And now, a break from our regularly scheduled programming...

...to talk about the economy.

Just kidding... sort of.

This is a topic I have been thinking about for a while, but after visiting a few blogs sites yesterday, I thought I would write about it.

This year, Jordan and I have learned a lot about finances, contentment, and God's provision. In May, I discovered a whole world of "frugal bloggers" who encourage their readers to live joyfully and thankfully on the income God has given them, while using deals and sales to make the most of their money. With knowledge gained from these sites, I have been able to spend considerably less on groceries. This has helped, but the best part was learning how to happily make do with less. I used to wish I could just go to the store and pay full price for what we needed, rather than having to shop all over the place for a deal, but now I am much more content in the realization that God will provide exactly what we need. I don't need to worry about it - I just need to trust Him. If I have to check sales online before heading out to the store, and this takes more time, then so what! I can be thankful that we even have the money to make decisions with! This year, Jordan and I decided not to buy gifts for each other for Christmas since we have several medical expenses coming up that we are saving for, and it really didn't even matter. In the past, this probably would have bothered me, but this year it was no big deal. I realized that I could feel sorry for us, or I could focus on the fact that a lot of people would give everything they have to get what we have - a happy marriage, a nice house, two beautiful boys, another one on the way...

Yesterday, I was cleaning out my list of blogs that I read, and I clicked on a couple that I haven't read in a long time. The first one was talking about how scared she was about the economy, and how she is looking into buying a wood burning stove and growing all their own food so that they won't have to rely on anyone else. The second was talking about putting 3 months of food into storage for a time when they might need it. This project is taking great time and effort. Now, the whole point of being frugal is buying things when they are at their lowest price to save them for later, but it can quickly be taken to the extreme of trusting in the stockpile rather than trusting in God.

Is God any less in control now that the economy doesn't look good? I am all for planning ahead, but I don't want to make that my security. My pantry could catch fire and my whole stockpile could be lost. Something could happen that would require us to clean out the savings account that we have been working so hard on this year. God is the one who knows exactly what will happen in the future, and not only does He know, but He is in control of every detail! If He provided manna in the desert for the nation of Israel, then He can certainly provide for us during an economic downturn. Now, this doesn't mean that there won't be difficult times ahead, but difficult times are quite good for us anyway... hardship strips us of our trust in ourselves and help us see how fully we rely on God.