In a tough economy, one thing that usually gets overlooked is new clothes. And the way your child grows and puts wear & tear on the ones they do have, it's hard to keep up. There's only so much that we can do to keep them at their best. Here is something that we do at our house to help relieve the stress of spending money, especially money that you may not have.
We have 2 children, a 10 year old boy & a 1 year old girl. Every 3-4 months for our son & every 1-2 months for our daughter, we have a sorting party. We sort through all their clothes & separate out the ones that don't fit anymore. (It also lets me make a mental checklist of their clothing inventory.) Out of the clothes they've outgrown, we sort them into ones that are in good or excellent condition. Those that fall into the "good & excellent" category, we sell on craigslist or ebay. All the money received goes into savings & once everything is sold that we can, we use that money to reinvest in new clothes. All the clothes that haven't been sold, we donate to Goodwill.
It's a simple recycling program to help your budget. If you want to stretch your money even further, look for killer deals on craigslist & ebay, instead of buying retail. You might be paying it forward for someone else's budget too.
All this buying & selling frenzy can help stimulate the economy!
Happy Shopping!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The workings of God
I am never surprised by the way God works in our lives & for our lives!
I have a little story to share & I hope that you are able to take something away from it after reading.
A close friend of our cousin Alicia, Brandon, recently passed away. He was 22 years old & it was his 2nd battle with cancer. I had met Brandon twice in passing, at Alicia's parents house. My personal exposure to him was probably 10-15 minutes at the most. When Brandon got sick this 2nd time, we'd get progress updates from Alicia & her mom, Shelley. Even though we didn't have a face-to-face relationship with him, we were still connected through Alicia.
When the 2nd round of treatments were unsuccessful, he made the decision not to move forward with a 3rd. When we were told this, my heart became heavy with sadness.
The month before Brandon's passing, Alicia was able to fly to Arizona twice to visit with him. On her last trip home from Arizona, she flew home on Monday 10/13 & arrived about noonish. Brandon waited for his parents to arrive & passed away shortly before 1am on 10/14. When Aunt Shelley informed us of the news via text message, I was heartbroken.
My 1st thought was that I just wanted to hug Alicia & cry with her. My 2nd thought was that no parent should ever have to bury their child. My 3rd thought was that he was less than a year younger than Skip was when he was diagnosed with cancer. My 4th thought was that he was taken too soon & that he had barely lived his life. The night of his memorial service, my 4th thought changed dramatically.
Here was a young man, who had accomplished what he was set here on this earth to do. Unfortunately, he had to pass away in order to do this. At his memorial service was over 200 people in attendance, the service lasted 2 1/2 hours & at least 20 people accepted Jesus into their hearts! It was amazing & awe inspiring the outpouring of love in this short window of time!
During the memorial service, Brandon's spiritual leader & pastor, Pastor Chad Johnson, shared with us that during one of their last meetings together, Brandon had asked for a church service. Brandon was ON FIRE for God & wanted everyone in attendance to feel that same way. It was EXACTLY what Brandon wanted & Pastor Chad delivered!!
I was awestruck at the power of this young man's life- that he was able to bring together over 200 people, where most of them had never met or only had heard of each other, and allowed them to fellowship in a way that could never be duplicated. And the awesomeness that for some, it may have been their first real exposure to Jesus & the magnitude of His love.
Brandon has inspired me to strengthen my love even more for Jesus, to remember to dedicate time each day to fellowship with the Lord, to step out in faith & remember that I can do it, even if it means doing it afraid. He lived his life with tenacity, fight, ferocity & joy, even until the very end!
Brandon Hendrick has changed my life forever!
It's amazing what 15 minutes can do!
How can 15 minutes change your life today??
I have a little story to share & I hope that you are able to take something away from it after reading.
A close friend of our cousin Alicia, Brandon, recently passed away. He was 22 years old & it was his 2nd battle with cancer. I had met Brandon twice in passing, at Alicia's parents house. My personal exposure to him was probably 10-15 minutes at the most. When Brandon got sick this 2nd time, we'd get progress updates from Alicia & her mom, Shelley. Even though we didn't have a face-to-face relationship with him, we were still connected through Alicia.
When the 2nd round of treatments were unsuccessful, he made the decision not to move forward with a 3rd. When we were told this, my heart became heavy with sadness.
The month before Brandon's passing, Alicia was able to fly to Arizona twice to visit with him. On her last trip home from Arizona, she flew home on Monday 10/13 & arrived about noonish. Brandon waited for his parents to arrive & passed away shortly before 1am on 10/14. When Aunt Shelley informed us of the news via text message, I was heartbroken.
My 1st thought was that I just wanted to hug Alicia & cry with her. My 2nd thought was that no parent should ever have to bury their child. My 3rd thought was that he was less than a year younger than Skip was when he was diagnosed with cancer. My 4th thought was that he was taken too soon & that he had barely lived his life. The night of his memorial service, my 4th thought changed dramatically.
Here was a young man, who had accomplished what he was set here on this earth to do. Unfortunately, he had to pass away in order to do this. At his memorial service was over 200 people in attendance, the service lasted 2 1/2 hours & at least 20 people accepted Jesus into their hearts! It was amazing & awe inspiring the outpouring of love in this short window of time!
During the memorial service, Brandon's spiritual leader & pastor, Pastor Chad Johnson, shared with us that during one of their last meetings together, Brandon had asked for a church service. Brandon was ON FIRE for God & wanted everyone in attendance to feel that same way. It was EXACTLY what Brandon wanted & Pastor Chad delivered!!
I was awestruck at the power of this young man's life- that he was able to bring together over 200 people, where most of them had never met or only had heard of each other, and allowed them to fellowship in a way that could never be duplicated. And the awesomeness that for some, it may have been their first real exposure to Jesus & the magnitude of His love.
Brandon has inspired me to strengthen my love even more for Jesus, to remember to dedicate time each day to fellowship with the Lord, to step out in faith & remember that I can do it, even if it means doing it afraid. He lived his life with tenacity, fight, ferocity & joy, even until the very end!
Brandon Hendrick has changed my life forever!
It's amazing what 15 minutes can do!
How can 15 minutes change your life today??
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