Simple Pleasures

Ben and I affectionately refer to the first few years of our marriage as the "Early Poverty Days".

I will never forget one year in particular. We were both students, started our own business, and travelled across the country for two months. Needless to say, we survived on an extremely limited budget.

Our motto during that time was:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:34

We tried to be thankful for everything --- we had enough milk in the fridge to last one more day, we had just enough money to pay the bills that were due, and even though we'd run out of toothpaste we had plenty of baking soda!

Sure, it was a stressful time of life. We are thankful to have survived it together, though. Ben and I agree that our "Early Poverty Days" strengthened our marriage and taught us to manage finances.

We also learned to take pleasure in simple things.

A habit I developed during that time involves a mundane task --- washing the dishes. One day I was over at my friend's house and was impressed by her "fresh green apple" scented dish soap. It was a small thing, but I decided that I would enjoy washing dishes so much more if I also had a lovely detergent to use. I went to the grocery store and splurged on a $1.50 bottle of name-brand dish soap.

I have bought yummy-smelling dish detergent ever since.

This morning I took my boys to Superstore for our weekly shopping trip. I paused in the "cleaning supplies" aisle and chose a bottle of lavender dish soap. I took a moment to open the cap and inhale its sweet aroma. As I placed the dish detergent into my overflowing shopping cart, I thanked God for blessing us abundantly.

Yes, He's been good. And every time I do the dishes I am reminded of God's faithful provision for our family.