How Hungry Are You?

         

          After becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom starting in August, I have been learning how to re-arrange how I do things.  One of the biggest things I have changed my approach to is grocery shopping.  It is next to impossible to efficiently shop when you have 3 kids in tow, especially since the closest grocery store is about 25 miles away.  It’s also tough to wait until daddy gets home, or the weekend because there are a lot of things around the house and outside that he needs to get done, having to watch the girls slows that process down.  So, I decided to become a once a month grocery shopper.  I started menu planning and doing one huge shopping trip per month rather than 3 or 4 smaller ones.  It has been great!  Not only does it save trips, it also saves money because I have to be strategic and plan ahead, plus I can more easily comparison shop.  It has gotten even easier with Walmart doing online ordering for groceries. You simply order them online and they bring them to your car and load them!  It has made a former Walmart despiser into a Walmart lover once again (this is not an advertisement, it is just a tip that has helped save my sanity.  If you want to try it though click here for $10 off your first order).  

Because I shop only once (unless I make a quick milk or egg run), I sometimes have to get creative at the end of the month.  If my kids snack more than expected or if I forgot something on my list at the beginning of the month, the cabinets tend to get bare.  It is amazing the snacks or meals you can come up with if you are forced to use what’s in the pantry, freezer, and fridge.  If you get hungry enough you will figure something out to cook.  Desperation plus Pinterest and Google recipe searches can inspire you to try something new.  You may even be willing to dig out the old-fashioned ingredients…you know, those things you put together like flour, sugar, and cream of tartar (whatever that is), when that ready-made meal is not there.

The same is true in our spiritual lives.  When we get “hungry” enough for a change of our circumstances we will be forced to be more creative.  When we are just not getting fed by others in a way we so desperately need, it’s time to pull out your own old-fashioned ingredients (AKA reading the Bible for yourself) and get a real meal.  It is during times of actual desperation and seeking that we may finally find exactly what we are looking for.  I know, just like many Christians, I have had seasons where I have allowed myself to get distracted or too busy and put Bible study on the back-burner and forgot to turn on the heat.  It happens to everyone.  However, there have also been seasons where I have become discouraged and frustrated feeling like God couldn’t be further away, and finally got so desperate for a change that I really pushed into God’s word.  It never fails, when I finally put God back in the #1 spot in my life where he rightfully belongs; I am able to hear from him again, I feel a lot more content and thankful, and I have a lot more peace in my days.  So, my question to you is: how hungry are you?  Are you going to wait until the cabinets of your soul are completely bare, or are you going to push in and get fulfilled?  

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13