In addition to the normal four or five posts, I have over a dozen giveaways lined up and the very first Thrifty Thursday blog hop with The Purposeful Mom!

No More Student Loans Giveaways

The student loans chapter of our lives is coming to an end!* The journey has been good, though not without difficult lessons (that I badly needed to learn.)

Many days the scrimping and saving grew very, very old. We were so blessed along the way by wonderful examples and encouragement.

To celebrate, we’re hosting a No More Student Loans Mega Giveaway. I’m humbled and honored that some of my favorite authors and businesses were willing to sponsor giveaways for the celebration.

The giveaways will go live throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday and will close next Monday night.

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Want a sneak peak?

• 2 copies of Money Saving Mom’s Budget
• $15 giftcard to Vintage Handmade Soaps (from my dear friend Heather, of Raising Mighty Arrows)
•  Loving the Little Years
• Quart of Tropical Traditions coconut oil
• 3 copies of Tell Your Time (by the Amy behind Blogging with Amy--a goldmine for bloggers!)
• Diapers
• The Fruit of Her Hands
• A beautiful flexi-clip
• $25 giftcard to Light of Faith Resources
• Herbal book and remedy
• … and more!

*Our tax refund will finish off the loan. Normally, it would have been here weeks ago. Thanks to a technical glitch at the IRS, it’s been delayed until next week. God does have good ways of keeping us humble, huh?

Thrifty Thursday Blog-Hop

As though that weren’t enough excitement for one week, my friend Jenn from The Purposeful Mom and I are starting a Thrifty Thursday blog-hop!

We’d love to have you join us with your posts about living frugally, thrifty tips and tricks, money-saving DIY projects, frugal recipes, and encouraging posts on financial stewardship.

…and all the regular features

Can you believe it’s almost March?

I’ll be posting the February additions to my herbal remedy collection tomorrow. Join me Wednesday for the end of the month habit report. (I’d love for you to share your progress!) On Thursday I’ll share the habit I want to cultivate in March. Then, on Friday, I’m honored to be guest posting at Jill’s Home Remedies.

Energy Bites fit the bill, at least for me. They are filled with healthy, satisfying ingredients and are one of my favorite snacks.

I was inspired by Food Doodles All-Natural, No-Bake Energy Bites, but what fun is cooking if you don’t change the recipe?

Energy Bites Recipe:

Ingredients: 

(Part of the fun of this recipe is just how easily you can change ingredients! We don’t like ours overwhelmingly sweet and I added coconut oil make it more filling. )

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey, preferably raw
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• dash of salt
• ~2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• ~1/2 cup chocolate chips, raisins or other add-ins (optional)

1. Cream peanut butter, oil and honey
2. Add coconut, flaxseed and salt
3. Add chocolate chips and enough oatmeal to make a nice, moist cookie dough texture
4. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or until you can easily shape. Roll into balls.
5. Freeze or refrigerate.

(Full Disclosure: Links to products in this post are my referral links)

Maybe your budget, like mine, is limited. Hospitality is still an art you can and should practice. The purpose of hospitality is not to showcase your home or dazzle guests with amazing food.

Hospitality is simply “receiving and entertaining strangers or guests …with kind and generous liberality” (Webster).

Hospitality is a Scriptural command. Leaders in the church are required to “be given to hospitality.” Each member of the church should also seek to use their home to minister to the needy, mutually “sharpen” friends and “entertain strangers”.

In our fast-paced, online society, taking the time to open your home and engage with people right around you is especially important.

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10 Way to Show Hospitality on a Budget

1. Create a welcoming environment using what you have. A scented candle, pretty music or jar of wildflowers add a warm touch and are inexpensive. Use items you have and remember that hospitality is not a Martha Stewart contest!
2. Open your home, without serving food. If your food budget scarcely lets you feed your own family, you can show hospitality without serving a meal. Watch a friend or neighbor’s children to give them a break. Invite a friend over in the afternoon, just to chat.

3. Remember, you don’t have to host dinner. Invite a friend for lunch or breakfast. One of my favorite times of fellowship was over brunch. My sister-in-law and her husband invited several couples over and made homemade waffles topped with strawberries and ice cream. It was delicious, simple and fit their budget.
4. Make homemade cookies or brownies. Whenever you make cookies, make a big batch and freeze the extra dough in wax paper to pull out for fresh hot cookies at a moment’s notice. Many cookie recipes freeze well: Almond Crunch Cookies are some of my favorite!

