Don’t be Greedy for the Good Things of this Life

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We have so much stuff in my home. I get tired of all the toys that the kids have, the clutter all around the house. I have just as much as the kids do. Some days I long to live a simpler, clutter-free life. I dream about selling most of the toys. (Notice, I didn’t say sell my stuff.) But, then I worry that I’m “damaging” my kids. If I’m honest, I want to live through them. Let them have what I didn’t have growing up. That’s not good.

Colossians 3:5 says “Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.”

Ouch. I’m pretty sure I’m materialistic even if I don’t want to be. And I’m teaching my kids to be materialistic and how to idolize “stuff”.

I have a fear of letting go of my “stuff”. What if I need it?

The bottom line is where is my heart? Where do I place my value? In God or possessions? Have I set up an idol above God?

Those are hard questions. Ones I don’t really want to answer.

Solution? One way to guard against greed is to be a giver. I can definitely be more of a giver and not a hoarder of what I have. I’d rather lay up my treasures in heaven than on earth.

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Single Mom Trip to Disney World -Watch out for those late nights!

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I recently took my first trip as a single mom of 3 kids to Disney World. I wasn’t too scared since I have done a few mini trips to visit family. Even so, Disney World is a BIG undertaking for a single parent. I wanted to share one of the things that I learned about evenings.

If you stay in the parks late, figure out what you will do if the kids fall asleep on the way to the bus. I had not thought of this potential problem.

I have 1 child walking, who is clearly awake, but child #2 & #3 fell asleep each night in the stroller.

Dilemma: How do I fold the stroller up for the bus when I have 2 sleeping kids and only one of me?

Solution: My oldest was thankfully old enough to carry my youngest. She would be in charge of her. My #2 child? Well, I had no choice but to wake him up. By the last night, he would not wake up as easily and would be half asleep walking toward the bus, falling down, running into things, etc. Thankfully, on the last night, the family behind me guided my child to the bus.

That left me to fold up and carry the heavy double stroller onto the bus, hoping I wouldn’t fall over. I also had a loaded backpack on my back that was pretty heavy with our ponchos, fans, food, drinks, etc.

The buses were packed like sardines at night, so it was a very tight fit for me with my huge backpack and huge stroller. My kids and I would sometimes be separated because there might only be seats in the back, but I needed to stay in the front with my stroller. Nights were not fun.

On the last night, I received alot of help from the other guests. Someone carried my stroller on and off the bus for me. I actually had 2 people offer on the way off. God was watching over me and provided the help that I needed. That was the first time anyone offered to help me my entire trip, but it was the end of our trip when help was much appreciated. We were tired.

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The Goodwill Outlet – 30lbs of clothing in 4 hours

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Today, I spent 4 hours at the bins and brought home 30lbs of clothing. I’m trying hard to find more within a short amount of time, but this seems to be average for me. I know I’m slow. I’m still looking things up on my phone. Some items I know will sell, but for some brands, I forget. That could be what’s slowing me down.

My typical schedule at the bins is source for 1.5 hours and then start sorting for rejects. I get there at opening so that I will get a cart – they are gone within hours by those who take 4 or 5. I’m usually mentally done by noon.

My “peave” for today: A lady was next to me busy picking clothes out of the bins. She kept moving toward me as if I wasn’t there and finally got right in front of me looking for and pulling clothes right from me, clearly crossing a boundary. Yes, it’s dog eat dog world at the bins, but most people are a little more respectful.

One of my finds from another visit:

A Floppy Seat Cover. My bins charge $.99/lb, so I got this for about $3 and sold it for $15+ shipping.

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Homeschooling & Working from Home as a Single Mom

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My heart’s desire is to continue to homeschool my three children even though I am now a single mom of three kids. Two are in elementary and one in PreK.

I’m not sure how I will be able to support myself, but I’m going to try. I know there are plenty of single moms and dads who make it work.

At first I thought I had to “settle” for a 8-5 job. I wasn’t sure how that would work since I haven’t worked in 15 years. However, I realized my desire is to stay home with my kids as much as I can. I want a flexible schedule to be there for them for whatever is going on. I also don’t want them in day care or before/after school care. I know how it feels to have both parents working outside the home. My parents weren’t available during the day for me.

As I started Googling “working from home” online, I came across the idea of selling on Amazon through their FBA program. It reasonated with me. I learned all I could about it and started about a year ago. Selling online is not new to me. I sold heavily in eBay before I had my first child 9 years ago. Because of this, I learned quickly.

My first summer, coincided with the first summer where my kids would be at their dad’s for 2 days at a time. I worked long hours going to thrift stores to find books to sell. Books are cheap and require less capital than other things. I used this time to experiment with selling.

Once school began, I struggled balancing it all. I hate to be working when my kids aret available, so I probably did less than I should or could have.

Over a year’s time, I have built my business to a point where there’s no turning back mentally. I can’t fathom doing anything else.

My business has grown, but not to a point where I can live off of what I make. I’ve made some adjustments and have started eBay on the side. Selling on eBay can give me a quick turn around of capital since capital has been a big issue. My capital is usually tied up in unsold inventory at Amazon. I don’t always have the money to buy more inventory to sell. eBay has helped a lot.

I look forward to seeing how much more my business will grow in the next year. I know more than I did and can use that to my advantage.

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