God's Unexpected Blessings (So Far) in September

It's amazing to think that we only have another week of September left, isn't it? Where does the time go? It struck me this weekend, that even though we've had to drastically trim our budget in so many ways this fall, we've been so very, very blessed. God has truly provided above and beyond anything we could have asked or wanted. Here's a snippet:

  • Free laundry detergent! My folks needed powder detergent for a trip overseas and since they couldn't find the trial size, they bought the biggest box, put some in clearly labeled ziploc baggies and gave us the rest.
  • Free Grapes and Apples! We had company this weekend and they brought us home-grown apples and grapes as a hostess gift. I didn't have as much fruit in the house as I wanted, so this is wonderful!
  • Free doll house! A house near our daycare lady's house had a huge doll house in the front yard with a "Free" sign attached. So we stopped and picked it up! It's not in the best shape but we stuck it on the patio and the kids are having a great time playing with it!
  • Free craft supplies! A relative is cleaning out her house for sale and sent us a big box of stuff. Most of it was scrapbooking supplies - paper, stickers, die cuts, etc. I was SO excited! I had had a few projects I wasn't working on since I didn't have the 'right' stuff - printed paper or (mostly) plain card stock. I had enough to send some with the company from this weekend (who is an avid card maker), keep some for myself and set some aside to sell on eBay or Craigslist! Whoo hoo!
  • Time to clean out and take stock! This was probably the biggest blessing of the month. I had a day when I was feeling well and at home with no school work to do. So, I totally cleaned out the kitchen and the guest room. I found a bunch of stuff to give away and sell, and I was able to reuse some things we had in other places of the house. I was also able to go through the kids out of season clothes (which I keep in the guest room) and realized I only have to buy Missy a winter coat, hat and mittens and Buddy only needs pants, a winter coat, hat, mittens and boots! Whoo hoo! I would have bought them WAY more than that.

I'm always amazed at the way God works in our lives and I feel so blessed that we have so much! I'm grateful for all we have and all that 'magically' appears in our lives, by God's grace.

What has He blessed you with lately?

Popular posts from this blog

Frugal Friday - The End of 2016

Image
Another spectacular sunrise - we were so very spoiled by these this year!  I enjoyed every one of them! Nothing like completely forgetting I had a blog for month, right?  I didn't forget about everyone - I promise.   December ended up being ridiculously busy and very spare moment was spent with family and friends and on grading, as the term ended not that long ago.    My parents were visiting for 3 weeks (they returned home to sunny and slightly warmer Texas yesterday) and the children had their Sunday school program, their school Christmas program, and a school fun-day to end the term and John had 3 funerals and two graveside burials.  Then there's always the rush of Christmas and all the services that comes with being a Pastor's family.  I am very, very ready for a quiet start to the new year! I have some New Year's posts already planned and partially written, so look for those next week.  In the meantime, here are som...
Read more

Menu Plan Monday - Week of January 17, 2021

Image
Peas from my garden last summer.  We are cold and snowy with a lot of ice right now!  Not my favorite weather.  So, to cheer myself up I am starting to plan my garden for next summer!  I am hoping that I will be able to grow at least enough tomatoes and cutting flowers for both my parents (who are moving 1 1/2 blocks away from us in about 2 months - hurray!) and our house as well.   I am so grateful that we have 1/5 acre lot for our home that we can grow vegetables flowers and (currently) a single tree.  It makes me so happy and provides some very fresh produce for our family.  I love the physical act of gardening, both flowers and vegetables, and I love the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.  A win-win in my book for sure! The name of the game this week is to eat up as much of the fresh stuff as we can so it's easy to move the refrigerator downstairs for our remodel.  They start knocking out walls and cutting holes in the outsid...
Read more

Menu Plan Monday and a Little Shopping

Image
Our CSA boxes have looked pretty much like this the last two weeks - though in varying amounts and this last week we got green onions too.  Here we have in the front row: Broccoli, raspberries, green & purple beans, and peas.  Back Row: Lettuce, cucumbers, cauliflower, a mutant cross between a zucchini and a patty pan squash, green and purple kohlrabi and a clove of garlic.  We'll see what we get this week!  I blanched and froze the peas since we have a ton of those and we can't seem to eat through them fast enough.  I have a whole head of cabbage leftover from a few weeks ago in the crisper drawer too.  Two weeks ago we got 5lbs of cherries - they're all gone now (I was hoping to freeze some) having been eaten by my parents and my children!  I can't eat cherries so I was okay with that! I went to the store this weekend with a gift card and spend $22 on milk, peaches, apples, carrots (those aren't ready yet in the garden) and some fr...
Read more