ie:missional

There are lots of ways to save money with minimal effort. This post deals with lifestyle changes that, added together, can cut living costs substantially.

1. Learn to live with heat. During spring time, allow the house to get as hot as you can stand it before turning on the AC, then keep the temp around 77-78. You will acclimate to the temp as it will still feel cool after a hot ride in the car or working in the yard. If you have a two story house, keep the upper story cooler by a degree or two. You’ll be surprised at how this will keep the lower story cool as well.

2. Walk when you can. You may live so far out that you have to go hunting toward town and, if so, then this may not be practical. We live about a mile from a Kroger grocery store and, on occasion, I will walk to the store with a backpack and buy the few things needed. In addition to saving gas, the exercise does not hurt. One day last week my “spare donut tire” went flat at the Kroger. Once home in the afternoon (after getting a lift) I walked to Kroger, removed the tire, carried it to the repair shop about .25 miles away, back to the car and then drove home.

We have a mall near our house that has several out-parcels with various stores. When comparison shopping, I will often park equidistant from Best Buy, Circuit City and H. H. Gregg then walk to all of them. Throw in Target and I’ve saved a lot of starting and stopping as well as cranking and shutting off the engine. (Shopping online cuts down even on the cost of driving to the mall, but one must plan far enough ahead to consider the shipping time. That’s a tough one on me.)

3. Reclaim your water. When you warm up your shower, you lose anywhere from 1/2 to 1 gallon of water-multiply that by everyone in the house and number of daily showers and it adds up to a lot over time. That water can be used on house plants, yard plants or even to refill the toilet tank after a flush (once you work on your speed). A plastic bucket in the shower is a very easy way to accomplish this.

For less than $50 you can purchase a 50 gallon plastic drum and convert it to a rain catcher (attached to a gutter downspout) complete with mounted spigot. It would only be good for outside watering, but it would save you some money on municipal water.

Also, as mentioned in the previous comments thread, skip a shower on your day off…unless you already smell like the goat man.

4. Buy clothes on clearance. Some clothes just never go out of style and those clothes can be gotten for a song at the end of winter and summer. Thursday I got a sweater for $4.00 and a long sleeved, solid color shirt for $3.40 at Kohl’s. Don’t buy faddish clothes on clearance-it’s too late by then.

Some very good deals can also be found on every day wear. I like colored tee’s that can be worn alone or under another shirt. Picked up two Jerzees at Target for $4.99 each. If they fade too badly, they become working around the house shirts that I can keep (literally) for years. I still have a shirt from high school (Riverdale, GA, class of ‘81) that I wear to change the oil in the cars, etc. If you have to wear Polo to cut grass, you have some serious issues ;^)

5. Buy clothes that last. No, this is not contradictory to #4. For me, this depends on what I’m buying. Hiking-wear is inherently expensive, so I’m willing to fork over the extra. There is an art to packing a backpack and every ounce counts. Forty-five bucks for quick dry nylon pants is far superior to packing jeans that hold every drop of water for hours. (Although, I did pick up a couple of Columbia nylon shirts for $9.99 each at Target. Similar shirts would have been $14.99-19.99 at REI.)

Shoes are another place that I don’t cut too many costs, though I still look for savings. As one gets older, the feet need special attention so the shoes that I wear a lot I’m willing to spend $90 or $100 to get. For me, those are going to be Montrail, Timberland, The North Face, etc, not patent leather that I will only wear a couple of hours a week. On those I will spend just enough to get by, provided they have good arch support.

6. Don’t allow your kids to become “brand conscious.” You’ll go broke trying to help you kids keep up with Aeropostale, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, Hollister’s or whatever else is the rage. Many teens could set their own style if they would follow Napoleon Dynamite to the local thrift store where they could find cool shirts for $2.00 that would run $32.00 for similar ones at the mall.

Shop for kids under middle school at Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx, etc. Kids don’t stay the same size long enough to justify spending $25.00 or more for a pair of tennis shoes or $40 for some silly sailor outfit.

The same can be true for adults. I am hard pressed to spend $40-50 on Levi’s or Lee jeans when I can get Wrangler or Urban Pipeline for $12-15. They all last the same length of time.

7. Combine errand trips. Taking ten trips to go ten places is just bad stewardship. Keep a list on the refrigerator or the kitchen chalk board for a few days and run errands on one trip rather than five.

