My NEW Perspective

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October 2009 026

I will never again watch my daughter draw with chalk the same way. Following my sister’s guest posts, I am struggling with what to blog about.

Somehow freebies and coupons seem trivial, like there is so much more to say. But I am at a loss for words.

The images of the children of Nepal are haunting me. My heart aches for them.

“What can we do?”, you ask. For those particular children, I don’t know. But I do know that there are many, many others who can be helped.

As reader Heidi wisely pointed out:

“It is good to have that perspective, too – of how others truly live in poverty, to allow us to remember one reason why we try to live frugally – to help others (even across political boundaries) with our ‘affluence'”.

So very true. I struggle with balancing ways to save money with ways to give here on my blog.  But both are equally important. The more you save, the more you are able to give.

To quote Dave Ramsey:

“Giving is the most fun you will ever have with your money”.

Whether you are able to sponsor a child through Compassion International or stuff a shoe box for Samaritan’s Purse, I encourage you to give. Give until it hurts.

I know if you are struggling financially or climbing your way out of debt, that giving can seem like an impossible task. Be inspired with some frugal ways to help others every week at A Time to Give.

Will I continue to post coupons, freebies, and money-saving tips? You better believe it! But I will keep my new perspective in mind with a renewed passion for my mission. I hope you will join me…

“The one who plants generously will get a generous crop.You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NLT)

Comments

  1. Britney Bennett says

    The beauty of the blogosphere is that it’s big enough to let everyone do whatever works best for them. Rest assured, no topic is going to go untouched; someone is going to take up nearly every cause.

    So don’t feel guilty if you like coupons.

  2. says

    What a wonderful new perspective!

    “Save more so you can GIVE more!”
    .-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Mall Deals & Freebies – Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Build-A-Bear =-.

    • Alyssa Francis says

      Barb,
      You said it! My blog continues to evolve, and I am excited to see what the future will bring. 🙂

  3. says

    This really does put things in perspective. One of the main reasons that we live frugally is so that we can give generously. If we lived like “normal” people (a.k.a. broke people) lived, then we would have no extra to give. Sure, we could afford to shop without coupons and have a car payment. But why should we when we can bless others with the abundance created by our frugal lifestyle? Who needs cable TV when that money can support a child through Compassion International?

    I would definitely love for you to stop by A Time to Give on my site. I am always seraching for ways to give that don’t cost a lot of money. In fact, sometimes all it takes it a little bit of time and effort, and we all have a little bit of that to give.

    Thanks, Alyssa for the reminder to think beyond our own backyards.
    .-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Frugal Friday: Saving Money with My Toaster Oven =-.

  4. cwaltz says

    I lived in the Philippines for a year and a half as a service member. Nothing makes you appreciate the blessings of living in a society where you have clean water, children who are able to go to school without worrying about dropping out to feed their family, or a bathroom(like Nepal many homes in the PI simply had a hole in the floor).

    I’m gonna admit that “political boundary” comment is rather off putting to me. Frankly, in my opinion the political parties (I no longer belong to either)have done nothing other than feed division in this country. I definitely have strong opinions when it comes to policy but I find it disheartening that BOTH sides would rather smear each other than work together to solve the problems we face.

    I do hope if politics and policy(which are part and parcel of making improvements to society) discussions do occur that everyone is mindful that even if we disagree with how to make things better that it is entirely possible that both sides have the best of intentions when looking at problems and very few people are the caricatures they are painted to be by the very extreme of both sides.

  5. says

    I love this post! Thanks so much for sharing! I am so passionate about saving to give more. It is one of the main reasons I coupon. People are suffering all over the world, and God CALLS us to give to them, stand up for the poor, maintain social justice, help the widow, orphan, alien, homeless, starving, etc. I actually just started a recent endeavor on my blog called “Freely Giving Friday”! You can read all about it by clicking below!

    http://frugalfunandfortune.blogspot.com/search/label/Freely%20Giving%20Fridays
    .-= Meagan´s last blog ..Nature’s Path Coupon: Buy One Get One Free! =-.

  6. Rae says

    Thanks so much for sharing this. I am a 58 year old single mom/nana. Financially strapped I started crying out to God for a way to give. He showed me how through this site. I am able to give to missions, family, anyone who needs, I have taught my married daughters how to do the sameand helped them. I thank God daily for you and all those who compile the info we need to ge better servants

  7. Patti Creek says

    Hey Girl! Sorry it’s been a short while since I was by. I’ll try not to let it be so long from now on. Believe it or not, I’m still taking forever to write my blogs. I just never can think of what to say unless I get a burr about something like last night. Anyway, I really enjoyed your posts. I am going to link you in my blog tonight. I think others need to get a look at this also. I know we see similar scenes like this on tv advertising for Christian’s Children’s Fund and so on, but when it’s this ” close to home”, I mean actual photos of relatives of people that we talk to (write to) everyday, or several times a week, it’s like it’s in our own back yard. Our “poor” really don’t know how good they’ve got it and that’s sad. Ok, I’ll get off my soap box and let you read some other comments.

    Love ya!

    PJ

    • cwaltz says

      The fact that children in other countries have little should not lessen the fact that we have children in our own country that are now without homes or food insecure or abused by pedophiles.

      While it is great that children in this country are sent to school and there is a small safety net for families, the net is not near wide enough in my opinion that we should be crowing about how good our poor have it. Not when a good portion of these poor end up continuing the cycle of poverty ad nauseaum.

      It particularly rubs me raw when I just lost a sibling this year who took his own life. He was never able to get past what occurred during our childhood and my family was not financially well off enough to get him the help he needed to get past it. I daresay he would consider himself fortunate just because he was able to get past a sixth grade education before being forced to prostitute himself(as many in third world countries are).

  8. says

    Ever notice how when God works on moving you he puts those little hints EVERYWHERE?! This past few weeks my entire church has been reading “The Hole In Our Gospel” by Richard Stearns the president of World Vision. Our pastor has been doing weekly sermons based on what we’ve read and then next week Richard Stearns will actually be speaking at our church.

    I first heard him speak at Women of Faith earlier this year, and that is when I first became aware of this “hole”.

    We’re sponsoring one child in Tanzania and plan to add more this Christmas.

    I can’t believe I was so blind to this before!
    Good for you, getting this out there and being a spokeswoman for God’s people in need.

    thank you!

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