investing

I love the internet. I love the world-at-your-fingertips sensation. I love the opportunity to learn, learn, learn.

But I am sometimes inundated, and find that with all of my reading and discovering, I must be even more vigilant to keep first Thing first. You know? There are so many good things, and the more I learn about them, the more I want to do them. But at some point, I have to realize that time here is limited, and while I want to be a good steward in every way I can, I can’t spend my whole life in pursuit of organic whole grains. There is Jesus, after all, and no amount of fair trade and non-toxic household cleaners will save souls.

(You can obviously see what kinds of good things tend to draw my attention.)

So this is a constant question I must be asking myself: How much of my limited resources (time, energy, money) is this worth? Will the benefit to my family, or the environment, or whatever, be worth the investment?

Like:

Is it worth the $$$ to, say, buy a whole bunch of reusable shopping bags?

Or:

Is it worth the $$$, and mostly the time, to switch? I love the thought of no more weird chemicals on baby’s skin, but is it worth it? (Just look at those! Who wouldn’t want to switch!)

There are some things that I just know are worth investing into, though. Like:

And a bit of random joy from California: Guess what I’ve been picking and eating from my new backyard?

The sweetest, juiciest plums EVER! I wish I could mail one to my dad. What awesome summer love they are!

**p.s. The upfront investment of cloth diapers can be a bit staggering, but of course, in the long run, it’s quite the savings.

10 Comments investing

  1. darlenesinclair

    Enjoy the plums – on Grandpa’s farm they were always a favorite with me!

    You heard about the extended stay in London? One more night abroad. Could be worse… Hopefully they will have no more trouble tomorrow!

    Reply
  2. brietta

    Well, if it makes you feel any better, more current research is showing that cloth diapers don’t save you a dime and probably actually cost more in the long-run, especially if you live in a more expensive area of the country, where water/sewage costs are higher. But they still look so soft and nice to put on a baby’s bottom that they’d be worth it, if you ask me!!

    P.S. I love the way Jameson is looking at Ryan’s head– like, “What in the world are we doing?!?!”

    Reply
  3. Lynsay

    We do cloth…with the chinese prefold cotton flat diapers with Bumkins brand diaper covers (they are some sort of nylon/plastic cover which probably isn’t the best for the environment in the long run) but I have found that they arn’t that much work if you have a washing machine at home. Just throw ‘um in and walk away. Now, if you were back in my grandma’s era, she was having to wash them by hand and then run them through the wringer, the whole time making sure the baby wasn’t tearing the house apart or getting into anything she shouldn’t have…and she said that would take her a lot of the day! But, contrary to the discouraging remarks I would get when I would tell people I was doing cloth…I really don’t think it’s all that bad! And we use disposable when diaper rash presents itself or when we are going out somewhere…I suppose we go through a Costco sized Huggies box about once a month or less…I have found that each time I go to buy more disposables from Costco, I need to get the next size up…so that may give you an idea on the savings there…although, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what we spend in water to wash them…I probably do a load of diapers once or twice a week…anyway…that may all be more than you wanted to know!! :o)
    Love you guys!
    Lyns

    Reply
  4. sam

    I loved this post for many reasons, one being that I can get on the same type of tangent. :)

    I don’t really like those bags, they’re too big. I would like to make simple ones like you talked about though.

    The diapers? Well they are the cutest things I’ve ever seen. However, I wonder how long they would stay just that pretty… I did cloth for the first two. There was something quite satisfying about having all those diapers flapping on the clothesline on a sunny day. Yeah, I know I’m weird.

    I’m really trying not to be totally envious of the plums as I realize how much grocery bill has gone up now that all the seasonal fruit is available. Lucky you.

    Reply
  5. sarah o.

    I have just started to use less plastic bags and more paper or cloth. I figure it isn’t much more effort or cost on my part, and it makes an impact on the environment to not have so much plastic in landfills. With diapers it’s the same thing. Even if they are the same cost or even more, they only take 6 months to decompose instead of 500 years like a disposable. plus cloth isn’t linked in any studies to male infertility. And if you bought enough diapers, you could do laundry only once or twice a week. Maybe instead of the time you would spend running to the store to buy diapers.

    I know what you mean about keeping Christ first. Sometimes I talk so much about all these mothering things that possess so much of my mind and my time, and I forget that He should be what I think about the most. Have you read “The Cross Centered Life”? It is such a nice reminder that Christ should be the center of or lives.

    Reply
  6. Tracy

    I love our cloth diapers (Fuzzi Bunz). 2 extra loads of laundry a week is no big deal and the only time he has had diaper rash is when he had to wear disposables when we were traveling or something. Not convinced of environmental benefits b/c while I’m keeping them out of the landfill, I’m also using water and electricity to wash them. But during the summer I, too, find satisfaction in seeing them out on the line! As for cost, the numbers aren’t much different for the first baby but since the diapers I have hold up quite well for 3-4 babies, that’s where the savings will come in. I agree, though, that it depends on who you are and where you live as to whether or not it is worth it.

    Reply
  7. Timothy Foote

    Don’t know anything about diapers, so I’ll stay out of that discussion. But I do know plastic film!

    http://www.ilea.org/lcas/franklin1990.html

    This report is important in looking at the long term consequences and costs of some cities (ahem) heavy hand approach at banning plastic bags. The energy used and waste resulting from paper bags is surprising.

    Reply
  8. Lori Ruehle

    We switched to cloth diapers with Bethany a couple months ago, and there are definitely pros and cons. I have found that adjusting to the routine of washing and assembling diapers (we use Happy Heinies) hasn’t been much of a hassle, but there are more leaks and a much bigger bum on the baby :). It does seem that cost benefits would really only become significant when using them for more than one child….though the cost of water and electricity (in Milwaukee, anyway) don’t add significantly to the expense. We have tried to decide, too whether the disposable diapers or the use of water and electricity have more of an environmental impact, and I guess it depends on where one thinks our environment is most at risk. We are still trying to decide if, after considering everything, it is worth the extra time and hassle…but I have heard that cloth diapers have a decent resale value, so if you try them and change your mind, all is not lost.

    Reply
  9. Kathy

    I liked what you said: I want to be a good steward in every way I can, I can’t spend my whole life in pursuit of organic whole grains. There is Jesus, after all, and no amount of fair trade and non-toxic household cleaners will save souls.

    It’s amazing how busy we can get with stuff like this and find that it really does take over our lives. Soon we become crusaders of healthy bodies and the environment instead of soul-saving.

    Reply

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