The Poor House

So as all of you who know us well know, Mark and I have been living in the proverbial "poor house" for quite some time now. Considering neither one of us is gainfully employed, it's no wonder this imaginary dwelling feels so much like home. And really, I can't believe it's been almost a year since I left my job at the bank to pursue my dream career of being a stay-at-home mom. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. Or maybe it just flies when all the days are the exact same as the one before. Or when there's so little sleep that you're not sure if a new day has started yet or not.

But back to the poor part of things. To be completely honest, there are days when I'd give anything to have a little bit of money to do certain things with. Such as have an exterminator come by the house. Or buy a replacement lamp for the one that Kolbe knocked down more than a year ago. (It no longer works but remains perched behind our arm chair for decoration.) But there are also days when I truly believe that going through this zero-income part of our lives is actually a wonderful thing. And I'm so glad that it's happening at the beginning of our marriage and lives as parents. The lessons we are learning now are the very building blocks we hope to build the foundation of our family on.

To me, what it all boils down to is sacrifice. From the get go, Mark and I asked ourselves how much we'd be willing to give up in order to raise our family the way we felt God was calling us to raise it. Without hesitation, we both agreed that we'd be willing to do anything in attempt to follow through with this enormous responsibility God has given us. And undoubtedly, there has been more than one occasion where He has forced us to live up to this commitment.

I think I've found that a lot of the things I think I need, I really don't. After all, they are just things. (Ok, the bug man coming out really would be nice...) Being "poor", I suppose, keeps me from indulging in things that really aren't necessary. And lets be honest here, Mark and I are actually rich compared to most of the rest of the world! And in these first few years of marriage and parenthood, not having plenty of money at our disposal has taught me how to be willing to give up what I want for what's best for our family. I certainly hope that in the years to come when we are making money and do have a little cash on hand, I will remember these years and rely on these lessons to continue the gift of sacrifice for our family. And hopefully teach our kids the value of the gift of sacrificial love!

And as an added bonus, not having much money has totally helped me hone my cheapskate, coupon clipping, bargain shopping skills. In fact, over the past two days, I managed to make my own laundry detergent from a recipe I got online. We'll see how well it works! It literally costs less that one tenth of the price to make this detergent than it does to buy the normal detergent found at the store. Even if we had the money, I think I'd have a hard time paying ten times as much for something I know I can make myself. I'll keep you posted...

(my stores of laundry detergent in the garage to last us through the winter!)