Sunday, September 16, 2012
Simplicity Avowed: Accect the SNAP Challenge
Simplicity Avowed: Accect the SNAP Challenge: A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I accepted the SNAP Challenge for 7 days. Actually, SNAP is an acronym for, Supplemental Nutrition Ass...
Accect the SNAP Challenge
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I accepted the SNAP Challenge for 7 days. Actually, SNAP is an acronym for, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the new name for what most of us call food stamps. The SNAP Challenge is based upon a $4.00/day/person food budget, the amount a person receives who receives food stamps. The purpose of the Challenge is to learn firsthand the choices one must make to stretch the food dollar and gain empathy for families using government food programs. I plan on learning more about food assistance, who qualifies and who is making use of the program. This is what we learned from our week of the SNAP Challenge.
Living on a limited food income definitely impacted our social life. I was invited to join a small group for a Chinese buffet but needed to decline because I could not afford the cost of the buffet. We hoped to invite guests over for a meal during the week and rethought those plans since our budget did not accommodate feeding guests.
Sometimes, having a limited budget actually forced us to spend more for items than we normally would. For example, we cut soda from our grocery list. Diet Coke is a luxury I found difficult to life without so instead of buying the economy size, I purchased Diet Coke at machines for 75 cents, more than double the cost of Coke in a 24 pack. At church, we have soda readily available. It was tempting to indulge while there. Another example of difficulty taking advantage of bargains is that coupons advertised the requirement of buying ten items in order to receive a discount. We didn’t need ten items in one week and buying them meant going without something else. Since we live in a small town we already pay more for groceries than folks in a larger city because the stores cannot offer large volume discounts.
The biggest sacrifice of eating within a $4.00/day budget was nutrition. Fresh fruits and vegetables were prohibitively expensive even during this time of the year when they are plentiful. We finally bought a package of grapes which lasted the week. Alan was given sweet corn by a farmer he was visiting. My husband eats meat while I am a vegetarian. He did get a pound of meat, but that is all. That probably was a health benefit for him.
Some good habits did come from this week. One big advantage of living this way for a week was that we recognized how much food we normally waste. Since our intake depended upon the food purchased that week, we literally ate all of it. It was not necessary to clean out the grungies from the refrigerator as I normally do. We also made food from raw materials instead of purchasing ready made products. I made bread. Alan made his lunch.
Overall, we came to appreciate food much more. We have been blessed with plenty and give thanks for that. Wasting food is certainly not an appropriate way to express gratitude to our Lord for this bounty. We already decided to practice the SNAP Challenge again during Advent and Lent being aware that for many people, $4.00/day is not a choice, it is a necessity.
Living on a limited food income definitely impacted our social life. I was invited to join a small group for a Chinese buffet but needed to decline because I could not afford the cost of the buffet. We hoped to invite guests over for a meal during the week and rethought those plans since our budget did not accommodate feeding guests.
Sometimes, having a limited budget actually forced us to spend more for items than we normally would. For example, we cut soda from our grocery list. Diet Coke is a luxury I found difficult to life without so instead of buying the economy size, I purchased Diet Coke at machines for 75 cents, more than double the cost of Coke in a 24 pack. At church, we have soda readily available. It was tempting to indulge while there. Another example of difficulty taking advantage of bargains is that coupons advertised the requirement of buying ten items in order to receive a discount. We didn’t need ten items in one week and buying them meant going without something else. Since we live in a small town we already pay more for groceries than folks in a larger city because the stores cannot offer large volume discounts.
The biggest sacrifice of eating within a $4.00/day budget was nutrition. Fresh fruits and vegetables were prohibitively expensive even during this time of the year when they are plentiful. We finally bought a package of grapes which lasted the week. Alan was given sweet corn by a farmer he was visiting. My husband eats meat while I am a vegetarian. He did get a pound of meat, but that is all. That probably was a health benefit for him.
Some good habits did come from this week. One big advantage of living this way for a week was that we recognized how much food we normally waste. Since our intake depended upon the food purchased that week, we literally ate all of it. It was not necessary to clean out the grungies from the refrigerator as I normally do. We also made food from raw materials instead of purchasing ready made products. I made bread. Alan made his lunch.
Overall, we came to appreciate food much more. We have been blessed with plenty and give thanks for that. Wasting food is certainly not an appropriate way to express gratitude to our Lord for this bounty. We already decided to practice the SNAP Challenge again during Advent and Lent being aware that for many people, $4.00/day is not a choice, it is a necessity.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Watch My Tongue
Psalm 39:1 I said, "I will keep watch upon my ways,*
so that I do not offend with my tongue."
Life would certainly be much simpler if I paid closer attention to my tongue. I am capable of sticking my foot in my mouth with the best of them. I am learning gradually to keep holy silence. There is a time to speak up and a time to keep quiet, may the Lord help me know the difference. I pray that my words may only speak love.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Change the Plan, Trust in God
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you; * (Psalm 25:1a)
One of the factors that complicates my life is my lack of trust in people, and for that matter, myself. What I mean by this is that when I am counting on someone to follow through in some way, and it doesn't happen, it complicates my life. For example, a repair person says that she will be coming on a certain day and I must be home while that person is working. Then, the person doesn't show up. Of course, I have done and do the same thing to others, never intentionally, but it still happens.
I've learned to "go with the flow." If plans change unexpectedly, make the best of it. Plan for the plan to change. I forgive the untrustworthy person, just as I want to be forgiven for the times of my untrustworthiness.
The simple fact is that only God is trustworthy. I put my trust in God's word. Anything else is not worth the time and effort to fret about it. God is in charge, for that I am thankful.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Cares of the World
Matthew 13: 22 "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing."
Lately, the cares of the world have demanded a great deal of attention making life very complicated. Not only that, they literally are thorns in my side that cause pain and distract me from my prayer life of peace and assurance. Without a doubt, the world is a demanding, self important place. As a matter of fact, it is like a disobedient two-year old having a temper tantrum screaming, "Mine. Mine. No. No. Now. Now."
Shush little world. It's time to go for a walk and talk with God for a bit. Now that will be fruitful! The bills will wait. This beautiful day that the Lord has made will not wait.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Helping Hurting People
Simple Presence: With so much pain in the world one might feel helpless in trying to relieve the suffering. It's true that there is only so much one person can do, but I am one person and my simple presence does make a difference.
Last week, while walking to a Fargo Starbucks, I prayed that God use me for whatever came up there. Since I was serious in this request and God was serious in hearing me, I was prepared for a worst case scenario such as a robbery or a lunatic gunman. But, all was quiet at the coffee shop while I prayed and read the Bible.
After getting my second cup of coffee, a gentleman made eye contact and said, "Hello." That was all it took to begin a serious discussion about faith. This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
In summary, we are able to help others by simply talking with God, saying that we are ready for direction and know that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. After that, it becomes God's doing.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Company's Coming
Being a summer that kept us running from work to home, from home to Fargo, and home to WI, MN and MT there just wasn't much time left over for summer projects or entertaining. But, don't let me fool you. The main reason we didn't have time for company is because we didn't have sufficient time to plan and prepare an excellent dinner or a shiny clean home.
Today we had 2 good friends over, Stacy and her daughter, Darian. The house was not shiny clean, so what, Alan prepared excellent foil dinners. It was good enough for us to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather and walk to the lake. I hope that they come more often.
Today we had 2 good friends over, Stacy and her daughter, Darian. The house was not shiny clean, so what, Alan prepared excellent foil dinners. It was good enough for us to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather and walk to the lake. I hope that they come more often.
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