Happy New Year all! This is alice here. Just a quick note this morning to let you know I'm here! We are just now saying good-bye to many family members and moving into recovery mode after a whirlwind holiday week of eating, laughing, racing around and celebrating Christ and family. Laura and family are flying in today from Phoenix. She'll write more soon, too.
I will post a bit more this afternoon ... but wanted to say "Welcome!" to all who are planning to participate in any way with us.
One thought I had this morning was that the Old Testament models a beautiful picture of both "feasting" and "fasting" that could be really helpful to us. I think God loves it when His people celebrate ... and He advocates doing so with food and music and loud celebration! He is a good God and it is good to honor Him with excitement and celebration! Hopefully, that is what most of us have just done.
But He does not advocate a lifestyle of overconsumption, celebration and partying every day! He advocates concern for others, care of the poor and the lonely, moderation of consumption for the sake of others, etc. In the Old Testament I think we see a beautiful picture of a life of both fasting and feasting to honor God.
So, I see this next month as a beautiful opportunity to move from a time of God-honoring feasting to one of God-honoring fasting. May both of these phases of life bring a smile to the face of our God. And may this next phase bring a smile to our faces, as well. I don't know about you, but I am ready to move out of the feasting mode and into the fasting mode!
I'll write more this afternoon about what this next week might look like at our house. Until then, I'm off to offer a hearty farewell to my sister and her five kids and my brother and his two kids. It's been a great week to be together.
Welcome all. I look forward to the things God will teach us as we experiment together!
alice
ps. Will just came to me to ask me to put some special things on my next grocery list! How funny is that? He wants "celery, dark molasses, clams and canned chili." Says they are good for his new running career. Won't he and I have a good talk about what constitutes a "necessity" this afternoon? I'm smiling as I write this ...
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2 comments:
Hi! The Fuchtmans are in.
Here's our plan:
We set a grocery budget, decided to buy nothing new (outside of our groceries), and will limit our going out to already-planned group events (and we will cut back on what we order... salad & water, tea, etc.).
We also set a gas budget... I think that will be tough (more planning ahead, etc.).
We're cleaning out our living spaces and taking stuff to Goodwill so we have more room to hang out at home.
Also, we decided to use old newspapers instead of diapers for our kids. Just kidding.
It is so good to tackle this with you all! We're excited to see where this takes us.
Blessings to you!
Heidi and Andy
Heidi and Andy -
Awesome. Glad you are in. Your ideas sound really good. I will be intrigued with how the gas budget goes.
We've already had interesting discussion with our kids. For instance, Hannah said, "Can we still exchange the winter coat you bought me for Christmas for a different one?" Tracy asked, "Can I use the gift cards I got for Christmas?" Will said, "Can I stop doing homework for simplicity's sake?"
We talked alot about legalism and the real purpose behind the month ... and let them decide how they would like to answer their own questions. It will be interesting to try to keep Love of God and Love of neighbor as the highest priority, rather than simply focusing on what we do or do not purchase or give away ...
More later. Until then, fight the good fight.
alice
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