People may plan all kinds of things, but the Lord’s will is going to be done – Proverbs 19:21. Remember God’s plans are much better than ours, Trust him at ALL times 🙂
The Lord will give you the strength to stand up and defeat ANY Giant. No matter what you are facing . . remember GOD is BIGGER!!
Where do I even start? So many changes over the last 6 months. I finally decided that I needed time to put the blog on the back burner and regroup. Life has been busy, but it was time for me to truly focus on myself and our family. In the last 3 years, we have had so much happen to our family. First, our son, Isaiah, being brutally bullied at his school. Then some terrible accusations made against my husband, Jamie, which were not true (Praise God the truth finally came out), Jonah’s heart problems and then open heart surgery, my mother in law passing away suddenly from the flu, the older gentleman, Bill, I used to take care of passed, and it has just been so much. I was finding my anxiety was starting to take over my life again and I was becoming very depressed. After much time in prayer and meditation, I decided I needed to deal with all the stuff that had happened over the last few years and get “better”. It has been the best thing I have ever done for myself and our family.
It’s hard to take a step back especially when this is your livelihood and you know the competition with all the other money-saving blogs out there and knowing my income would decrease considerable if not all together. That’s when I finally gave it all to God and had to trust in his timing and provision.
Life is very tough at times and I have always been a “stuffer”. Rather than facing the problems head on, I tend to stuff them down and keep going. It finally caught up with me and it was time to deal with many of the feelings of loss that I had. What we have endured over the last 3 years many will never endure. I don’t want sympathy I just want you al to know why there was such a silence from me.
I have learned a lot about myself in the last 6 months. The biggest thing is I always give of myself 100% and forget about my own well being. It’s okay to give, but not at the expense of my own health and well being. If I’m not good for myself, how can I be good for my family or anyone else. I took a step back from our FREE monthly homeless meals and FREE laundry days. I give so much of myself, that I needed to take all distractions out of my life and focus on healing.
Blogging is a cut throat kind of job. You have to always be the first to post something or very close to keep your following engaged. I would find myself running out to the store at all hours to get the greatest deals I could to post and keep you all engaged. But you see, it was at the expense of my own health. I realized that blogs come and go. People may follow your blog for a bit, but they also follow 100s of others and we can all be replaced at anytime. So on a daily basis you worry about will the blog monetize enough to support your family. That is a terrible stress to carry. It’s not like your typical job that you work at where you know you are making X amount of dollars and hour x 40 hours and can guesstimate what your check will be. It is a day by day thing never knowing if people will visit your site or click on any of the relevant items. Plus those clicks are pennies on the dollar that you make. That stress was too overwhelming for me. In addition, when you only choose to post about the best deals and not every deal, because your integrity matters, it makes it even tougher. I couldn’t deal with that pressure any longer. I needed to step back and reflect on the things that matter most to me.
I love blogging and I love finding the best deals for all of you, but I don’t like the pressure of worrying about who will click to follow through to my blog and who will just scroll past what I post and find something better. I’ve always been an open book and say what’s on my mind, but for the past 3 years I have kept so much inside not wanting to burden anyone. I decided it was time to be quiet and spend some much needed time alone with God and let him reveal to me what he wanted me to do. It has been an empowering 6 months for me and our family.
I realized that I need to be more present in the moment. Not being someplace, but worrying about the next thing I need to do. I need to be where I am at that time, at that place. No distractions whatsoever. My kids need me and my husband needs me. I have also realized it is okay to say no. God wants us to help others, but if we are always saying yes that we are draining ourselves, then I don’t think that is pleasing to God. There needs to be a healthy balance in life. I now know my limits and I also know others may be upset when the answer is no, but I have to weigh all things and know that is what God wants me to do.
For the first time in 3 years I planted flowers over Memorial Day. Planting flowers is one of my favorite things to do, but I have been so depressed over the last few years I haven’t even done that. It feels good to be feel “alive” again 🙂
I LOVE you all and I want to have the most helpful money-saving blog out there, but the truth of the matter is before anything else, I want to know each of you. I want you to know I care about each of you and am always here to pray for each of you and your family. Saving money is great, but relationships are more important.
I will continue to bring you all deals and some of our family’s favorite recipes, but I am also going to start blogging more about life in general; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think we all need to know we are not alone at times.
I want to thank you all for allowing me to be a part of your life for the last 9 years (I cannot believe it has been that long) and know that I will still be here, but will not be spending 10-12 hours a day on the blog and/or FB to post deals. God first, family, others, and then the blog. I’m excited to see what God has in store for all of us.
