When my husband and I were first starting out, my step-mom looked at us and said..."You just need to admit that you're poor and live accordingly." I'll never forget my indignation at her statement, but it rang true to an extent. We were a young military couple pregnant with our first child and yes we had very little, but we never felt poor. We lived paycheck to paycheck, but we had everything we needed for our new little baby and our bills were paid. A few years ago, I found one of my husband's pay stubs from those days...we were living on $500 a month after our rent was paid. We didn't need food stamps or energy assistance and we never went without. We lived a simple life, yes, oftentimes relying on others for rides if we had car trouble, and much of our furniture was hand-me-down or second-hand. We were happy, and we certainly didn't feel "poor."
Eventually my husband moved up in rank, then got out of the military and landed a well-paying job. We moved into a big house, had two cars and I didn't need to work. We enjoyed that season of life, but even then we didn't feel "rich."
My family is now in a different season of life. My husband has been out of work for several years now, plagued by injuries that leave him unable to do his old job and trying to figure out what to do next. My job as a part-time children's pastor is fulfilling, but not the most lucrative career. Money isn't the reason any of us go into ministry. We bought our home based on the pay from my husband's good-paying, physically demanding job. Now we cannot afford it and are working with the bank on a short sale. We receive a small amount of food stamps each month, not nearly enough to feed our family of 6, and rely God to make up the difference. He does, some months we eat lots of pork, because that is what God provides. We have one working car in a family with three drivers. For Christmas we did not spend a penny on our children...all their gifts came from family members. Most of my children's clothes (and even mine) come as hand-me-downs from others or are items they buy themselves with their babysitting money and odd jobs.
I'm not saying all this to make anyone feel bad or to get a hand-out. I actually don't think about these things as being signs that we are poor. I still don't feel "poor." We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, power, running water, heat, a vehicle that runs, family and friends who love us and lift us in prayer, beds to sleep in, creativity to put all that we have to good use. Compared to most of the world, we are wealthy, and we know that.
Rich and poor are simply a perspective in our culture. How you or I view life our lives and circumstances is a choice. When people hear that we are selling our house because we cannot afford to keep it they begin to feel sorry for us, ask how they can help, tell us they are sorry, that they didn't know. I'm not sad, as a matter of fact I'm excited for our house to sell. (We'll be moving into a much smaller place, less house to clean!) I'm okay with this. I still don't feel "poor."
I have made a choice to honor God no matter what my circumstances.
I praise God that He has allowed us to have this house as long as we have. I praise God for the pork! I praise God that my kids understand what is happening, how blessed they are and don't mind that none of the gifts under the tree were from Mom and Dad. I praise God for the friends and family that love us and lift us up in prayer. I praise God for who He is and how He loves us.
I could look at this season of life and lament, instead I choose to see this as a season that brings us closer together and closer to God. My kids are watching at how I handle life. I don't feel "poor," why should they?
Too often in life we look at what we are going through and compare ourselves to others. We worry and fret because we can't give our kids everything their friends have. I choose to be thankful for what I have and know that I am blessed!
I love how Jesus addresses this "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:26, 27).
Are you looking at your circumstances and worrying? Or are you looking at your blessings and praising? It is your choice!
Eventually my husband moved up in rank, then got out of the military and landed a well-paying job. We moved into a big house, had two cars and I didn't need to work. We enjoyed that season of life, but even then we didn't feel "rich."
My family is now in a different season of life. My husband has been out of work for several years now, plagued by injuries that leave him unable to do his old job and trying to figure out what to do next. My job as a part-time children's pastor is fulfilling, but not the most lucrative career. Money isn't the reason any of us go into ministry. We bought our home based on the pay from my husband's good-paying, physically demanding job. Now we cannot afford it and are working with the bank on a short sale. We receive a small amount of food stamps each month, not nearly enough to feed our family of 6, and rely God to make up the difference. He does, some months we eat lots of pork, because that is what God provides. We have one working car in a family with three drivers. For Christmas we did not spend a penny on our children...all their gifts came from family members. Most of my children's clothes (and even mine) come as hand-me-downs from others or are items they buy themselves with their babysitting money and odd jobs.
I'm not saying all this to make anyone feel bad or to get a hand-out. I actually don't think about these things as being signs that we are poor. I still don't feel "poor." We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, power, running water, heat, a vehicle that runs, family and friends who love us and lift us in prayer, beds to sleep in, creativity to put all that we have to good use. Compared to most of the world, we are wealthy, and we know that.
Rich and poor are simply a perspective in our culture. How you or I view life our lives and circumstances is a choice. When people hear that we are selling our house because we cannot afford to keep it they begin to feel sorry for us, ask how they can help, tell us they are sorry, that they didn't know. I'm not sad, as a matter of fact I'm excited for our house to sell. (We'll be moving into a much smaller place, less house to clean!) I'm okay with this. I still don't feel "poor."
I have made a choice to honor God no matter what my circumstances.
I praise God that He has allowed us to have this house as long as we have. I praise God for the pork! I praise God that my kids understand what is happening, how blessed they are and don't mind that none of the gifts under the tree were from Mom and Dad. I praise God for the friends and family that love us and lift us up in prayer. I praise God for who He is and how He loves us.
I could look at this season of life and lament, instead I choose to see this as a season that brings us closer together and closer to God. My kids are watching at how I handle life. I don't feel "poor," why should they?
Too often in life we look at what we are going through and compare ourselves to others. We worry and fret because we can't give our kids everything their friends have. I choose to be thankful for what I have and know that I am blessed!
I love how Jesus addresses this "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:26, 27).
Are you looking at your circumstances and worrying? Or are you looking at your blessings and praising? It is your choice!
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