April = No T.V. (an update on “Seasons of Sacrifice”)

I haven’t blogged about our Seasons of Sacrifice lately… so here is a quick update. 

January was our complete spending fast (no spending at all except for gas groceries and bills).  Compared to what I remember of it last year, this year it was surprisingly refreshing.  In a strange way, it was freeing to know we could not spend money.  The hardest part for me, by far, was not eating out at all.  Not because I was dying for fast food or to go to a restaurant, but because of the work that it took to plan every meal ahead of time and make sure we always had groceries on hand.  Although it was actually good to get in the habit of planning all the week’s meals out, there were nights when the last thing I wanted to do was to scrounge around the cabinets & fridge looking for items that could somehow magically transform into a meal.  All in all though, it was great.  We enjoyed many nights of having friends over rather than going out.  We were also reminded of how many fun things are free (friendship, playing games, the great outdoors, tickle fights…)!

In February our focus was on slimming down/cleaning out/getting rid of excess.  Hope chests, closets, drawers, attics, pantries, desks and cabinets were cleaned out and we had one whopper of a garage sale!  It felt really good to get rid of rarely used things that were occupying precious space in our house.  We also got a kick out of seeing perfect strangers buy our objects they couldn’t live without.  In February I also begun a new workout regimen (thanks Diane!) to personally begin slimming down or at least toning up.  And in March we enjoyed focusing on giving & tithing creatively.

Now it is April, and we are fasting from the T.V.!  This will coincide with national T.V. turnoff week which is April 21-27.  If you want to join us for that week or for the whole month…. please comment and let us know how it’s going for you.  We have determined that going out to a movie theater is okay (besides we usually do that only 0-1 times a month anyway), and that for the sake of my sanity- Jackson can watch 1 video a day.  When we originally came up with this plan at the beginning of the year, we chose April because that was when the national T.V. turnoff week was.  Little did we know it would also be when American Idol was in full swing and during the premiere of Hell’s Kitchen !!!  But then I suppose if there were nothing good on, then it wouldn’t be a sacrifice, now would it? 

Getting out of the house (for free!)

Well, I was home sick this weekend with a nasty cold or flu (whatever gives you a drippy nose, coughs, aches and asthma).  That, coupled with our January spending fast, equaled feeling very cooped up!  So we planned a Saturday excursion to get out of the house and have a picnic at the Fullerton Arboretum.  I packed a lunch for the 3 of us (and tons of kleenex) and we headed out.  It was actually quite nice to be in the sunshine.   

My boys enjoying the picnic (especially the blueberries)!  

Impromtu hug…

 Jackson enjoying the house of leaves in the Childrens Garden

I loved the contrast of the fall pumpkins with the spring flowers pushing up out of the ground.

On Sunday I was still way under the weather, so we stayed home from church and I tried to rest and sleep for some of the day.  By Sunday evening I was feeling a little better, so we were able to drop Jackson off at our good friends’ house and go see the (free) Phil Wickham concert at Kingsfield Church in Irvine.  Mighty good soul food, mighty good!

Seasons of Sacrifice

     

Some of you know that every year for the past 3 years, our family has done a “spending fast” during the month of January.  Each year we have experienced so many positive outcomes, and we have taken away so much more than we actually have given up.  So this year we decided to make the “season of sacrifice” last the whole year through, by assigning a different sacrifice to each month.

I have been stirred by several articles on the “attitude of entitlement” that is permeating our culture, especially in ours and younger generations.  (And I know that I fall prey to this too often as well.) For us, the purpose of these sacrifices is to become more thankful for the overflowing blessings that we do have and to shift our focus to the most important things in life.  Just as in any type of fast, when we feel the inconvenience of our sacrifice, we hope it will turn our thoughts to Christ and the sacrifice He made for us. 

Click here to see the actual calendar.  We invite you to join in and do it along with us.  Feel free to make your own versions as well (and even to begin in February after the complete spending fast is over.)  But most of all, if you choose to accept this challenge- please leave us comments on the calendar page to let us know how it is going for you.  It will be fun to dialogue and support each other over the course of the year!