Lesson #3: Use What You Have {Take Two}

* I originally posted this late Tuesday night so a few of you might have seen it briefly, but an email from my dad early Wednesday morning alerted me to the fact that somehow I had messed things up and most of the fifth paragraph was missing.  Eek!  When it comes to writing, if there's one thing I DON'T like, it's having to go back and try to reconstruct something that I had written but which is now lost.  But I'm going to do what I don't like and try to patch together something to fix that fifth paragraph and get this published again.


The intro to this series is here.
Lesson #1 is here.
Lesson #2 is here.

Back in the spring of this year, after we had finished our homeschooling year and before we went to the annual homeschool convention, I undertook a huge task:  cleaning out our homeschool closet.  Although I've always been extremely grateful to be able to have a storage area completely devoted to homeschool supplies, I've struggled mightily to keep it in any semblance of order.  The materials we are currently using are kept inside our house, and I have a good system for maintaining organization with those; but all the extra "stuff" gets thrown into that closet on our glassed-in porch and becomes a mess in a short amount of time.  Consequently, I find myself in the predicament of "I KNOW I have a book about this somewhere; where could it be?"  Not a very effective way to homeschool.

As I proceeded with my clean-out-the-closet project, I discovered something along the way, a principle that became a guiding force for me for the rest of the year:  use what you have.  I went into the project expecting to find, in the mess, some helpful tools for homeschooling, but I assumed I would still need to buy quite a few materials for the next year of homeschooling (which we are now almost halfway through!).  I was wrong.  As it turned out, I had an abundance of books and learning tools and other supplies about a variety of subjects and for a range of ages.  The math curriculum I thought I needed to get for David?  I didn't need it once I saw how many math materials we have for his first grade level.  A handwriting course for Josiah?  There's no need to spend money on something fancy for that, since I can have him use a regular ol' pencil and piece of paper for that.  A literature book?  Nah.  Between all the books we check out of our library and a literature book that I saved from my school years, we're in good shape.  A disk of computer "games" that teach skills like math facts, spelling, etc.?  Nope, don't need that either.  A plethora of educational games are available for free online, and that's good enough for us.  (Speaking of free online, here's a very helpful list of resources for free online home education, most of which I have not tried yet but look forward to doing so in the future.)  A complete multi-level history curriculum?  No thanks.  We had the first volume of The Story of the World lurking in that closet, even though I had not previously used it.  With using that and supplementing it with books we already have or are able to get from the library, we're doing fine with history...and having fun, too.  :)

There's no way to accurately calculate how much money I saved by simply getting that closet in order and then being willing to use what we have.  Sure, having to piece together my boys' education from various materials is not quite as convenient as having it all put in place for me.  But ya know, I can do it.  And it's kinda fun to be the one to take a little of this and a lot of that and mix it all up into an education that challenges and encourages and inspires my children.  It's a whole lot cheaper, too.  :)

When we went to the homeschool convention, I went more prepared than I had the year before.  This time, I knew the few items that I was looking for, so I could quickly and easily compare prices and make decisions.  Plus, I knew the subjects we would be studying; and especially in the used curriculum sale, I could scan the massive amount of items to see what might be useful for us.  I didn't come away from it feeling like I bought impulsively and ended up with material that didn't really fit into our school year.  The things I did choose to buy were things I knew would be a great asset to us...and it didn't cost an arm and a leg.  One thing is certain:  I hope to, every single year, do my preliminary planning for the following school year BEFORE the convention so I can do a thrifty job of using what we have (which obviously requires knowing what we have!) and spending a minimal amount of money to fill in the gaps.

Homeschooling is not, however, the only area that has benefited from the "use what you have" principle this year.  Another important area is menu planning and meal preparation.  In times past, I had developed an eight-week rotating menu which I liked very much because it took the guesswork out of the "what's for dinner?" question and also out of grocery shopping.  But then I realized that, although I liked those meals, I wasn't doing a good job of using the food that we already had here at home.  Various cuts of meat, for example, weren't getting used up because they only came up once every eight weeks.  Same with some items in our cellar.  We've been blessed this year with quite a bit of "free" food:  from fresh produce from our garden to a lot of meat, including two deer that friends shot and gave to us.  Although I wasn't experienced in cooking venison, I was delighted to have the meat--and even more delighted when we were able to share it with our Old Order neighbors in exchange for their help in butchering and preparing the meat.  Win-win for both of us!  As the year has gone by, I've learned to pause before writing "boneless skinless chicken breasts" (my go-to meat for its convenience and versatility) on my grocery list yet again, and instead use some of the other less-convenient cuts of meat and stretch my menu planning ability a little bit.   Before, I used to start with my list of meals we like and then prepare our grocery list and menu from that = more money at the grocery store.  Now, I think about what we already have and then flesh out the rest of my meals from that = less money at the grocery store.  It feels good to be helping our family financially, even in such a small way.

I'll mention one more way I've applied the "use what you have" principle; and although it's much less significant than the first two, I was still happy to discover it.  I had a big, mostly bare flowerbed that "needed" something put in it (weeds don't count).  We have a huge pile of mulch behind our woodshed (the mulch came from small branches that were chipped when we had a few trees cut down about a year and a half ago), so I was able to weed that flowerbed, enrich the soil with compost from our pile, then cover it with mulch.  But what to grow in it?  Rather than going to the store for plants, I unceremoniously yanked up a couple of rosebushes that were in a back flowerbed where I did not want them to be, and I planted them in the vacant flowerbed.  Maybe "yanked" isn't the right word, but it nearly is.  If police could give tickets for Reckless Gardening, I'd surely deserve my fair share of them!!  :)  As it turned out, one of the bushes I had transplanted survived, and one did not.  No big deal at the loss, since I hadn't paid a red cent for them.  This fall I decided to try again, and I actually used a little more caution this time, consulting first with my next-door neighbor to see if I could up my odds of success.  I learned about taking cuttings from other rosebushes, so I got one from a beautiful Queen Elizabeth rosebush by our patio and another one from a lovely red rosebush by my parents' door and did the necessary steps to plant them.  So far, they're doing OK; and I'm eager to see if they prosper when spring comes.  If not, I'll do a little more research, talk to my neighbor a little more, then likely try again.  Using what we already have is a wonderful way to garden!

If I could sum all of this up into one word, it would be this:  contentment.  Hebrews 13:5 tells us to "be content with what you have"; and although I will be the first to admit that there are certain areas in which I had the hardest time finding contentment this year, it is encouraging to look back and see how there was some growth in other areas.  I hope, as 2012 comes galloping, that I continue to learn the lesson that, when facing a "need," whether it be in homeschooling, cooking, gardening, or so many other areas, rather than thinking "what can I buy to fill this void?" let my first thought be "what can I use that I already have?"  Not only will it help our bank account, it will also help my heart to continue to make progress along the path of true contentment.

~ these pictures of a recent sunset I enjoyed have nothing to do with this post, but why should I let that stop me from including them here?  ;-)