I have not posted anything on this website for a LONG TIME. My excuse is twofold: We’ve been very busy and there are lots of blogs and websites on how to save money. However, with what is going on in our world and especially our country, I believe there can’t be too many sources, so I am catching up – somewhat.
This particular post probably should have been done a year or so ago when everyone was in COVID lockdown because so many people who never had time on their hands before all of a sudden did. We continued to be very busy throughout that time with many different ministry projects, but there has been a slight change for me. Because of COVID and decreased finances, I am not traveling as much. My husband resumed his travel schedule as soon as possible and this year has been super heavy. The last time I went with him, COVID tests were still required to be able to come back to the states and I had a false positive. I knew I wasn’t sick. I’d had COVID before and I didn’t have it then. Thankfully, our flight was not for another day and I had a chance to take it again and it showed what it should have the first time. I didn’t have COVID and I was able to leave the country. However, the financial situation has not changed so we are really trying to be good stewards with our financial resources and I am now staying home much more – I actually haven’t traveled since that false positive test. I didn’t want that to happen again.
So, I have tried to make my time at home productive. One thing I have desperately wanted to learn in the last few years is gardening – all kinds of gardening. I have had friends and neighbors share their cuttings and expertise with me and I have planted a few flower beds here and there. I have discovered everything is an experiment. Even when plants are supposed to grow in your region – we live in zone 8 – they don’t always come through. We have really bad soil, but some things have done wonderfully well even when I didn’t mix in compost or garden soil and just plugged the starters or put the seed in the ground. Others have done miserably even when I spent the money to add everything suggested. So I’ll keep experimenting.
I now have a earnest desire to learn to grow my own vegetables. With no gardening history or expertise (no one in my family was a gardener) and with no experience – we lived most of our married lives in cities or towns and I didn’t have much space, at a somewhat advanced age, I am starting from scratch. So, what I want to share with you is that I believe anyone can learn and I am determined to do so. I have also discovered a wealth of information online, but one particular source is information dense and easy to understand and that is the YouTube channel of Roots and Refuge Farm. Jess, who does the videos, suggests that we should learn a new skill, like gardening, in any waiting time. Since I don’t have time to waste, once I discovered that channel (and now have the ability to stream!!), I am devouring everything on that site.
I don’t want to waste my down time. I am a steward of it just as I am everything else. If stewardship (the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care) is your guiding force, your time will not be wasted.
I firmly believe that was the principle our Lord Jesus lived by and gave an example of why I believe this in the last post on my other site. You can find it here: https://onefocusministries.com/2022/10/25/the-bread-that-jesus-gives/
Stretch Your Money 