8. Call home before coming home. Cell phones are a God send for communicating with home base. Call home when leaving the office to see if anything (milk, bread, last minute dinner ingredient) can be picked up while driving by the story anyway.

9. Work from home or a coffee shop a couple of days a week. During this time of skyrocketing gas prices, churches should understand that the pastor can get as much done at home and should bless him by allowing him to save the money. Concentrate as much office work as you can around two or three day during the week and work from home (prepare sermons, write, make phone calls) the other day or two. Cell phones and the prevalence of the internet at coffee shops and restaurants should make us more mobile, not less. Besides this, working from home means you don’t have to wash, dry and iron another set of clothes.

10. In the summer, avoid using the stove. Grill out or eat sandwiches. The stove not only takes a truck load of power to run, it heats up the house requiring more power to cool it. Buy a griddle for breakfast foods or grilled sandwiches.

After using the stove in the winter leave the door open for a few minutes to allow the remaining heat to warm the kitchen. (If you have small kids or clumsy family members, this may not be practical.)

11. Cut down on household waste (limits trips to the dump or recycling center). Fruit peels, coffee filters and grounds, egg shells and more can be used for compost. A large, thick “bean bag” from Starbucks can be used to store them under the sink until taken to the compost pile or bin. Many Starbucks stores also have used grounds available for customers to use at home in gardening. Those grounds are usually in the silver bags referenced above. (If you do not garden, you probably have a neighbor that would love to have it.) Find out if your local government allows trash burning and create a small fire ring in your back yard, thus saving gas or cost of a trash hauling company. Our county does not allow trash burning, but has set up numerous recycle centers around the county so that conscientious residents can recycle a LOT of household trash and dispose of the rest.

12. Change the filter on your AC/Heat unit according to the schedule. It both keeps the air clean and allow the system to run more efficiently.

13. Gradually change over to fluorescent lighting. Incandescent light bulbs use more energy, don’t last as long and bring more heat into the room. If you use lots of lamps, you’ll have to make sure that the shade attaches in such a way to allow for a non-round bulb. Some of the florescent bulbs, such as n:vision available at Home Depot, are now as small as regular bulbs. That particular brand is warranted to last nine years.

14. Turn the heat down at night. That’s why God created blankets and Grandma makes quilts. Flannel pjs for the kids are fine. Why run the heat at 72 degrees when no one is awake to enjoy it? Turn the thermostat down to 65 or lower and cover up! (Turn it down during the day, too. A shirt and sweater will keep most people warm in a 68 degree house. Besides, it’s good stewardship.)

15. Invest in a freezer. A solid upright freezer can be gotten from moving sales, estate sales or your local appliance company. Make sure it is not too old or the efficiency will simply not allow it to pay for itself. In my next post, I’ll talk about why it is so important.

16. Buy groceries once a month. Get into this habit as quickly as it is possible, perhaps when your tax return or tax rebate arrives. You will not believe how much money you will save with just this one move. (More on this one in the next post).

17. Trade the gas hog for economy. Prices are not coming down so now is the time to trade the Suburban, Expedition or Mammoth Car for a 4 cylinder or hybrid. I’m so thankful for my 30 mpg around town Accord, but we’re really debating what to do about our 18 mpg truck. If it can reasonably be worked out, it’ll be gone.

Coming next: Saving Money Through Winning the Grocery Game

To meet him was to be blessed by him. To be around him was to know that he was more than a man. To hear him was to become convinced that he knew God in a way that others didn’t. To know him was to have your life impacted forever.

My family went to Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Jonesboro, GA in December of 1976, if I’m not mistaken. All these years later, I’m not sure if Al and his family were already attending there but it seems that they were. Either way, it would be a short time before I met this man who would become my mentor and friend.

Though Al wasn’t trained in any Bible college or seminary, he influenced every man who ever served as his pastor and every young man called to preach at the church. I don’t know how long he taught in youth Sunday School, but I know that there have been decades worth of lives he’s influenced as kids listened to his teaching and encouragement and experienced his love during those formative years. I’ll never forget, as a high school aged boy, standing around with some friends one Sunday morning in the lobby of our church building yakking it up about probably nothing. Al walked over, leaned into the circle with hand extended and said, “Hello, men!” After he’d shaken hands and walked away, one of our group looked around and said, “Well, if Al says we’re men, I guess it’s time to grow up.” Another time, after my wife-to-be and I had only been dating for a few months, I was out on church visitation with Al. As part of a far ranging conversation he said, “Bobra (Mrs. Autrey’s name is “Barbara,” but he always pronounced it ‘Bobra’)…Bobra has already prognosticated that you are going to be marrying Sonya.” I don’t recall my verbal response to his statement, but inside I was thrilled; I still am after 24 years.

