{"id":1300,"date":"2011-08-03T05:04:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T09:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2011-08-02T22:12:12","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T02:12:12","slug":"living-on-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/living-on-less.html","title":{"rendered":"Living on less"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>After checking my on-line bank account for the fifth time that day, I decided that I’d eat lunch at my favorite place, my own kitchen.\u00a0 It seems that whether I’m planning an excursion or simply working in my home office, I’ve been\u00a0constantly aware\u00a0that I’m living on much\u00a0less income than a few months ago.<\/p>\n

Yet, several things have happened that have worked to alter my mind-set.\u00a0 The first is that there seemed to be more cash left at the bottom line of my account than I’d planned.\u00a0When my husband died in May, I had taken care of almost all our financial concerns beforehand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, part of the unnerving for me is not knowing exactly<\/strong> where I stand in regard to finances.\u00a0 While I’ve put on paper about a hundred times in the past year, my income and expenses, some odd-ball contingency seems to bubble up from the nether lands and wreck my bottom line.<\/p>\n

In addition, several of our Special Gathering members have lost their parents suddenly. Another\u00a0man lost his house and has\u00a0been moved by his guardians.\u00a0 They are facing different circumstances.\u00a0 My heart has been burdened for them as they struggle to live with less love and care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, after eating my in-kitchen lunch and finishing my work,\u00a0another mind-altering event happened.\u00a0 I decided that I needed a new short-sleeve jacket to wear to work.\u00a0 I had several but summer clothes seem to show wear more quickly than winter garb.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I drove to my favorite department store.\u00a0 As I parked the car, I clearly felt the Lord spoke to my heart, “You should spend $50 on clothes.” Naturally, I assumed that God was putting a limit on the amount I could spend.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Walking up to the outdoor sale rack, I saw the very jacket I wanted hanging on the rack.\u00a0 There were, in fact, an entire rack of jackets in my size.\u00a0 To my surprise,\u00a0the rack was topped with a\u00a0bold hand-printed sign that read, “Everything $2.”\u00a0\u00a0There were several $100 jackets in my size.\u00a0 Knowing that I could give away anything that didn’t fit or that wasn’t needed, I piled my cart full.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside the store, I found the matching pants, marked $2.\u00a0 There were other articles of clothing that I’d wanted for years but felt I couldn’t afford, all $2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I went to the cashier, “Are these really $2?”<\/p>\n

“Yep, I marked them myself last night.\u00a0 I wanted to get some for me but when I came in this morning, everything my size was gone.”<\/p>\n

I had not counted the items but when the register completed my ticket, I had spent $50 on clothes.\u00a0 I gathered up my items and exited the store, mentally adding up my discount.\u00a0 I had $1,088 in clothes for that $50.<\/p>\n

Softly, the Lord said, “Don’t worry about living on less for you or your members.\u00a0 When trusting me, less is more.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I headed to my favorite place to eat and prepared myself a tuna sandwich on whole-wheat bread\u00a0with lettuce and tomato.\u00a0Munching on my supper, I\u00a0thanked God for his bountiful provision\u00a0as I\u00a0\u00a0tried on my new “Less is More Wardrobe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After checking my on-line bank account for the fifth time that day, I decided that I’d eat lunch at my favorite place, my own kitchen.\u00a0 It seems that whether I’m planning an excursion or simply working in my home office, I’ve been\u00a0constantly aware\u00a0that I’m living on much\u00a0less income than a few months ago. Yet, several…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,85,12,4],"tags":[690,688,7,231,701,694,689,57,6],"class_list":["post-1300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-gods-provision","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-prayer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nLiving on less - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/living-on-less.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Living on less - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After checking my on-line bank account for the fifth time that day, I decided that I’d eat lunch at my favorite place, my own kitchen.\u00a0 It seems that whether I’m planning an excursion or simply working in my home office, I’ve been\u00a0constantly aware\u00a0that I’m living on much\u00a0less income than a few months ago. 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