“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

The whole McCay fam was at the Birthday party when it happened. But with so many weans and excitement, it went unnoticed by everyone but me. My son Colt was helping unwrap a large toy for his nephew by cutting the zip ties that held it to the box… snip, snip, snip! Speechless, I asked to see the box when he was done to confirm what I thought I saw, then smiled!

Upon examination, I saw he had cut all the zip ties without even thinking, then was discarding the packaging, cut ties and all! What made it initially shocking to me was that the zip ties were LONG ones and, if cut carefully, could be used again! But not now!

My father was born a year before the Great Depression of 1929, and my whole life was affected by his experience. He didn’t throw ANYTHING away! Teaching me to be frugal came naturally since, being the youngest, he was the last to get what could be got! Dad taught me to depend on my own wits and resources for success. But over the years, I made other plans for my 2 sons.

Being poor means you make do with what you have. And if a job needs done, you do it yourself. If you don’t know how, you learn… hands on! Early on I committed to a goal for my boys, that they would NEVER have to own a tool, unless they WANTED it. I wanted my sons to be so successful, they could just pay a company to do work for them.

Owning tools for most any kind of job around the house, zip ties are just part of my necessary resources. I have discovered that with so many items wrapped with them, if I carefully cut a zip tie, I can reuse it again. As I stared at the ties Colt had just cut, I realized the thought of saving them for reuse hadn’t even crossed his mind! Because he was successful!

I was born poor, wretched, pitiful and blind! In need of salvation, my heavenly Father already knew there was no way for me to save myself. So He made other plans. He paid the price for my sin HIMSELF and WANTS me to be in His family… SUCCEEDING in the family business.  He doesn’t want me trying to save myself. I buy neither zip ties, nor salvation! My God, MY Father, already did!