"Failure Reminds us of Grace During Lent," Simplicity in the Burbs ($2 a day) [Day 15-16]

Last updated on: July 6, 2011 at 7:13 pm by Kurt Willems

"Failure Reminds us of Grace During Lent," Simplicity in the Burbs ($2 a day) [Day 15-16] 2011-07-06T19:13:12-07:00 Kurt Willems

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Failure. I failed. It was unintentionally, but nevertheless, I failed. My goal for Lent has been to stay under $2 a day with my food and any extra expenses that may come up. And yesterday when I hit the auto-sum button on my Excel spreadsheet, I realized I had topped the scales by $0.08. I truly was bummed but then I began to think of the character of God. If my goal is to appease God, then I am missing the point. And if my goal is to prove that “I can do it” or some other ego driven piety, then I miss the point. The God I worship cares about the heart and not the letter of the law. He is a God who provided cities of Refuge for those who unintentionally committed a grave offense. He is the God who reminds me that it is his grace that has saved this mortal life, not my effort. Grace. Maybe that is the word I should have started this post with. My failure reminds me of Christ’s competence and that in Christ, grace and his faithfulness are wonderful gifts. So, to rewrite the beginning of this post…

Grace. I receive grace. It was not of my own doing, which is why it is grace.

Here are the totals for the past two days…

23-Mar Organic Applesauce 1 mini cup $0.31 Egg Rice Salsa plate Egg 1 $0.26 Rice 1 serving $0.18 Salsa 1 serving $0.10 Frozen organic juice 1 $0.32 chocolate covered peanuts 9 $0.15 Organic baby carrots left over $0.14 PB&J Tortilla roll-up Tortilla 1 $0.04 Organic Peanut Butter 4 tbs $0.18 Organic Strawberry Jam 2 tbs $0.10 Tortilla 4 $0.16 Butter / sugar / cinnamon dash’ $0.06 $2.00 24-Mar Organic Oatmeal $0.36 Egg Rice Salsa plate Egg 1 $0.26 Rice 1 serving $0.18 Salsa 1 serving $0.10 Organic Applesauce 1 mini cup $0.31 Tortilla 2 $0.08 chocolate covered peanuts 9 $0.15 PB&J Tortilla roll-up Tortilla 1 $0.04 Organic Peanut Butter 4 tbs $0.18 Organic Strawberry Jam 2 tbs $0.10 Frozen organic juice $0.32 TOTAL FOR MAR 24 $2.08

(Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day

Previous Post

March 25, 2011

How Much More? [Brief Reflections on Rob Bell] (Guest Post: Alan Molineaux)

Next Post

April 5, 2011 When Beliefs Become Idols (Quote to Ponder: Tim Keller)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Series) All Out War-Spiritual Warfare (Series) Church Plant Journal (Series) Dear Reader... (Series) Earthquakes...Signs of the Times? (Series) Entering the... Conversation (Series) Evangelical Culture Myths (Series) Everything is Meaningless [Pete Enns] (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism (Series) Hell Yes. Hell No! Who Cares? (Series) Hidden Worldviews (Series) If Evolution is Right, what about Adam? (Series) in less than 300 words (Series) Jesus and Nationalism (Series) Liberating Women for Ministry? (Series) Life-Changing Books (Series) Markers of Church Plant Movement (Series) Nonviolence 101 (Series) Philemon - Reconciliation (Series) Quote to Ponder (Series) Red Letter Dialogues (Series) Resource of the Week (SERIES) Revelation Sermons (Series) Share Something Sundays (Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day (Series) The Binding of God [Open Theism] (Series) The Creed: Anabaptist Reflections (Series) Values for Church Leadership (Series) Video to Ponder Anabaptism Animal Advocacy Books Church Ministry Church Planting Community Culture Eschatology Eucharist Evangelical Reject Evolution Fundamentalism Greek Greg Boyd Guest Contributors Hell Holy Spirit Israel/Palestine Kingdom of God Lent Missional N. T. Wright Nationalism New Creation Nonviolence Open Mic Open Theism Parenting Passover Paul Philemon Podcast Politics Restorative Justice Revelation (the book of) Rob Bell Ron Martoia Sermon Shane Claiborne Social Justice Speaking Engagement Spiritual Warfare Spirituality Temple Theology Tim Geddert Tribulation Uncategorized universalism Video Blog Women in Ministry Worship Music Youth Ministry

Select a Month August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nehemiah Haggai Zerubbabel Ezra

Support this
Column