Again, thank you all. If you ever have prayer request, please know you can email at joni@freetastesgood.com.
If you have a Pre-K Kid, ages 3-5, you won’t want to miss out on this deal 🙂
Fun for all ages! The Cedar Point Pre-K Pass grants complimentary admission to children ages 3 to 5 years old for the entire 2019 season. But hurry! It’s only available for a limited time.
Step 1: Register online before going to the park by June 3, 2019.
Step 2: Bring your child to the park to activate their pass by June 30, 2019. Your child must be present and proof of age (original or copy of birth certificate or travel passport) will be required.
Step 3: Play and have fun!
Mom and/or Dad, you won’t want to miss out on the family fun, so get your Platinum Pass online now.
God is BIGGER than your past and all the pain in this world. We need to learn how to focus more on God and less on our problems. God is BIGGER than anything we will EVER face!! Today, rest in the promise of God’s word!
So many times when we are facing things we feel anxious and uptight (I know as I am going back to the hematologist today) but we need to always remember GOD is BIGGER than anything we face. There is nothing he cannot fix or make new. We need to trust and believe 🙂 Today no matter what you are facing be sure to tell it just how BIG our God is!!
Nails couldn’t keep Jesus down. The grave couldn’t keep Jesus in.. . BECAUSE JESUS LIVES!!! Enjoy your day with friends and family. . will be on later this evening:)
Happy Easter Everyone. . May you have a blessed day. . HE IS RISEN!!! Hope you all enjoy your day with your family!!
If you haven’t signed up for the Ibotta app yet, you will want to now. They have special promotions all the time, where you can earn extra money:) Why not get paid to shop? I featured this app on GMA back in January. It is an easy app and very user friendly. It is a great way to maximize your savings!! Right now you can snag $0.25/1 egg, $0.25/1 any milk, $0.25/1 any cereal. . and so much more!!!!
Here is how the Ibotta app works:
1. Download the Free Ibotta App BY CLICKING HERE
It is currently compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd, 4th & 5th generation) iPad (limited stores), and Android – HOLLA LUJAH!!. [Read more…]
APRIL DEVOTION #Truth . . so often when we are in a dark place, we just want to jump off, but it is during the dark times that we grow the most. No matter what you are facing today, know God is in complete control and trust him completely. Know “You are coming out soon”, trust the creator of our life.
GREAT WAY TO GET READY FOR Summer Vacation, Back to School and/or CHRISTmas!!
Most of you know I promote Swagbucks a ton as an easy way to earn extra for CHRISTmas and beyond. I LOVE Swagbucks and I know many of you do too 🙂 It is definitely one of the simplest ways to earn FREE gift cards and you all know I LOVE FREE!! We all are already doing internet searches, so why not use a search engine and get paid for doing it?
If you’re new to Swagbucks you can earn 30 points called SB just for Signing up!!
It only takes 450 SB to earn a $5 Amazon Gift Card, so you’ll be well on your way and it’s not to early to think CHRISTmas So all you have to do is Sign up HERE!!
Swagbucks is a search engine that awards you in the form of points called SB that can be traded in for prizes. You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards, INCLUDING a $5 Amazon.com gift card. It costs 450 SB points. You can also put money right into your paypal account! There are a ton of other prizes you can get, including Paypal, Starbucks, and so many more!
You’ll receive 30 SB points just for enrolling and can win anywhere from 20-60 SB points a day just by doing searches you would already be doing on your computer! I usually win within my first 5 searches. You use the Swagbucks search engine rather than the google search engine – Yep, it’s that easy!! They also have Swag Codes out at least 5 times a week that can be worth 10–30 SB points. BONUS!!
Go HERE TO ENROLL FOR Swagbucks!!
The key is to use Swagbucks as a replacement for your current search engine. Make Swagbucks your home page and make frequent searches. Even if you know the website address you want to visit, still type it in the search box (ie: Free Tastes Good, Pass the Blessing on).
Swagbucks is LEGIT!! You REALLY earn gift cards just for doing searches. Make Swagbucks your home page so you always use it for your searches. Then, start searching! You usually earn 10 or 20 SB points every few searches. Redeem your SB points for gift cards or put the money in your paypal account! It’s just too easy not to take advantage of and such a GREAT WAY TO EARN EXTRA MONEY!
My name is Joni Meyer-Crothers and I run this couponing/money-saving blog along with my husband, Jamie. We love to show others how to save money in a BIG way! We do all the work for you. . we do the matchups and show you where to get the coupons, many FREE printable coupons. Sit back and follow the blog and watch your savings increase! Couponing is a ministry for our family as we we love to show others how to save and share from their couponing harvest!
