Waste Not, Want Not

Habits...we all have them, right? I just finished preparing my morning cup of coffee, with an added teaspoon of "mushroom coffee". Up until about 2 months ago, I had my coffee with the mushroom coffee additive purchased from www.weliveconscious.com. The taste had to be gotten used to. It wasn't my all time favorite, but it did seem to give this aging brain of mine a bit more clarity so that it could actually serve up words that I'd always known, but now have trouble getting them out my mouth.

Anyway...I decided to save a little money and use the new product my stand-by coffee has come up with. Lifeboost Coffee is the bomb. Seriously! Best coffee, even over my long love of Coffee Masters Highlander Grogg. They now have a mix of medium roast coffee with added Lions Mane and Chaga Mushrooms, called Cognition. And it is goooood! And, every dollar matters these days, right? So, because I have some left-over small canisters of the mushroom coffee that must be added to the regular coffee, I have started adding it to the Lifeboost Coffee that already has some mushrooms in it. Gotta use up what's left so it won't go to waste and eventually need tossed. If you understood what I just said, raise your hand. 

Actually, every dollar has ALWAYS mattered. And this is what brings me to the table this lovely, cool, Spring morning.

"Waste not, want not." One of Dad's favorite sayings. He had many, but this one was heard so often I don't think my brain will ever allow it to be deleted. I do believe it is why I save soooooo many things. Like CARDBOARD! Ugh! That's a totally different story. It's also why we live so frugally. 

But, I'm not alone in this. Dennis has shirts from the year he and Rusty (my nephew) went to Panama on a mission trip. The girls were small, so I'm thinking that was around 1986-87. Some 40 odd years ago. They still look great! If it's not thread bare, why replace it? 

Secret reveal: I threw a tee-shirt of his away (some many years ago), without telling him I was going to. It was a favorite of his. It was so fragile, it had tears in the shoulder seams, under the arms, and around the neck. It was basically a rag he shimmed over his head and wore proudly. It was comfortable, he said.

Side Note: I think there may be some left-over desire for not needing clothing that hails from the Biblical days of Adam and Eve. 

That particular shirt, I hated washing. He wouldn't let me throw it away. But since he had several....well...I thought I could get away with disposing of it while he was at work. I know. Pretty low of me. I totally didn't listen to that little voice inside my head that keeps saying, "Waste not, want not."

I still grieve over doing that. *wink *wink.

Be clean. Be a good steward of what you have. Take care of it and it will serve you for many a year. There is no shame in taking care of what one has.

Like our mode of transportation. We drive our vehicles until they leave us stranded by the roadside...several times. I'll never forget the party our bank had when I finally bought a new car. Going through the drive-through, my loan officer came to the window to congratulate me on the new purchase and to look it over. All the tellers, for as far as my eye could see, were cheering. 😂 "You deserve it, Mary!" That's what Cale said. Yep. We drive 'em until the wheels fall off. Waste not. Want not. The whole bank probably talked about the "old clunker Mary drives" while standing around the water cooler.

Being transparent here...I was becoming a little embarrassed driving into my business' parking lot. I felt it didn't match what a business owner should be driving. Yet..."Waste not, want not" kept flooding my brain. And it ruled over me. Thanks, Dad. 

Side Note: Two weeks later, while at my place of business, I get a call from D. "Hey. I'm stranded on Highway 43. Could you come get me?" So now...it was time to replace HIS worn out vehicle. And we did. Because we could. By never spending foolishly...

As one might suspect, there are many stories I could share along these lines. But today, it's about coffee, clothes, and vehicles. Only snippets, for sure.

As always, here you will find me...in Mary's World

P.S.

We learned frugality from our parents who went through the Great Depression of 1929-1939. Well, mine did, anyway. Mom was born in 1907; Dad in 1906. They married in 1925, and started a family. A family of 10 kids, plus one tragic pregnancy loss. The Great Depression lasted through 6 of my momma's pregnancies, and one loss. My parents used the land to provide vegetables and fruit...and raised chickens, cows, & pigs for protein sources. Yes...I came from a generation of survivors. Of truth tellers. Of hard workers. Of generous people. I am in awe of their resilience. 