5. Compile a simple rotating company menu. Think through the meals and desserts your family loves. Make a list of meals that you can serve when company is coming. They don’t have to be expensive or gourmet. Soups, homemade pizza and Savory Lentil Rice Casserole are delicious, yet budget-friendly.
6. Keep ingredients for those meals stocked. This will save on gas money and impulse purchases… and relieve a whole lot of stress!
7.  Shop your cupboards and use what you have. Maybe unexpected company is coming and you’re almost out of groceries. Get creative. A missionary shared an inspiring story of a time she only had one onion, some cheese and spices in the house. Company unexpectedly dropped by. Instead of panicking, she turned the onion and cheese into a savory creation that her guest raved about!
8. Make bread or biscuits to serve with your meal. Homemade baked goods are increasingly rare and enliven even the humblest of meals.
9. Serve water or make your own iced tea. Add sliced lemon to “make it fancy”. Homemade tea costs a fraction of store-bought. I buy a box of 100 tag-less tea bags at Walmart for $1. Using four per quart, that’s enough to make more than six gallons of tea. Better yet, grow your own mint!
10. Share the load. Let your guest bring a side. If you are hosting a large group, plan a meal that all can contribute to, like burritos. Have each guest bring a filling or two. Or, host a potluck type event.

What about you? How do you practice hospitality on a budget? 

linked up at Proverbs 31 Thursday, Hearts 4 Home Thursdays, Frugal Friday, Works for Me & Encourage One Another, 

Today marks the first day of Lent. Until a few years ago, I thought Lent was a Catholic excuse to eat more fish.

What is Lent really? Lent is the period of forty days leading up to Easter, when many members of the Church remember Christ as our suffering Messiah. It is an integral part of the Church Calendar, which has been used for centuries to point Christians to Christ, in all His glory.

Like many things, the Church Calendar has been abused. Some have turned it into an excuse to sin because, well, “we’ll repent at Lent.” Just because some have distorted the meaning, doesn’t negate the beauty it can bring to the Christian walk.

As a fallen sinner, it is so easy for me to want to focus on just one part of God. To worship just His goodness or just His justice. To “worship the babe in the manger, but forsake the Christ of the cross.”

The Church Calendar exalts Christ in His many different manifestations: human Man, suffering Messiah, risen King.

Yes, it is common to “give up something for Lent.” But “giving up something” is not the point. Making sacrifices serves as a potent reminder, but the purpose of Lent is to point us to Christ, who gave up everything for us.

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What on earth does this have to do with my “About” box on Pinterest?

I just set up a Pinterest account (send me your usermame, I’d love to follow you!) and sat staring at the empty “about” box.

I am a wife, a mother, a blogger. But what really defines who I am? Two conflicting terms kept floating through my mind: sinner and saint.

I am a sinner

My first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned. I followed their footsteps, choosing forbidden fruit instead of faithfulness. Sin stains my heart. Self-love motivates even my best actions. 

Idolatry entwines my heart in its ugly grasp. I turn from my Maker to things of this earth.

Yet, the Creator of this world, whom angels and seraphim and cherubim and all of nature worships, came down and shed His blood to wash me clean. He sacrificed everything, even fellowship with God the Father, to redeem me.

I am a saint, washed in the blood of Christ

Because of His atoning blood, I am washed clean.

I am a saint.

The words sound so lofty. Saint? That brings up images of great heroes of the faith. Of men and women who changed the world.

But Christ’s blood has washed me clean. His sacrifice atoned for me. Now the Father sees me through Christ, a saint.

Whether we observe Lent or not, may we worship the suffering Messiah, who took sinners like us and renamed us saints through His precious blood.

Linked up at Women Living Well, Proverbs 31 Thursdays &  Finer Things Friday

The kids and I have been soaking in the Vitamin D and fresh air… and I’ve been thinking about health.

Joshua and I watched a two food documentaries this week, I’m reading Food: Your Miracle Medicine, a dear friend emailed me a thought-provoking article on phytic acid’s health benefits and Joshua and I have been on a let’s-talk-about-food-and-health streak. The topic is practically endless, thanks to the countless contradictory theories of what defines “healthy” food.

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Our family seeks to eat [mostly] healthily: home cooked meals, little processed food, homemade whole wheat bread, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, as much fish as we can afford and healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil and real butter.

