If you have read some of my other posts you will see that we are in the middle of harvesting and preserving our vegetables before winter sets in.
We have heaps of corn at the moment and we are busy picking it, blanching it and then canning it. It has been over 5 years since we have had a decent crop of corn. Last year we only got 15 bottles in the pantry, this year I am hoping for 50.
![DSC_1023[1]](http://darlingdownsdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/DSC_10231.jpg)
Now we are frugal people out of necessity, we have a beautiful farm but we don’t have a huge cash flow and some months it can be more than interesting to make ends meet. It is such a blessing to be able to go to the pantry and grab a couple of jars and add them to our own meat to make a quick, easy and nourishing meal.
Now we are frugal but we don’t want to be tight, there is a difference I believe.
I was thinking that if we gave away too much corn then I wouldn’t have enough to put away for the year. What am I thinking you wonder!!!??? We are blessed with so much, how can I not want to give some of these blessings to others.
You are right if you think this is an issue, because it is. I had to stop and examine my heart. You see we have been blessed abundantly, and although it isn’t often that these blessings involve cash they involve so many other things.
We have a lovely home and farm, just the perfect size for us and our desire to be self sufficient. We have a lovely family, just right for us and each other and we already have 2 beautiful granddaughters and another grandchild on the way. We have a wonderful relationship with our family (as I have said before), why would I be worried about corn.
Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
You see maybe my desire to fill my pantry has overtaken my desire to help others and in a sense I have become tight up against frugal.
I believe that even though we are frugal we do not need to be tight with what the Lord gives us. He has given us so much and we need to be careful to not hoard too much but to use it to bless others less fortunate or just to bless others because He loves us.
Now I am not saying that we shouldn’t put enough away for the family because it is important to do the best we can, what I am talking about is more of a heart issue.
Let our hearts be on what God has for us and to rely on Him for all things.
2 Corinthians 9:8-11 And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work.
I always say that giving is not really giving unless it costs us something. So your heart is in the right place! We need to take care of our families, but always be on the “lookout” for those who need something more than we do. May the Lord bless your generous heart and life today! Hugs 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comment. Blessings to you too.
I have found myself thinking the same – that I ‘need’ all our harvest for us (not that we have much at all yet!) But I agree with the above comment. It is easy to give away something you will not miss, but true giving is giving something that costs you or you will miss.
Great harvest of corn! I hope to have corn next year.
Thanks Jayne for your thoughtful comment, it really is a heart issue and giving our needs over to God. It has been a great harvest, don’t worry it won’t be long and you’ll have heaps of vegetables growing. Blessings
Visiting from The Modest Mom. What a thought provoking post, I like to give items away and sometimes I question could I have sold that and made some money, but in truth by giving it away I give more and receive the knowledge that I am helping others in the best way I can. Thanks for sharing and making me think if I could do more. 🙂
Thanks for you comment Sharon, I believe it is about our hearts and where they are focused. It is so easy to keep for ourselves and sometimes this is the right thing to do, but it is always good to examine ourselves. Blessings to you.
Amen! I always figure that if I run out of something, I can always find a substitute anyway. We always plant more than we need so that we can share with our neighbors and family and still have plenty to preserve and eat out of hand. I doesn’t take much more work to make your garden a little larger.
Hi Jane, thank you for your encouraging comment and you are really on the right track. It is such a blessing to be able to share some of our harvests and all the the Lord has given us. Blessings and thanks for stopping by.
Hello! I’m visiting from Soul Survival.
We are frugal farmers as well, although most of food provision is frozen. Not canned. I have a canner. I just need to use it!
We try to stay intentionally loose. 80)
Do you have Highland cattle? I would love to have some!
God bless you!
Judy
Hey Judy, thanks for your comment and for stopping by, I especially like that you stay “intentionally loose” what a wonderful way to put it. Yes we have Highland Cattle and they are lovely, although their horns are big and can get in the road. They are really cute calves. Blessings
Giving is definitely an area that Satan attacks Christians on on both ends. With some people, he lies to them by telling them, “Don’t give it away–YOU need it ALL.” We believe it and we are guilty of selfish motive.
On the other hand, he also tells some people, “You aren’t doing God’s Will by keeping it all. You need to give more/all of it away to be a good person.” Then people give away more than they should neglecting to take care of the family God purposed for them to protect and provide for–and now they are guilty of disobedience. He did a similar thing when he tempted Jesus to test God with the promise of God sending angels to protect Him (Matt 4:6-7). Jesus called Satan on the carpet–even though He knew God could provide for Him, He knew better than to tempt Him.
(Long winded again…)
If we just want our pantries full (they are pretty, aren’t they?) or only believe MY food is for MY family–we are selfish. And if God sends someone to us hungry and we don’t share–guilty.
But if we are overrun with the guilt to feed everyone else just because we can (even though they can provide for themselves, or don’t have the need that we do) to the point where purposefully putting our family in a position of not having food–then we have an obedience problem.
God provides for us, but He is capable of providing for others as well. It’s important not to let Satan convince us that we are supposed to “do God’s work” instead of God.
I agree with your words here Terri–just expanding on the other end.
Blessings,
Oh, my…that turned out really bold…didn’t mean to do that…oops…
You must know that I am chuckling over this now. I appreciate your comment (and this one). It is good to have all sides pointed out. Blessings
This is so, so true Deborah and I agree with you, and appreciate you bringing this point up. Give when we should and storing when we should is something we need to go to God about and we need to listen to Him.It is so important to give when he encourages us to do so, but not out of guilt that we have to. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Blessings
This is my husband exactly. He’s a big penny pincher, but he delights in giving to the needs of others no holding anything back. I loved the way you expressed this – frugal but not tight. Thanks for this post.
