them).
Organization is important when running errands, it saves time and gas. We have a basic preset route that we take when running errands. Our "loop" is about 25 miles. We make each stop as we come to it. If planned properly this prevents backtracking and wasting gas and time retracing our path. We also try to make sure we have plenty of books and drinks so the children can still be doing something enjoyable and constructive.
The second step is to be thankful for the abundance that is brought to our attention while we're doing the errands. I would not need to go to the Salvation Army if we didn't have 3 beautiful healthy children who grow quickly and need new clothes regularly. Not to mention that the clothes they have are so durable that I can pass them on to someone else. I'm so blessed!! A lengthy grocery list reminds me that we live in a land of abundance and we can pick and chose what we like to eat, and an overflowing pile of grocery bags means that we are wealthy enough to have plenty of food on hand, even to such an extent that we regularly donate to the foodshelf. LIbrary books mean that we live in a free country where we can read what we please, and a wealthy country that can afford to have books available for FREE use. We are educated and can read those books. How much do YOU take for granted in your daily life.
Finally, I have the opportunity to consider what it would be like having to do everything for myself, and to be thankful for those things I don't have to do. We pay a neighbor to do most of our mending. I can do it myself but it's not a chore that I relish so I pay her a couple of dollars now and then to mend torn seams and add patches to my beloved's military uniforms. He is, by nature, a mechanic and a handyman - but I can imagine the joy of realizing that I don't have to figure out how to repair something myself. Not to mention the time I save by having someone else do it.
I watched Frontier House again last week and one thing that always strikes me is that people living in the 1800's didn't have to run errands, and their trips to the grocers were limited to a couple of times a year usually. How far we have come!! Or have we? They didn't have to run errands because they did their own mending, they fixed their own items. Outgrown items, were few and far between, and were probably passed on to someone close by when visiting, or recycled into other items. Broken or worn out tools were fixed, sharpened or refurbished. They made use of everything. They rarely went to the grocers because they raised everything they needed to survive. Our society has become so obsessed with disposable items... it's very sad. My husband is just starting to train his mind to think creatively about "junk". I frequently ask him "is that *really* trash or could it be fixed or recycled?" Even now, 5 years into my own journey away from overconsumption and waste, I am still drawn in by the ease of certain disposable items. I even bought some (deeply discounted...but still) disposable dishcloths. I have to admit... they're handy. But at what cost? I don't just mean dollars and cents.
We live in an unreal world where real effort is a thing of the past for most people. We are a society of thinkers, and even those who do "great things"... well just think about what we consider great things.
The first step is to acknowledge that we are stewards of all that passes through our lives, whether it be our time, money, an overdue library book, or what goes in our trashcans. My errands include several stops for recycling various items. I always think carefully before throwing ANYTHING in the garbage. While I accept that gas prices are skyrocketing, and extra stops mean extra gas and time, I also think that we must be responsible in our consumption. I don't usually make extra stops JUST to recycle something - but it's so simple to just drop off an ink cartridge while I'm in Staples (sometimes they give me a $3 coupon when I do it), or drop off the plastic grocery bags at the grocery store entrance when I go in (some stores give you credit for reusing them).
Organization is important when running errands, it saves time and gas. We have a basic preset route that we take when running errands. Our "loop" is about 25 miles. We make each stop as we come to it. If planned properly this prevents backtracking and wasting gas and time retracing our path. We also try to make sure we have plenty of books and drinks so the children can still be doing something enjoyable and constructive.
The second step is to be thankful for the abundance that is brought to our attention while we're doing the errands. I would not need to go to the Salvation Army if we didn't have 3 beautiful healthy children who grow quickly and need new clothes regularly. Not to mention that the clothes they have are so durable that I can pass them on to someone else. I'm so blessed!! A lengthy grocery list reminds me that we live in a land of abundance and we can pick and chose what we like to eat, and an overflowing pile of grocery bags means that we are wealthy enough to have plenty of food on hand, even to such an extent that we regularly donate to the foodshelf. LIbrary books mean that we live in a free country where we can read what we please, and a wealthy country that can afford to have books available for FREE use. We are educated and can read those books. How much do YOU take for granted in your daily life.
Finally, I have the opportunity to consider what it would be like having to do everything for myself, and to be thankful for those things I don't have to do. We pay a neighbor to do most of our mending. I can do it myself but it's not a chore that I relish so I pay her a couple of dollars now and then to mend torn seams and add patches to my beloved's military uniforms. He is, by nature, a mechanic and a handyman - but I can imagine the joy of realizing that I don't have to figure out how to repair something myself. Not to mention the time I save by having someone else do it.
I watched Frontier House again last week and one thing that always strikes me is that people living in the 1800's didn't have to run errands, and their trips to the grocers were limited to a couple of times a year usually. How far we have come!! Or have we? They didn't have to run errands because they did their own mending, they fixed their own items. Outgrown items, were few and far between, and were probably passed on to someone close by when visiting, or recycled into other items. Broken or worn out tools were fixed, sharpened or refurbished. They made use of everything. They rarely went to the grocers because they raised everything they needed to survive. Our society has become so obsessed with disposable items... it's very sad. My husband is just starting to train his mind to think creatively about "junk". I frequently ask him "is that *really* trash or could it be fixed or recycled?" Even now, 5 years into my own journey away from overconsumption and waste, I am still drawn in by the ease of certain disposable items. I even bought some (deeply discounted...but still) disposable dishcloths. I have to admit... they're handy. But at what cost? I don't just mean dollars and cents.
We live in an unreal world where real effort is a thing of the past for most people. We are a society of thinkers, and even those who do "great things"... well just think about what we consider great things.
posted by Amber | 4/14/2006 09:06:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home