Yet reading about the “new” health discoveries and the foods that we should avoid or the grass-fed, free-range organic meat we should exclusively eat, can leave well-intentioned moms discouraged and stressed.

What is the best food to serve our families? Does any food stand unchallenged? Can we really afford all the greatest organic products out there? What does “eating healthy” even mean? Will my kids spend their lives riddled with disease that I could have prevented by feeding them better?

The more I thought about these questions, the more frustrated and guilty I felt. But putting the questions in a global, historical perspective changed my outlook.

Flipping through the pages of history or glancing at the newspaper, there are countless stories of famines and food riots, of mothers unable to put even a crust of bread on the table for their children.

The fact that I am even faced with questions like “which of the 347,891 readily available options should I feed my family?” is a tremendous blessing many do not have.

On a less dramatic note, the “science of health foods” is, to put it mildly, not perfect.

• New studies often claim that yesterday’s health food craze should be completely avoided.

• Years ago it was the free range chickens that weren’t good–just think what those stupid chickens may have gotten into!

• Trying to follow the latest recommendations for feeding your infant is mind boggling. For example, “last year, we advised against feeding meat to your 9 month old, but new studies now find it helpful. Besides that’s what the nomadic tribes fed their children…”

Now of course, I’m not advocating tossing the salad and going on a diet of Doritos. A bad diet leads to countless health problems and nourishing foods help heal the body and keep it strong. We should wisely seek to feed our families. [I love Heavenly Homemaker's post on this!]

But the mere fact that we can put food on the table (and make an educated decision about what food it should be) is a blessing.

As the queen of my home, my goal is to make meals that both nourish and please my family, while sticking to our grocery budget. To balance taste, nutrition and budget.

As I’m able, I want to make the little, seemingly imperceptible, changes towards better health.

More importantly, I want keep in mind the principle from Proverbs: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” [For vegetarians I suppose it'd be switched, "better a fattened ox where love is..." ]

Food is important, but food cannot save us and the healthiest meal cannot take the place of a peaceful home, filled with love.

Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Natural Living Link Up & Simple Lives Thursday

(Modified version of a post I originally published on my personal blog in 2008.)

But household chores are part of keeping the home running smoothly. If we were called to be homemakers, these chores are part of the job assigned by a Good Master. We should learn to love them.

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Here are a few ways that I am learning to enjoy the jobs I used to hate.

Do it first, quickly:  If you really concentrate on it, few chores really take all that much time. If there’s a chore you hate, do it right away. Quickly. It’s amazing how much more enjoyable it will be.

Do it together: Whether it’s with a child, sister, friend or husband, doing a job together makes it much more fun! If you have kiddos, get them involved! Train them to help.

Listen to something: Whether it’s music, a free classic audiobook or lectures from the library, occupying your brain while your hands are busy is a great way to get a hated job done!

Eliminate the job: Yes, I know. This is supposed to be a post about learning to love chores. But, sometimes, we have control over the chores we don’t like and can trim them down or get rid of them all together. Often, it may take a bit more up front time, but will pay off quickly.

• Don’t like dusting? Pare down the knick-knacks.
• Don’t like tidying? Simplify. Clear out the clutter: throw away, give away or sell.
• Dont’ like multiple weekly (or monthly) grocery runs? Stock your pantry and shop less. 
• Don’t like changing diapers (or buying them?!) Potty-train your child.

If you struggle to enjoy a job, there’s often a way to cut it down and make it more manageable!

How do you conquer the chores you don’t care for? 

Linked up at  Handful of Heart, Motivate Mondays, Teach Me Tuesdays, Domestically Divine Tuesdays & Titus 2sdays 

These muffins are some of our family’s favorite—and they taste almost as good frozen and thawed as they do fresh.

The recipe makes two dozen but I usually do one dozen regular-sized (in muffin tins) and two dozen mini-muffins.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins Recipe

(Makes two dozen)

Ingredients: 

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar or other sweetener (more if you want a sweet muffin!)
1 heaping Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top, optional

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease two muffin tins (or line with cupcake holders!)
2. Combine dry ingredients
3. In separate bowl combine wet ingredients, then add to dry and mix well
4. Spoon into muffin tins.
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
6. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Serve warm with milk, fruit or homemade yogurt. 

Through them God showed me that even a good thing, like living debt-free, can become an idol. It wasn’t a fun lesson.

