If there is one thing I learned and valued from the people in Honduras, it would be this…
They. Use. Every. Single. Resource. Around. Them. They waste NOTHING.
And by nothing, I truly mean nothing.
When I see a scrap of wood, they see blocks for their classroom. When I see pebbly sand from a riverbed, they see a material to use in cement making and brick making. When I see something dangling way up high in a tree, they see lunch.
No Kroger. No Home Depot. No Pesticides allowed, we got a hoe.
I’ve marveled at this.
And I wanted to remember this.
So, I decided to take the beautiful vase that a talented person from Honduras crafted, and I decided to fill it with a resource provided in my own backyard. Beauty.
And then Life happened, and I’m looking at MY resources differently.
This morning, I noticed that the bananas Aaron and I purchased not too long ago, haven’t been consumed as quickly as usual (we go in banana-eating phases, you?) and therefore my eyes gazed upon brownish skin. Before too many fruit flies gathered for a treat (one of my dear husband’s pet peeves), a thought came to mind. I’ve had this thought before, yet never followed through with action. Perhaps it was a determined desire to NOT waste these bananas, perhaps I just decided to say yes and not no this time, perhaps allrecipes.com was just so simple to type in, but TODAY was the day.
Banana Bread.
Not from a box.
In what seemed like no time at all, with a cupboard and refrigerator that held every needed ingredient, tools that helped me mix & whip, a loaf panned pulled from the recesses of a bottom cupboard, and a preheated oven (no this is not Honduras), a heavenly aroma started wafting through the kitchen, and my husband sent me a text (because I had left the building)…
This bread smells amazing!
Some may call this simple, I call it a victory! Decadent bread, made from items “here and there”, re-purposed for an afternoon snack/breakfast treat. And this was just today.
I’ve been viewing how to pack lunches for the kiddos a bit differently. For instance, eggs. They’re not just for scrambling, hey, I can hard boil them, what a concept! Get out the ol’ egg slicer, and the kids have a new fabulous source of protein. Applesauce. Why not use the big jug to pour into small Tupperware containers? Saves money instead of convenience packaging! Same with canned fruit! And while we’re at it, let’s use Tupperware for more lunch items, saves on plastic baggies AND less waste. Go figure?
I know, not rocket science, yet it’s looking at simple “habits” and seeing where we can take a “good” thing and make it better. Re-purposing with intention.
Yes, these are small things. Yes, clipping every box-top, cutting off soup labels, pulling off pop-tabs, and setting aside plastic bottle tops may be small things, but I see it as more. As I shook container after container of saved, donated pop-tabs at the Ronald McDonald House today, I thought of all those families that will have a place to stay tonight while their child is across the street in a hospital bed. The electricity is paid for with these tabs. It’s important.
The Bible calls it being a good steward of our resources. I see it as a responsibility that comes with the awesome task of managing all He affords to us. And then I think… it’s the least I can do.
And I wonder how else I can use the items already provided? Instead of looking outward (take-out food, restaurants), how may I look more in-home (inward) and re-purpose? Lord, change my heart to “want-to”, give me eyes to see.
This can actually be fun! What about you? What are your ideas?
1 Chronicles 29:2
With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.
May we build our “temples” with all the large quantities of His resources, for the glory of His name!
Filed under: devotional, provision