When I had a crisis of faith that brought me to my knees, there was only one person to whom I could talk and that was Al Autrey.  When we sat together, he wisely did not try to convince be that I was saved, but allowed the Holy Spirit to finish His convicting work unto salvation.

Al was with us on camps, retreats, visitation, at revivals, Bible studies. He never stopped encouraging. Not long after I got to New Bethany, he was able to pull away from his own responsibilities and come to hear me preach a time or two. After one service, when I had preached from Hebrews 11, he said, “That’s the best I’ve ever heard on faith.” Now, I know everyong he had heard because I had heard them, too. I don’t know whether it was really the best he’d heard, but I know it encouraged me for him to say that. “Marty, God’s gonna use you.” “Son, God’s given you wisdom beyond your years.” “There’s no telling what God’s going to do with you.” Over and over again I heard this kind of affirmation from Al.

Al had a brother named “Turtle” who was probably best friend my Dad ever had. More than ten years ago, Turtle was killed in a tragic accident while my parents were on a trip out west. At first we did not even know where or if we might find them, but were finally able to leave a message at a camp where they were staying. When my Dad called me, I began the conversation with, “There’s been an accident…” About 5 years ago, while on a retreat in Florida, I received a call from Sonya that began, “Honey, there’s been an accident…” I didn’t even have to ask “Who?” only “What and how bad?”

At the tender young age of 65 or so, Al was playing kick ball with a bunch of kids on a Wednesday night. For some reason, they were inside the building rather than on a field. In the course of the game, Al lost his balance and fell face first into the corner of a table. The angle and velocity of his fall caused the edge of the table to start at an area around his upper lip and proceed to peel his face almost from his skull. He almost died there from suffocation from the blood that was flowing. Al had several surgical procedures, but the doctors never were able to get things exactly right. One beneficial side effect from all the reconstructive work was that he got the effect of a face lift out of the deal. I always thought that was cheating.

At some point, cancer appeared. Started as prostate and went into remission once. Came back and couldn’t be stopped. As with so many who suffer with it, chemo was not very effective and, while it showed some promise at a time, didn’t bring the healing we all desired. After the blood counts were indicating a lack of progress, Al finally asked the doctor, “Why should I have more treatments?” The doctor replied, “To help you maintain a quality of life.” Al’s response was, “If this is a quality of life, then I don’t want any of it. I’m ready to go be with my Savior.”

After that decision, Al and Barbara had hundreds of visitors to their home. Since they live half-a-mile past the ends of the earth, almost no one drove less than an hour and many drove two or more. The man at the local hardware store stopped by…and cried. Cashiers from the local grocery store came to visit. Former co-workers came to visit. One former youth pastor drove in from Alabama while another flew in from Colorado to spend just a few more hours with this man. His church brought an entire bus load of people.

Alvin Luther “Al” Autrey went to be with Jesus Sunday, February 24 at about 2:30 in the morning. He’s left behind his wonderful family-Barbara, Connie, Resie, Lori and Chad (some with spouses), some grandkids, brothers, a sister, sisters-in-law, his Mom and impacted lives, the number of which only God Himself can count.

Al, I miss you already.  I love you and I’ll see you soon.  Tell Turtle not to drink all the coffee.

So, this whole education thing has been bothering be for a while. It seems that there is a tremendous misplacing of emphasis in the Christian community on the value and prominence of education in life and I’m not talking theological education. There is an appearance that many Christian parents value a good education (both middle and high school as well as college) over their child’s place in the kingdom. Probably this results from the parents concern that their child be able to gain a good employment and a steady means of income so that they do not have to live with the parents for the rest of their days. But, which kingdom holds sway in the end?

It is not uncommon for Christian parents to give their children a choice about participating in kingdom activities, while insisting that the child be in school and attend college. I’ve known many a parent who would restrict a child from a church activity (even student worship) because of poor grades, but never known a single parent who refused their child the Friday night football game because they had neglected their daily devotions. Many parents ask Little Johnny or Little Suzy if they want to go to the church’s youth retreat, but force them to go to band camp. And what is to be made of the parent who assents to the child’s not wanting to go to church, but would never assent to the same excuse made about school on Monday morning? Yes, I’m aware that there is some exaggeration to make a point, but it isn’t much.