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Our story:

When Joshua and I got married, law school was not on our radar. Health complications barred our original plans and the idea of law school surfaced.

God opened doors, we moved across the country and Joshua started law school.

Shortly before we moved I stumbled across Crystal’s (from Money Saving Mom) original blog. She and her husband had made it through law school without student loans. Their story was so inspirational and I wanted to follow their example.

A non-traditional college course allowed us to earn bachelor’s degrees without student loans. We moved into a very small, cheap apartment. We shared a car. We ate simply. Surely we could graduate law school debt-free too.

As we neared the end of his first year though, nothing seemed to be going right. Savings were running low. I tried numerous avenues, but couldn’t find work I could do from home. I was pregnant with our second child and (highly) emotional.

Josh had worked incredibly hard in school, made excellent grades and was involved in student activities. He applied for summer work and I was confident he would be hired immediately.

He wasn’t.

As the weeks dragged on, I got more and more worried and emotional. I prayed and I pleaded and I cried.

After all, wasn’t getting work a good thing? It wasn’t like we were asking for a Mercedes or anything. The economy was bad, but was I really asking for too much? We just wanted work so we could avoid debt.

God said “no.”

I was devastated.*

In case you didn’t notice, I  was the one who was having a hard time here. Josh worked and prayed, but didn’t worry and certainly didn’t cry. Over and over he told me, “Honey, God knows what is best for our family.”

God does know what is best. He knows what we need.

Why I [now] am grateful for student loans

Debt-free living had become my idol. Pride motivated my zeal. I didn’t want loans in our story. I wanted to be able to write a “how to do law school without loans” guide.

God in His wisdom said “no.”

“The borrower is servant to the lender” Proverbs says. But God can use debt to showcase His glory (like in the story of the widow’s oil) or to purify us.

By focusing so hard on avoiding student loans, I let the pursuit of debt-free living choke out the Word. God used those loans to show me that even good things can become idols. As thrilled as I am to be paying off our loans, I am grateful that loans were part of our story.

No matter where we are on the financial journey, whether we haven’t touch debt with a ten-foot pole, are buried in debt, or are just trying to live faithfully with little, God writes the details of our story for a reason.

No two stories are the same. That is part of the wonder of life in His world. He is the Master Storyteller!

[* Want the happy ending? Later that first summer, God did provide work for me to do from home. Joshua was funded to volunteer in an area he felt passionate about. Though we still had student loans when Joshua graduated, we are sending in the final payment this month!]

Linked up at Handful of Heart, Teach Me Tuesdays, Gratituesday, Encourage One Another & Women Living Well

Once our tax return goes through we will have enough money to pay off the last of our student loans! Excited is far too mild to describe my feelings. More like I-want-to-shout-and-cry-and-dance (even in Walmart)!

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Sometimes the three years of scrimping and saving during law school seemed to stretch on for ever. Sometimes I didn’t want to put nearly every spare penny since Joshua started his clerkship toward paying the loan. There have been many times that I wanted to just quit.

Yet during this journey God has been so good to us. We have been blessed and encouraged and inspired time and again.

• Blessed by unexpected gifts on days when the greatly boost was needed.
• Encouraged by reminders that God is sovereign and holds our future in His wise hands.
• Inspired by your stories of sacrifice and giving and debt-free life.

This chapter of our lives has been filled with many lessons (I’ll share one of the hardest later today!) but I am so glad that it is coming to an end.

To celebrate (and channel my excitement into something more productive than dancing in Walmart), I’ll be hosting a series of give-aways on February 29th and March 1st from some of my very favorite resources!

Some of you are probably thinking, “what’s so exciting about just paying off a student loan?”

I know, I know! It’s not like we’re paying cash for a house or a trip to Europe.We’re all on different stages of the financial road. Even the little milestones are worth celebrating though, right?

Won’t you celebrate with us and join me for the the upcoming giveaways?

linked up at Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Hearts 4 Home Thursdays, Frugal Friday and  Finer Things Friday

God has called us to wisely build our homes.

Building a home is glorious work, but it is work. Hard work. My prayer is to cultivate a family culture that encourages our unique interests and glorifies God. I have much to learn, but these are four ways I have learned  am learning to build my home.

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Follow me over to Raising Mighty Arrows to read the rest of this post. (While you’re there, explore Heather’s lovely site and read her wonderful post on bitterness!)