Recently I was listening to somebody speak about finding the talents God has given to you and actually using them for the good of the other people around you. The examples he gave of talents were good ones, such as playing an instrument, singing, or using a vocational skill such as carpentry or automotive know-how. The only problem is, I cannot do any of the above said things. I cannot play a musical instrument (even though I tried the piano and the viola for a while), nor can I sing (even though I took lessons for three years before I figured that one out), and I sure cannot build anything or fix a car.
I was feeling a little bit discouraged about finding out what exactly my God given talent was. Then it hit me out of the blue. Sara you have a bunch of little talents that all add up to help the people around you. I love to clean, cook, and organize. I think it is in my blood. It is something that I have enjoyed doing ever since I was smaller helping mom with laundry, and dad with dinner. I am nerd and organize my closet and drawers based on shirt and pant types and patterns. I have my tee shirts on a revolving system so I wear all of them and not just a few many times over. See I told you I was a little OCD about stuff. But I think that this crazy habit of mine is a gift from God that I can use for the good of people around me. I don't know about you but walking into a clean house with the smell of a yummy dinner cooking just makes me smile. My mom and dad have done a good job to teach me the ins ands out of how to survive the kitchen and laundry room. I am grateful for that.
One example of my gift that I have just begun really exploring is that of couponing. I am not an extreme couponer by any means. I do not stock-pile, or cut fifty of the same coupons, but I do have some tricks that save me and my other roommates a bunch of money. Just last semester I figured it up and we saved just over 500 dollars using my MVP card and coupons. Here are just a few of my tricks...
We plan our meals out by the week so we only buy the items we need at the store. This helps a bunch so you don't go into the store blind and just end up grabbing a bunch of junk.
I write down the prices of the items next to them on the list as I cross them off. I cannot count how many times the price of the item has been wrong in the computer and they had to change it. It may only be two or three dollars here and there but in the long run it adds up.
I try to plan meals based on the coupons that I have for that week. I cannot always do this just because the coupons are always different, but a bunch of the time I can and it really helps our bank accounts.
And finally I have used my love of organization to make a coupon binder. It really allows you to see your coupons and plan what you need ahead of time.
Here is a look at my binder in case you were wondering what it looked like...
My binder. It is a Heavy Duty 1 inch binder. I think as I get older and my family expands I will need to get a bigger one, but for now this size works perfect.
I have all of my food categories separated out my thick plastic dividers. Paper ones end up tearing too easily so spending the extra dollars on the plastic ones are very much worth it.
On each of the dividers I wrote an explanation and/or example. Sometimes you just don't know where a certain coupon should go, so this helps to clear things up. Such as "Dry Goods" contain coupons for rice, pasta, stuffing, crackers, dinner kits, and stuff like that.
To keep my coupons in place I use business card holders that you can get in walmart. A lot of people like to use baseball card holders though. They are a little bit bigger, but I enjoy this style. You have to be creative in the way you fold the coupons but I like the way that it looks in the end.
It makes my heart happy to know that by using my gift of cooking, cleaning, and organizing is saving people money and making them happy. It may not be a gift that people can see on a big or public scale like singing or preaching would, but I think that it is a gift that is important to keep everything running smoothly and moving forward. Just like in my basketball managing days, the "team behind the team" kept everything running smoothly; my organization, cooking, and cleaning keeps the apartment run smoothly and the bank accounts of our parents from going dry. It is funny sometimes how God shows himself in your life. I never thought that these skills I have would ever be considered a gift. It has just been in the last year that I have figured out that I was very wrong. God is so awesome!!!! I pray that this post finds everybody well and of course I pray that your journey is continually blessed!!
-Sara
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