Of all the excuses that I have heard, the one that has always just killed me is, “Well, if I force them to go to church now, they will not want to go when they are older.” If there needs to be one single example of the spirit of the age invading the church, this is it.

Scripture is explicit that it is the responsibility of the parents to raise children in the nurture and teaching of the Lord. The Lord informed the children of Israel that He desired “Godly seed.” It has never been God’s plan that Christian parents give their children an option toward Godliness, but that Christian parents lead and train in that respect. There are more than enough temptations abounding in the public school and college arenas through which kids have to negotiate on their own without the weight of inconsistent parents who don’t have a spiritual clue themselves. I’ve long believed that kids, rather than rejecting God and church, are actually rejecting the God and church of their parents, a quasi-religious Christian faith that was only exercised 1 hour of the week, never being witnessed in the home or in any practical sense. (This is not to say that all kids who abandon the faith have unfaithful parents, only that that particular diagnosis seems to be overlooked.) Several years ago I spoke with a high school junior who, up until that point, had been as faithful in attendance as her unfaithful mom would allow. She was really struggling with the the reality of faith, when she looked at me and said, “If what my Mother has is Christianity, then I don’t want it.” Case closed.

When our going-on-23 daughter was fifteen, she informed Sonya and I that she wanted to spend the summer in Canada doing missions. Not with a church trip, mind you, but she wanted to go and be a part of something that anyone was doing that would impact the kingdom. So, at the tender age of 16, she boarded a Northwest Airlines flight alone out of Atlanta to spend 7 weeks in Calgary to participate in Crossover Alberta and whatever else she was requested to do. She did the same thing for 7 or 8 weeks the summer of her 17th year. I’m praying now with out son that he, now 16, will spend some time this summer immersed in a kingdom opportunity somewhere.

It seems that there are too many kingdom opportunities that parents are letting slip through the cracks in relation to their kids. Do we remember that they are not our kids after all? Before our kids were even born, we had offered them to the Lord for His service to do whatever He desired. If He want to place them nationally, internationally or locally that is His business. If He wants them married or single, that is His business. I think that churches may be facing an ongoing situation where parents are so flagrantly living according to the priorities of the world that pastors are assuming too much to think that they have any kingdom knowledge at all.

I have a growing concern that the willingness of Christian parents to consistently prioritize the educational realm unwittingly pushes their children into an environment where philosophical naturalism has the upper hand.  It is as if parents, with the constant push for “good grades” are setting their kids up for spiritual failure, if education is not taught within the total framework of Christian living.  My hope would be that parents would awaken to the fact that kingdom living, not Phi Kappa Beta, is the priority of God’s economy.  That knowing God, not knowing trig, is the bearer of eternal fruit and that the missio dei trumps summa cum laude every time.

Years ago, Focus on the Family (I think), deemed that October should forever be Pastor Appreciation Month. As a pastor, I really like this emphasis as it has become the impetus for cards, calls and gifts received throughout the month. I ain’t complaining.

Today, I’d like to focus on the person at our church who makes Pastor Appreciation Month possible for me: Sonya Duren, my wife. If it wasn’t for her I don’t think I could survive from October to October to receive all the appreciations.

When Sonya and I were dating, I made the grievous error of buying a book about the pastor’s wife by some well meaning woman who was obviously writing from a context of the 1950’s or maybe even the 1940’s. It nearly scared her to death. I’m not sure why she decided to go ahead and marry me, but she did and has never tried to match up to the cookie cutter model advocated in the book. She is the perfect wife for me.

She doesn’t sing in the choir or play the piano, she’s never led VBS or taught kids Sunday school and she sits on the back row during church. But, for me and a number of women in our church she is a repository of wisdom. She’s read the Bible completely through more times than I’ve started. She’s in her 16th year of homeschooling our three kids, with the only graduate (so far) from the Duren Home School graduating in December from Georgia State University with a degree in Philosophy and a 3.8 GPA. Not bad for a teacher who only took one college class.
If there is a spiritual gift of hospitality then she has it. She is a marvelous interior designer who frequents Hobby Lobby and yard sales for our home decor. I’ve often joked with our congregation that, “We’ve probably got some of your stuff hanging on our walls.” Our home has a warmth that is recognized and commented on by guests. She has a great eye for color and has more plans for remodeling our yard than we could accomplish in 10 lifetimes. If we ever build another house, she has a notebook crammed with pictures and ideas torn from Southern Living and House Beautiful. She could give Ty Pennington a run for his money.

