Generous living

In the midst of all my budgeting, I was inspired by Graham Cooke in his marvelous book, Prophetic Wisdom, to ask God a question.  Namely, what aspect of His character does He want to form in me through our budgeting experiences?  The main thing that came to mind was generosity.  Now, I like to be generous.  With my time and heart mostly, but also with things that I have that other people need.  I'm really good at selling stuff though, and enjoy it..  I have a really hard time giving money away and have been asking God to change my heart in that area.

I read a quote last night from David Platt's new book, Radical, that essentially talked about how when we stand before God to give account for how we lived our lives, God is probably not going to tell us that we gave away too much.  I think He's much more likely to say that we kept too much for ourselves.

That really made me stop and think...and I've been thinking about it all day.  That shift in perspective completely changes my motivation to give.  Now, I want to give to bless and please God, not because some religious system tells me I'm supposed to!   I want to hear Him about how to give and when to give, so that I'm giving in line with His heart and His purposes.  I'm excited to see what He does!

I'm also excited to see - and share - the fun ways God provides for us!  My most recent example:  we were blessed with a new bed this weekend and needed sheets to go on it.  Naturally.  I was not a fan of the $45 sets at Target, but hadn't found them any cheaper!   (We don't have a Sam's/Costco card).  On the clearance rack, I found one set that was marked down to $30, and then marked down again to $11.24!  I think God put them there just for me.  =)

~Oh, and I haven't forgotten Selah's 7 month post.  I know you want to see pics!  I just keep forgetting to take pictures while she's awake!!  A few fun Selah achievements - she's scooting!!  And spinning around (slowly) in circles on her tummy.  Crawling is coming!  She is thinking about locomotion too - she was making distinct efforts today to get to me when I was too far away (in her opinion. =))  She's also eating bananas almost by the bushel!  This little girl can polish off an entire banana (pureed of course) in one sitting.   I picked up some more fun food for her tonight - avocado, sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, and peaches.  Yum!