Thanks Jennifer for your encouraging comment and for sharing your thoughts regarding this topic. I never want to be known as “tight”
– not a good look. Blessings
As money is very tight with us, this is something I need to keep constantly in mind. I am glad and thankful to have a generous husband. Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for stopping by Nicole, it is hard when money is tight and I definitely know what you mean and it is good that our husbands are generous and this helps keep us on track. Thanks for your comment and blessings to you.
I hear exactly what you are saying!
As Christians, we walk a fine line between being wise stewards and generous givers.
Thanks for sharing your heart with us. It is, like you said, an issue of the heart.
Blessings to you and yours.
Thank you Heather for your thoughtful comment and I pray that you will have a blessed week.
Thanks so much for sharing! Great thoughts- I tend to struggle with being far too controlling and not trusting God enough. It is so easy for me to rationalize that “I’m just taking care of my family” when, like you said, it is more of a heart issue. It has helped me tremendously to see everything that is “ours” is actually His 🙂 and to be used accordingly. This means fostering and sharing our home as much as we can. While we are tight in our home with our precious foster daughter, it has been such a blessing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It always amazes me how much I’m blessed by giving 🙂 Loved your thoughts!
-Sara, uncommongrace.net
Thank you so much Sara for sharing your thoughts with us here and for stopping by. I like you statement – It always amazes me how much I’m blessed by giving – I love that. It is exactly how I feel, I always feel so thrilled to be able to give to someone in need. Sometimes though I need a heart adjustment :-). What a wonderful gift to be able to foster children. Thank you for being such a blessing. xxxx
Your “frugal” sounds like faithful with what God has given you. 🙂
Thank you Susan for your encouraging comment. Blessings
You have some very good points here. It’s hard not to want to keep all your hard work and safety cushion really, for yourself in case YOU need. It’s natural as humans to feel that way. And for that very reason I think, is why God calls us to give to others and do for others.
Thanks for sharing on Tell it to me Tuesday!
Thank you Lindsay for your encouraging and thoughtful comment, Blessings to you and yours.
This post is so true. The little lady in the temple who gave all she had in the offering was blessed. The attitude of giving has to be in the heart. It doesn’t matter if we have little or much. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Rebecca for adding the story of the lady in the temple, I had forgotten about that and it is so true. Thanks again and blessings.
Very thought provoking article. I enjoyed reading it. I believe in being frugal, but I never want to be tight. Each of us must examine our own hearts and lives to make sure we are doing the right thing for our family and for God. #Titus 2 Tuesdays#148
Thank you Becky for your thoughtful comment, you are so right that we need toe examine our own hearts. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Blessings
It is funny how we can get so possessive over a can of corn. But all the hard work that goes into that bottle, only a preserving woman understands. And because of this, we can see where you are coming from but glad you have overcome your struggle. I know it true for myself that I like to give away the goods to people that would appreciate it and that is a heart issue too (are there unworthy recipients?)! Like Deborah pointed out, there is a balance 🙂 Thank you for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays this week!
Thank you Jes for your thoughtful comment and you are right – there is definitely a balance to be worked out. Thank you for hosting, blessings to you and yours.
Love seeing the picture of those canning jars!!
Thank you Michele for your comment and for stopping by, I love seeing all my canning jars too, it gives me such a feeling of achievement.Blessings
I’ve found that I have been so blessed by others, that I need to be sure to ‘pay it forward.’ Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks Michelle for your comment and for sharing your thoughts. Blessings
When I was a little girl I watched my dad help my mom can corn, it always tasted so good. He also made sauerkraut!!
What wonderful memories we can get from the things we do now that our parents did then. Thank you for sharing Karren. Blessings
“Give and it will come back to you, pressed down, shaken together, running over” (Luke 6:38) – I’m trying to teach my boys that while still learning about it. I bet your corn is delicious! I don’t can probably as much as you, but there is something delicious about pulling down a jar of summertime in the winter:) God provides – even when we share – it’s such an opposite day mentality – but that’s how God works! Shalom!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment and what a great scripture verse. Thank you for sharing it and your heart. Blessings
I had a similar conversation with myself earlier today. I got a real deal on soaps and was divying up between me and local food bank. How many do I really “need” ?
Bless you Gail for sharing your heart with us. You are right how much do we really “need”. Blessings
Oh how lovely to be able to grow your own food! I know that I can do it too, but I have just never tried it. I think if I started small I wouldn’t be intimidated by the idea of it, you know? Every year I say I want to have a garden, and then every year I never do anything about it.
We are frugal people as well, and when you’re frugal, it is hard to get over that “saving” mentality, I think. But we all need to be givers too. You are so right, we need to bless others with the abundance that He has blessed us! Thanks for linking up to “Making Your Home Sing Monday!”
Hey there, thank you for your comment. Gardening can be intimidating but if you get the chance give it a go, you will be blessed by it. Thank you for hosting, I appreciate you stopping by when you are so busy. Blessings
I love that you were able to reflect on your feelings. Helping others is so important, even when we feel like we may not have enough ourselves.
Thank you Tiffany for your kind comment, blessings to you.
I had this exact heart issue last year when I was canning tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Thanks for your honesty and I agree with you completely that our hearts need to be on what God wants them to be. Thanks for linking up at Women With Intention Wednesdays and good luck with the canning (I am always so thankful when it’s over and the pantry shelves are full)! 🙂
Thank you so much Jenny for taking the time in your busy schedule to comment and I am with you in that I like my pantry full and the canning done. It is so intense whilst it is happening but such a blessing when it is done. Thank you so much for hosting. Blessings