Frugal in Forty

Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify. - Henry David Thoreau, Transcendentalist author and poet

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak - Hans Hoffman, early 20th century abstract expressionist painter

Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. - Elise Boulding, late 20th century author and sociologist.

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. - 2 Corinthians 1:12, NKJV


I read an article today about the link found between sodium nitrites and the increased risk of cancers, wherein it declared that nearly all processed foods contained this harmful carcinogenic. Curiously, upon visiting the grocery store shortly thereafter, I took the time to check out the labels on the packages of yet-to-be-sliced sandwich meat at the deli. Surprise, surprise, I found row after row of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrate, and more sodium nitrate. On every. Single. One. And it's not just sandwich meat - you can also find this unnecessary color enhancing additive in hot dogs, frozen meats (mostly red), pepperoni, bacon (thank goodness my store sells natural nitrate/nitrite free bacon!), etc. Basically, if it's processed and/or red meat, you can count on it having this ingredient. *note, this does not include fresh red meat*.

I know there are people reading this who are probably rolling their eyes, I'm pretty sure my husband did a little, because it seems like every other day someone is putting out a new study about something else giving us cancer. People are beginning to wonder how much is real and how much is being used to stir up fear. But processed foods are something we've been warned about time and time again, for more than a handful of reasons. I decided to avoid my deli meat on today's shopping trip, which made me think about things that I can eat that are fresh and wholesome and good for you, which in turn led me to some blogs I read, that specialize in natural living, as resources. Most of them have one thing in common, frugality.

In the past this word was not a used in a positive light, it was usually used to describe people who pinched their pennies, were greedy, selfish, miserly. This is not the way frugality is usually intended today, and it certainly is not the way God wants us to live. The modern concept of frugality, however, I believe to be very God honoring. It's about *simplifying* - everything from our bank accounts to our refrigerator to our souls. It's about de-cluttering our homes and our priorities. It's about reassigning value from the inconsequential to the fundamental.

It is my belief that a frugal lifestyle is the way to holiness and a closer relationship with God. This is something I desire not only for myself but for my household. And we are surely in desperate need of some purging and purification. So, for the next 40 days I will be on a mission to begin a lifestyle of frugality for myself, my family, my home, and my spirituality.

It will be largely "out with the old - in with the new". I will be putting together new shopping lists, figuring out how to make food go further, re-organizing my home, re-budgeting, in short, completely revamping.

Great things are always accomplished over the course of 40 days in the bible, and I know I have a lot of work to do, but I am praying that this will be the start of a new life for us. With Christ, all things are possible.