penny-pinching

When it comes to money (especially as we're still in student mode), I've decided I need to adopt 3 attitudes:

1) Contentment - with what we do have and can afford

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble mans, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:11-13)

2) Creativity - in saving money and creating beauty on a budget

"She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She senses her gain in good; her lamp does not go out at night." (Proverbs 31:13, 17-18)

3) Commitment - to pay off before we spend more

"The borrower becomes the lender's slave." (Proverbs 22:7)

All the days of the afflicted are bad,

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
Than great treasure and turmoil without it.

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is

Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

(Proverbs 15:15-17)

in my wildest dreams

The house is peaceful and I pretend to have no thesis to write. It is the middle of the night. I couldn’t put my mind to sleep, so I got up to wander. The cat sleeps on the couch, there are music books open on the piano, soft lamplight shows books and laundry draped over various pieces of furniture. There are nice things here, beautiful things that I love - artwork and our wedding album, thoughtful gifts, our instruments, shelves filled with pages of treasure, a clock ticking. The breeze is finally cool by the window, and if I don’t think too far ahead, I am perfectly content. I love our apartment, our life together.

In rare moments I have time to enjoy these things without feeling guilty, or panicked over summarizing the next chapter of Pentecostal ecclesiology. I am eagerly anticipating life post-thesis, when the wonderful world of free time and unfettered thought will once again be opened. I’m sure I will be busy with a myriad of things, perhaps even a real job that makes me real money, but it is the brain space I can’t wait for most of all.

My wildest dreams these days look something like this - spending an evening doing the dishes, then leisurely playing the piano or learning some new chords on the guitar, going for a long walk with Micah under the trees and stars, thinking about rearranging a cupboard, reading a novel till I fall asleep... it’s all so mundane and marvelous. I really am a simple person at heart. Life will be a little more simple come September, and when the leaves begin to change I will trade my academics in for a good ol’ romp in the woods.