This week's topic was the fifth "P", provider. This is one of the areas I have totally reevaluated in the last few months and continue to assess. Since I began to stay at home full time I have realized a lot of things about being a good steward of our family resources. The biggest thing I have had to overhaul is how we spend our money, especially since there isn't much of that coming in lately. We pretty much went from spending whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, to being on a pretty tight budget. Curiously enough I have found this to be less restrictive than I thought it would be. It feels more like a challenge than a hardship, if that makes any sense, and I actually kind of enjoy trying to figure out how to best spend the money we have budgeted for various things. This chapter goes far beyond simply living within your means, however. I also find I am thinking more about how to be a good steward of the physical resources around me, turning down the heat if we are going to be out all day, turning off lights in rooms we aren't using, cooking with the idea of creating as little waste as possible and trying to find creative ways to use up little bits leftover from meal preparation. Recently my thoughts have been turning to spring and planting a garden. I hope we are able to plant some fruit and vegetables this year which would help with the food budget. I have even considered going back to cloth diapers but haven't gotten around to that yet. I keep thinking of the last time we put a cloth diaper on DD after she hadn't been in them for awhile. She cried and cried till we took it off and it was barely wet... I think I will save that experiment for a day when I am feeling particularly patient. The biggest thing I have gained from this chapter is realizing that we don't need to be good stewards simply because it is the most efficient way of doing things, but because we are called to do so. Next on my list is to put our living space in order and give everything its own spot or "home" so that everything has a specific place. I am not sure if this will happen slowly, as an evolution, or if I will simply have to just do it in the space of a few days one weekend. I will let you know how it goes.
