Momspirational Life

Part 1 of the Surrendering Stewardship Series

Beginning the Surrendering Stewardship Journey

This post is part of a series called Surrendering Stewardship, where I share the practical and spiritual journey God has been leading me through as I learn to steward our family’s resources more intentionally. In this series, I will talk about everything from spending habits and emotional shopping to couponing, planning ahead, and simple systems that help me stay organized and avoid unnecessary spending.

My hope is that these posts encourage you and offer practical ideas that you can apply in your own home as you steward what God has entrusted to you.

Where My Relationship With Money Began

My relationship with money did not start with budgets, spreadsheets, or careful planning. It started much earlier in childhood as I watched how my parents handled finances. Like many children, I absorbed what I saw without even realizing it. Those early observations quietly shaped how I would eventually handle money myself.

I grew up in a family where money was often tight. My parents worked hard to provide for us, but there were times when there were more bills than money. Even so, our needs were met. Sometimes, that meant visiting food banks, and other times family members or friends stepped in to help when we needed it.

As a child, I did not think much about money. I knew my parents worked hard and that things were not always easy, but finances were not something I paid attention to. I still understood that we could not afford many things. That did not really change until I had my first job while attending college.

Learning About Money the Hard Way

Looking back, I can see that my spending habits tended to swing from one extreme to the other. Some seasons I was very careful and frugal, while other times I spent freely. There was rarely much balance. I never budgeted, nor did I intentionally save, as my brother and sister-in-law suggested I do. I was in my late teens and early twenties at the time.

When I later met my husband, I began thinking about spending differently. It was no longer just me making financial decisions but both of us managing our household together. That shift made me more mindful about how we spent money.

I focused on buying things on sale, using coupons, shopping clearance, and making most of our meals at home. Planning our grocery trips and cooking at home helped us save money and also created healthier habits for our household.

From the outside, it looked like I had become very disciplined with money. But if I am honest, the deeper spending habit had not really changed. My shopping simply became more strategic. Some purchases were intentional, but others were still driven by impulse or emotion.

When Shopping Became a Coping Habit

Shopping had become something I often turned to when I felt overwhelmed or discouraged. Stress, difficult circumstances, or simply feeling worn down could easily trigger the urge to shop. Even when the purchases were practical or discounted, the motivation behind them was not always healthy. I I never thought of shopping as an addiction until I once read that the things we turn to most often can quietly become habits we rely on more than we realize.

Over time, God began to work on my heart in this area. I started to see that my response to stress and difficult circumstances was often to shop. It was not always about the items themselves but about how I was coping. Through prayer and reflection, God slowly began changing my perspective and helping me recognize that this was something I needed to surrender to Him.

Discovering the Meaning of Stewardship

I started realizing that the issue was not only about spending habits. It was also about stewardship. The money we manage is not truly ours. It has been entrusted to us by God. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” That truth began to change how I looked at everyday financial decisions. Grocery trips, household purchases, and even small spending habits started to feel more significant because they were opportunities to steward what God had provided.

Around seven years ago, I had a dream that I still remember clearly. In the dream, I heard God speaking to me about tithing. At the time, I was already tithing, but I was not being fully obedient in it. I was giving, but my heart was not fully trusting God with the money He had entrusted to my husband and me.

That experience caused me to look at things differently. I had always thought about money as something God gave us to manage. But the truth is deeper than that. The money we have is still His. He is trusting us to steward it well.

Yes, we use it for the needs of our home. We pay bills, buy groceries, and sometimes purchase things we enjoy. However, part of faithful stewardship is also obedience. That includes returning a portion back to God through tithing and trusting Him with what remains.

Realizing that shifted my perspective. Stewardship is not only about spending wisely. It is about trusting God, obeying Him, and recognizing that everything we have ultimately belongs to Him.

A Question That Changed My Perspective

Little by little, I realized that my shopping habits were something I needed to bring before God and surrender to Him. Not because I felt condemned, but because I wanted to grow in wisdom and faithfulness.

Instead of asking, “Can we afford this?” I started asking a different question: Is this the wisest way to use what God has entrusted to our family?

That simple shift began changing the way I approached spending, saving, and planning.

Looking Ahead in This Series

Learning to steward money faithfully did not happen overnight for me. It has been a process of small changes, honest reflection, and asking God to guide the way I think about spending and planning for our household.

One of the biggest areas God began working on in my life was something many people quietly struggle with: emotional spending. For years, shopping had become something I turned to during stressful seasons or difficult circumstances. Even when I was buying things on sale or using coupons, the habit itself was still there.

In the next post, I will share more about how emotional spending shaped some of my shopping habits and how God began helping me shift from impulse shopping to intentional planning.

🌱

The Surrendering Stewardship Series

• How God Changed My Heart About Spending and Saving (this post)
• From Emotional Spending to Intentional Planning (read here)
• Before You Buy Another Mustard: Why Kitchen Organization Matters (coming soon)
• How I Coupon Strategically Without Extreme Couponing (coming soon)
• Planning Ahead to Reduce Grocery Spending (coming soon)

With Love,
Tabitha