Warriors

 

Most who have known me for any length of time will tell you I am a bit stand-offish. Hard to get to know. Opinionated (aren't we all)? They will say I keep to myself more than I join in. A loner, of sorts. 

Yet...I have been a business owner most of my adult life, where one must be approachable, kind, understanding, and welcoming. I suppose what others mean is that once the day has ended, I disappear. And they wouldn't be wrong. I've never felt that I "fit in". Never really wanted to. Even when attending important business training events (I've always loved learning new things), it was only for what I could absorb worthy of my profession, and...for experiencing humanity. I do love people and listening to their life's story. I do enjoy being where they are, for a time. I'm just not interested in large get-togethers. Ironically, that's where the people are. So, maybe I have some work still needing done. I think we're running out of time...

It's always been my opinion that it's easy to fit in, if one really wants to. What is hard, is to be who God created us to be, while in the mix of living life. We fight against being "different" while the pull inside is to bow our will to that of the Father's, so that we might become warriors for the kingdom. Warriors that are willing to follow Christ, without needed accolades and fear of opposition. 

We don't recognize it to be our life's calling until much later in life, unless we have been given permission, as a child, to listen to the rhythm of the heart, where warrior-hood was embedded while our form was being knit together inside our mother's womb. Unless we have been trained to wait patiently, as maturity grows from listening to the holy spirits call, we will become followers of whatever is popular at the moment.

'Tis true...the heart can be deceptive and lead us down a path of ease. It will tell us we can have whatever we want. And just like every lie, there is a thread of truth that runs throughout it. We CAN have whatever we want. We can have strength, or we can have passivity. We can follow the lessons taught by the greatest of all teachers, or we can follow the path that many travel. The easy way. The way of least confrontation, least resistance. We can "just go with the flow" or we can stand up for truth, welcoming the fight...the road less traveled. 

Something to remember: Warriors train for battle. Warriors prepare for loneliness. Warriors know there will be days of resistance. Want to become a warrior?

Then allow inner strength and growth to happen, never giving in to violence or selfishness. Selfishness is a broad term and has many faces. To be self-centered is to think of oneself only, rarely (if ever) acknowledging others needs beyond your own. It protects itself. Yet, warriors are purpose-driven, resilient, and disciplined every day. Continually improving by learning, and pushing beyond their limits. They deny the urge to give up when life becomes hard. And they are ever mindful of others needs beyond their own.

Being a warrior is about becoming the builder of our destiny, by embracing challenges as opportunities for growth, as we train our mind and body. Maintaining honor and integrity.

King Solomon reminded us that God appoints each moment, bringing a mix of joy and sorrow, life and death, with a divinely chosen purpose for each. But...while in the mix of life, we all have been given the choice to follow the path of least resistance (the road many choose), or the road less traveled; where battles must be fought to survive. Where becoming a warrior is necessary. We can travel whichever direction we choose. Just know they both have battles to be won...or lost. In this world, we will have problems, no matter which path we choose to walk. The difference will be between those of us who crumble under the weight, and those who see past the storm and forge ahead.

The question we must ask ourselves is, do we sit with folded hands, refusing to do battle for those we love? Or do we take up the sword of truth and do the spiritual warfare we have been asked to do? The path most often taken is one where truth has become murky. "There's more than one way to the Father," is one of the biggest deceptions out there. There's "your" truth (again a bit of truth in this lie...because we must choose), and then there is the ONLY truth. Which is knowing right from wrong. Something is either true, or it's false. Only one truth. And I think most of humanity knows where to find it.

Becoming a warrior is not for everyone. But it is for anyone...

As always, here you will find me...in Mary's World. 

#myjourneyamongtheunseen #lifeissues #theforgottenway #takeupyourcross