She’s gone with me on many adventures, some of which she was more than a little uncertain when we started, but we’ve managed to go together and stay together. From small church to mega church to medium church to not sure about church, she’s always been with me and I’ve never once thought that she might leave.

There’s no place that I’d rather be than in a north Georgia or North Carolina cabin making love to Sonya Duren. If marriage is about the completion of two people, then there can be no doubt that these two puzzle pieces were meant for each other. She is the love of my life and I’m taking this moment to say, “Happy Pastor’s Wife Appreciation Month, honey.”

While on vacation this week, my son, Timothy, and I decided to go on a hike. Actually, the hike was pre-planned, but we adjusted it from two nights to one so that he could get back and do some mission stuff with our Student Ministry.

Continuing my section hiking of the Appalachian Trail, we put in at Unicoi Gap on Monday at around 1:20 to begin a 5.5 mile section that would take us to the Tray Mountain Shelter where we would spend the first night. Upon beginning, the heat and humidity was murderous and we were chugging Power-Aid about as fast as we could get it down. About 4 miles in, it began to cloud over as the weather forecast had predicted–60% chance of scattered thunderstorms.

A few minutes later it began to sprinkle. We were in a heavily wooded part of the trail, each side completely lined with Mountain Laurels and a reasonably thick canopy overhead. The rain began to intensify so we found an area that appeared to provide some protection and waited. No such luck.

As we waited, the rain turned in to a deluge of Noahic proportions. After 7 or 8 minutes of waiting under our “protective canopy” we were drenched. Timothy said, “Well, we might as well go ahead and head up the mountain.” Captain Obvious. We started up the hill, hiking up a trail that had already become a stream that engulfed his shoes and my boots, filling them up. We looked like a couple of drowned rats within five more minutes. Our backpacks were soaked as was every single layer of our clothing.

The higher we ascended, the harder the rain became. Thunder was steady and lightening flashed to the left and to the right. I felt not unlike John Muir.

IT WAS GREAT!!

We got to the shelter (thank God we didn’t have to use the tent), found that the clothes inside our packs had not gotten soaked and thus changed into the driest ones we could find, ate and settled into our sleeping bags for the night…at 6:30 pm.

Since we had removed our second night of camping, today (Tuesday) turned into a 10.5 mile hike to our pick up point, Dick’s Creek Gap and GA Hwy 76. We headed out just before 7:45 am for a several hour trek over another pretty tall peak (Kelly’s Knob) which would be the third of the hike. Most of the rest was steadily downhill. For a non-hiker, this sounds like a dream, but if you’ve ever done it you know it isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Downhill hiking, after the first hour or so, feels like being chased down a mountain by the 35 pound back on your back. The constant downhill motion pushes the toes into the front of your shoes/boots continuously and can cause your toenails to actually cut the next toes, and this is also what causes blisters on the heels of your feet. Timothy and I took turns leading and I quickly realized that he had reached the point that he could outpace me if he desired; he’s 16 and I’m 43. At some point in the last 18 months that young cat developed a climbing gear that this old lion doesn’t have.

At the point where we had three miles left it was about 11:30 am. We had just finished a 15 or so minute break of Clif Bars and Gatorade when I said, “Why don’t you go ahead and set your own pace. See how fast you can get to the end and don’t stop to wait for me.” Famous last words.

Within 3 minutes, he was out of sight. Uphill, downhill, uphill and then two miles of downhill. Brutal stuff after walking 7.5 miles already. For me, it was some of the hardest hiking I’ve done. At 2:00 I finally stepped off the trail, weary and ready for some real food. As I crossed the street, he jumped of the tailgate of the truck and said, “I got here at 1:09.” No stinkin’ way. “How do you know,” I asked. I already knew he’d forgotten his watch. “As soon as I walked over here a lady came off the trail on this side and I asked her.” He’d blistered the last three miles of a 10.5 mile hike in 1:39 and beaten me by 51 minutes. I’m a dead man.

It was wonderful to spend that time with him. But I’m not trying to prove myself against his stamina anymore. That’s too embarrassing.

Not by accident, I snapped this photo this morning of the atomic clock (www.time.gov) at exactly 07.07.07 on 07.07.07. Coincidentally, today happens to be my wife’s __th birthday and she had a great one.

Here is my beloved, with daughter Abigail, at the World War II Memorial in DC in April of this year.