God Richly Provides

Stampin’ Sisters in Christ Challenge, #75, Hebrews 13:5

I looked up the word “satisfaction” in my computer thesaurus. The definition of the word means contentment and compensation. In this world, it’s really hard to be satisfied with what God provides sometimes, especially when we are surrounded by advertisements, wooing one to buy more that often offer empty promises that bite. Jealousy and bitterness are thieves of happiness and they poison our hearts against others and God.

A few years ago, I was at the heart of a squabble about using expired company stamps for publication at Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine. By necessity, I’ve had to learn to be content with purchasing my art/crafts supplies at bargain prices, such as on clearance or using a coupon at craft stores, at salvage and thrift stores (see card, I purchased the Anna Griffin stamp for $1.00), at discount stores (the Stampcraft sentiment came from Walmart), garage sales, as gifts and second-hand sales long after they were the in-thing. I didn’t get my Cuddlebug until last year when my sweet husband purchased it on ebay for me. My husband tells me that in turn, my frugality or thriftiness, has made me more creative. You know the saying, necessity is the mother of invention?

I will admit I drool when I see those whole rooms dedicated to the arts and crafts too, but I have to remind myself that the corner of the kitchen in the cottage house that God provided miraculously for us is enough at the moment (although I have two Christian friends here who have taken up praying for a studio/shed for me. LOL!). 

And because of my habit of looking for bargains wherever I go, at a Goodwill store sometime ago, I saw a brand-new, unopened Cricut font cartridge package for $4.00. That store didn’t know what they had. I didn’t own a die-cutting machine at that time, but decided to purchase it anyway. I figured I could resell it at a later date or I’d have a nice gift for a friend should one of them decide to purchase the machine. Not long after that, a friend at church, our pastor’s mother-in-law, purchased a Cricut for scrapbooking. She was gifted with the font cartridge (which worked perfectly, by the way) and it has been well used, not only for her and her daughters’ scrapbooks, but to uplift all who enter our church. (see photo). God has provided a real circle of blessing!