money and its goods, its bads, and its uglies, has been occupying a lot of space in my mind of late. perhaps i should say ever since i graduated. but in the past month or two, its position in the hierarchy of my thought life has risen greatly. its a battle to know how to…
i love this picture so much. in it, i see life. there is something so alive about its color. the movement of some people. the stationary quality of others, sitting, inside of the starbucks. life happened as a result of this photo. i had to take it. and liz and i missed our bus home…
i am thankful for all the provision i have been receiving since graduation. somehow, i have made it through, and i am thankful that God always provides. thanksgiving is about being thankful for everything we have been provided right? i am also thankful for art and seattle. so i edited a few photos while watching…
i feel a little bit ashamed that i feel this way, but my past few days have been rough. my kitty lexi had surgery to remove a tumor and i have been wedding dress shopping, wherein i discover that i am the pickiest, most-difficult-to-please woman ever. i feel justified that if i am going to…
the winner of the hope print is number 13! congrats debbie.
I understand much of this struggle! Thanks for sharing. I think what I have learned in our marriage is faith. Really deep rooted faith that Lord loves me and will take care of me even when it doesn't match up to the world's standards. Now I see Him leading me to cultivate gratitude for what He has given our family. I am eager to see in myself genuine gratitude for His provision.
Tahnzella:
There is a reason that there is more mention of money in the bible than any other topic. And the bible tells us that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). The proof of this truth can be seen in the wrecked lives of so many with lifetimes worth of wealth. Matthew 6:24 tells us that, "You cannot serve both God and money."
Money should only be a means to an end. To pay ones APPROPRIATE bills and to help those in need. God does supports personal unselfish "recreational" use of money for things like vacations and gifts; as long as ones God commitments are still met.
BTW, giving money has nothing to do with generosity. People either are or they are not generous. A rich person may give great sums out of guilt and that does not make them generous. Conversely, I have seen people with very little give out of the very core of their hearts; oft times at their own disadvantage. But I believe in the Godly principle of reaping what you sow.
The most important thing you need to know about having/handling money is that you maintain a "healthy" relationship with all the money that God allows you to steward. It is an inanimate object that cannot love, cannot provide happiness, cannot heal illness, cannot extend life, cannot protect nor defend and it cannot make one a better person.
Your Aunt Paula has always said that the only thing that having more money does is "make you miserable in a nicer neighborhood!" The balance of you and Joseph's different backgrounds will help you to have the right attitude about money as long as you will allow such an outcome.
The one and only thing that I hope that you girls will have taken from the affluent life you enjoyed growing up is not a nice house, or nice cars, or fine clothes, or great foods, or fantastic trips, but rather, that you saw what money did for the handicapped kids at T.H. Rogers school, or the homeless at the Star of Hope Mission, or the missionaries it sent from our home church. If it is anything but the aforementioned, then I have failed you.
I Love You,
Dad
Hi, love! This has been a hard thing for us, too, particularly as we're looking at the first 6 years of our marriage spent with only one person working. Regardless, we'll never be making gobs of money (social work, much?). It helped us to consider that whatever we have is not ours, but God's, and we're just stewards. It's definitely helped our "why" questions since we're not so inclined to ask God why He doesn't have more money 🙂
Anyway, just wanted to share that this is hard for us, too. Mostly because we worry a lot and it can be really anxiety-provoking to feel so disempowered/trapped by lack of funds. You make an awesome point, though. It totally places us to rely on Him for everything, if only we're willing to choose that over relying on the fear of what it means to not have much.
Thanks for sharing with us 🙂 Love you!
I love how you are so honest and revealing in your blog posts. I've learned in my walk with Him nothing satisfies than just being with Him. He brought me to the realization a couple years ago as I was going about my way and stressing over a money situation. He said to me, you know there's nothing you've ever gone through that I haven't brought you out of. You've always made it through. When I ever I am faced with a financial situation now, I say He brought me through the last one, he'll bring me through this one!
Tahniwannapenny,
So get it…your dad is right about the money theme throughout the Bible. Money causes stress BOTH ways… when you don't have it, and when you do! I haven't seen proof of money relieving stress, except when it pays for therapy or a spa day. I was NOT raised in affluence. I have had only a few hundred bucks to my name. I've been down to my last unemployment check. Yeah, I still worry about it (habit from the past) but I also know what a reasonable expectation is. You just need to "keep it real" and along with faith, you will always be a-o-k. ALWAYS.
I thought I commented here, but clearly I didn't. And I don't remember what I was going to say, but I did think to come back here today based on my prayers last night.
I was thinking about women in other countries and parts of the world who don't have access to all the "stuff" that we do in America. those women love their children as much as I love Nadia, but they just don't have access to what we do. Even the poorest in America have so much more than the rest of the world. The poor in the rest of the world just don't have access, so there is no hope.
And you know that when Mike and I got married we were broke and we have such good stories to tell and I use it as a constant reminder to myself of where we were. There are plenty of studies that show that having lots of money doesn't make people happier.
Glad you have been reading Money, Possessions and Eternity. Love you.