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"Are we poor, Mom?" my eleven year
old son asked me one day recently. I was a bit taken aback by the
question and curious why he was asking. He said there wasn't any special
reason, he was just wondering. But his question got me thinking.
We are a very spiritual family and I had
always stressed to my children that God takes care of our needs. Many
great things had happened to our family that had shown God's love at
work in our lives.
There was the
time that one of our utilities was scheduled to be shut off.
There was the time that one of our utilities was
scheduled to be shut off. The company had given me two extensions and I
was waiting for a late paycheck to arrive. I knew that God would help
us, in some fashion. When I called them to find out what time they were
coming to turn the utility off, the woman on the phone said, "You
aren't scheduled for a shut off, ma'am."
Despite their dire warnings on two
previous occasions, they didn't have a record of any shutoff! So I was
able to pay the bill without any interruption in service.
I must admit that the more I pondered my
son's question, the more I realized I had inadvertently fostered the
impression of being poor in my children. I would complain about money
quite often and frequently gave the kids the excuse "we're
broke" when denying a purchase request. I emphasized how lucky they
were when they did get things they wanted, again, because we were living
la vida broke-a!
Why was I so negative about
money?
Thinking about all these things made me realize I must
sound like a broken record to them. Why was I so negative about money? I
thought that I was living the kind of life that showed I trusted in
God's provision, love and support. These were ideas, spiritual truths,
that I frequently talked about with the kids. How did I lose sight of
these things?
I asked God for help and guidance in this
situation. It is important that when you ask for guidance that you
actually listen for what it is. I still needed another lesson.
About this same time our car broke down.
At first I panicked when reading the estimate. What would we do? It was
an expensive repair. I got myself worked into quite the frenzy. Once
again I was singing the poorhouse lament. I complained to a friend of
mine about my car and she said to me, "It will work out. God will
find a way." I shut up right then. Here I had asked God for help
and I was doing it again, complaining. Why was this such a hard lesson.
God was still there with love and support.
God was still there with love and support. It was I who
had a lack of faith and trust in God's love and provision. I also
realized that even though I thanked God every day for the lovely things
in my life, I wasn't truly grateful. I showed my ingratitude every time
I complained about my perceived lack of money. I showed my ingratitude
every time I said those words "we're broke." I wasn't teaching
my kids a very good lesson either.
The truth is our family does have much to
be grateful for and not a lot to complain about. I vowed not only to
appreciate and be grateful for the things we have, but also not to be so
quick to panic or worry whenever a challenge arises. I can always count
on God to be a very present help, no matter what the challenge is.
When the auto shop called to tell me how
much my car's repair would really be, it was actually much less than the
original estimate. A quick look at our finances showed it wouldn't be a
problem. I think the poorhouse lament is a thing of the past. More and
more I'm seeing God's goodness in every aspect of my life.
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