Waste Not

I have never liked to waste stuff.

My parents lived through the Great Depression and it showed in my upbringing. Mom never threw away fabric scraps. They often showed up years later as throw pillows, decorative hot pads or creative appliques on one of my little dresses. I still have a few pieces of avocado green drapery fabric she saved from new drapes she made in 1969. Someday I intend to make some awesome hot pads out of them. If Dad needed a piece of hardware to finish a job, he didn’t run down to the nearest DIY store.  He went to his well-organized shed with tiny drawers in search of “something that will do.”

They were into re-purposing before there was special vocabulary for it. They lived in an age where you repaired what broke and salvaged what others no longer wanted. It was a way to improve life when you couldn’t have everything you wanted.

I appreciate that today’s younger generation is into re-use again. Their reasons are often more for the good of the globe than for their own gain. They want to slow down landfill waste and be better stewards of our resources than their baby boomer parents. Kudos to them! I love to see my own adult kids being resourceful. Maybe it’s their peer culture or maybe it’s their frugal genes.

What I detest wasting most is food.  I’m not signing up for proving I can eat out of dumpsters for a week. But I do like to play a game of how long I can go without grocery shopping by eating what’s in our freezer and pantry. Our vegetable scraps go to the compost bin and banana peels and coffee grounds go directly to the appropriate flower beds without passing GO. In restaurants, more and more my husband and I share a meal or split off half to take home. My mom was a master of turning leftovers into a completely new meal and I often try to imitate her. Now with only two of us in our nest, I do menu planning with leftover intentions. 

Back in the height of my busy career and family life, I realized that the risk was too high that leftovers would become a bed to grow new cultures. So I began keeping a gallon bag in the freezer to toss meat or vegetable leftovers into. When it gets full, I sauté onions and celery in chicken stock and throw in the surprise bag of ingredients. It makes the best homemade soup and never the same twice.

“Waste not, want not.” It’s not an accurate saying, because plenty of people on this earth eat everything they get their hands on and are still in great need. Yet I think the attitude of “waste not” helps us keep a grateful stewardship mindset.

Recently I was re-visiting the miracle of Jesus feeding the multitude from the little boy’s lunch. I’ve always appreciated that the miracle was more than enough.  His disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of leftovers after everyone was full! All four gospels report on this miracle similarly, but John’s version of the story includes an additional instruction that jumped out at me fresh and new:

John 6:12-13 [NLT] After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

Why did the disciples pick up leftovers? Because Jesus told them to. Why did Jesus want them picked up? So that nothing would be wasted. Was He simply worried about wasting food?  After all, when they got hungry again, He could just as easily perform another miracle – and He did, in fact, for a different crowd. Biblical commentaries weigh in on various theories on why Jesus didn’t want anything wasted. But I don’t know His intentions that day.

Here’s what I do know from my own experience walking with Him. Jesus often provides more than enough when He works His miracles in my life. Sometimes my miracle is for me alone and I relish in the careful attention He’s giving this princess daughter by doing more than I asked. Sometimes He stores up water in the well of my soul, knowing I will need to draw from those reserves in the future. Sometimes the miracle is clearly meant to be shared with others. Sometimes He nudges me to encourage someone who’s walking on the same rocky path I’ve also been down so that I don’t waste my experience. I don’t always know how I’m going to use the extra margin of blessing right away, but I believe He doesn’t intend it to be wasted.

My friend, what leftovers has He given you today and what will you do with them?