Reed's Hair

My husband is a very selfless, caring man. He consistently puts the needs of others- myself, customers at work, friends, family- before his own needs or desires. Sometimes though, there is another facet of this level of concern for others... apathy about his own needs and desires. This being said, Reed having his hair cut has been one of the areas where he lets his apathy towards himself take over. He has told me many times before that he wishes he could grow his hair out forever, or keep himself shaved bald, because then he would never have to worry about what he looked like, or have to take care of his hair. We tried this 'let's not care and not cut it' approach for a while. Reed was happy because he didn't have to take time out of his life to go to the barber, and because he thinks paying for something unnecessary is wasteful. I was happy without cutting it because every time I did convince him to go, he would drill me for instructions to give to the barber... and I never knew what to say.

This is the result of the no cutting method:
Which, actually, I thought was pretty cute!( A little untraditional, but think Jim, from The Office).

Then, we decided to go visit Reed's family for Thanksgiving, about 2 weeks after the above picture was taken. So, we decided to trim it up a little. Unfortunately, it was about 2 in the morning the night before, as we were packing, that we decided this. And all we had to do the job with was, lol, a broken beard trimmer. It came out pretty badly, very choppy and uneven (again, broken beard trimmer... not the job it was meant to do... not my fault!) I'm not sure if you really get the full effect in this picture:


So, for Christmas, I got him a hair cutter set. At this point we've pretty much decided that I will be cutting the Kerr household hair because, like I said before, Reed hates spending money on 'non necessities,' particularly if he feels they are borderline vanity. (The set I bought will pay for itself in 1.5 haircuts.) I cut my own hair, and have for years (see previous pictures). Reed admitted to me today that if he had to pick a favorite look, he likes the longer hair (first pic) the best. We decided that I needed to even out the cut I gave him with the beard trimmer for his hair not to look so choppy as it grew back out. This was the before:


The during:
And the after: I think it came out pretty well! What do you think?

Mere Christianity

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, one that was pushed aside for a while. Getting caught up in the business of life made me loose time for the things I enjoy-- like reading! Since I have gotten back in the habit, (though trying to fit in school work does cut in on the amount of reading I'd like to be doing) I've decided that after each book, I will post on the passage from that book that was the most meaningful to me.

The book: Mere Christianity
Author: C. S. Lewis

From chapter 3: Social Morality

"In the passage where the New Testament says that everyone must work, it gives as a reason 'in order that he may have something to give to those in need.' Charity- giving to the poor, is an essential part of Christian morality: in the frightening parable of the sheep and the goats it seems to be the point on which everything turns. Some people nowadays say that charity ought to be unnecessary and that instead of giving to the poor we ought to be producing a society in which there were no poor to give to. They may be right in saying that we ought to produce this kind of society. But if anyone thinks that, as a consequence, you can stop giving in th meantime, then he has parted company with all Christian morality. I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comfort, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them." (emphasis mine)

I think that the principle of Christian charity is something that has the potential to make Christians very uncomfortable. It is so easy to say you love your neighbor, but when it comes down to showing that love in a real and tangible way, are you willing to sacrifice your comfort? We live in a culture that is obsessed with self gratification. Lewis said that if we're living the same way as others with similar income, we're not giving enough! Is your standard measured by others around you? Or do you measure yourself by Christ's example, who served with everything he had? It is so easy to write a check to the church every week, or donate to a charity at Christmas, but where is your heart? If your brother needs something you have, will you give it to him to make him more comfortable than yourself? If we are called to love enough that we would lay our lives down for our friends (John 15:13) shouldn't it be understood that He also expects us to give our time and our resources?

1 John 3:16-18 has been particularly convicting for me recently:
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

You may not feel like you have 'the world's goods' but you surely have more than someone else. Let our love for each other be evidenced by action, and not 'in word or talk.'

Whoops

How did I ignore this blog for a month? I feel like I've abandoned my creation :( So many times since December I have thought, "Oh, that would make a good post" or "I need to snap a picture of that to put up." But alas, here I am a month later with no new postings. The longer I didn't post, the more difficult it became to come back! I felt like I needed to come back with an increasingly more important blog the longer I stayed away. Well, here I am with nothing of great importance:

As I said in my last post, I did have a hematologist appointment, in preparation for pregnancy. But after waiting for 2 hours,and charging me a 40 co-pay I might add, the doctor just drew blood and sent me home. He is new to me, and said that he needs my past files before we can sit down and talk about special pregnancy precautions. I go back next Monday.

In other news, my mom and little brother came down to VA to spend some time with us. Clee (my brother) came down for about 2 weeks and my mom for one. It was nice to all be together on Mike's one year anniversary. I cannot believe it's been a year since he died! What a strange feeling to look back on this year, and realize he is not a part of all these new memories. The Lord has been good to us, but I don't think something like loosing a family member is ever easy.

I have also started couponing and CVS-ing as of late. I have a coupon book all organized, and I use it every week! If you're not sure what CVS-ing is, you should head over to this blog It is a wonderful way to get most of your toiletries for free! I am still learning, and trying to spend as little out of pocket as possible, but I can already tell that I'll never have to buy toothpaste again! I am learning from manyof the frugal blogs I read about how to be a good steward of the money God has blessed our family with. Not that it's a lot, but it's more than we really need! We really are learning about how to live on less, and how your priorities in life really are reflected in what you do with your money.

It felt good to catch up! I plan on updating more often now :)