Old Fashioned Fun

Last night I had a stroke of genius (humble, I know).

You see, in an effort to use our money wisely during this time, our family has been focusing a lot more on conserving energy by changing simple things. For example, I happen to be the worst person in the world when it comes to leaving lights on. Truth be told; I LOVE lights! Little end-table lamps shining in the corner of a room make me feel cozy. That's a great thing, but I have a tendency to just leave them on ALL THE TIME so that I feel "cozy" when I walk into that room.

It's worked fine for us up until now; but with this new budget (or lack thereof) we are making some changes. I have been much more conscious of turning off lights and only using what we need.

Last night our family decided to take it to an extreme. As I looked at a picture of our little Prince from Africa, I said to the kids, "Hey! Let's have an old-fashioned night!"

We literally ate dinner before it got dark and once the sun went down we turned off all lights except the Christmas tree and some candles. We then got in our comfy cozies and cuddled under blankets in the living room while the kids sang and we played games.

It's amazing how something so simple can be so cool. We had a blast as we talked about what it must be like for Prince every night to only rely on candles. It really makes me appreciate the life we have.

Sure, we may not have much by American standards but the fact remains that our little Prince would think we were rich to see all that God has blessed us with. It's a really good thing for me to remember during this Christmas season.