Money Honey - Another Great Title from my Husband

I read an article in the newspaper entitled, "5 Crucial Tips for Raising Money-Smart Kids," by Jean Chatzky. I found the article very interesting because money interests me and teaching my kids about money interests me. I relate to her statement, "we don't want our kids to make the same mistakes we did."
I have been working since I was probably 10 or 11 and I can't help thinking how much money I wasted. My family moved from Canada shortly after I turned twelve and I remember in Canada having a savings account and my own debit card for my checking account. It must have been a joint account with my dad. I remember going into the bank with him and filling out paperwork. Money from my paper route was deposited automatically into my checking account. I had a lot of discretionary income for a young child and not much discretion. I remember wanting to buy a whole series of books, totaling around $300 if I remember correctly -- books I would have ended up throwing out if I still had them today. I did pay for my first year of college but most of that was saved in the year before college. What happened to the money I made my other teenage years?
Chatzky suggests giving children money to manage, perhaps with an allowance, to help them understand the real cost of items in the real world. She then gives them a list of the types of purchases that will be their responsibility. If you are going to give children your money, I definitely like the idea of giving them a list of the types of things you will not be buying for them anymore. Giving a child an allowance on a regular basis to spend on their own pleasures, I cannot see developing any type of responsibility. It seems that would teach children that money is easy to come by -- that it does not require hard work and sacrifice.
I remember when I was growing up my Grandpa was talking about how we need to relate the money we would spend on a new shirt or an evening out to the time we worked to earn it. If the shirt costs me $20, would I work 4 hours for it? Would it still be worth it?
Also, money that you give a child is not money that is earned. The family has not become wealthier, it has just reallocated its resources. Chatzky states that even her children agree that the money she gives them is a lot different than the money they earn. It holds more value. It is theirs. It is their labor and frustration and reward.
We have had many conversations about how our boys could make money. Their creativity is amazing. Recently my seven year old son set up a stand to sell drinks and snacks. He made $10, but me being the realist that I am, (some may call it dream-crushing) I explained to him how he didn't actually make anything because he had to pay Dad back for his supplies. I hope I didn't discourage his desire to try, but it doesn't seem that I did. Businesses are hard to start. Snacks and drinks may not be a bad idea, but what about location? He decided he should set up a stand at the end of his uncle's driveway and sell pop to his uncle, who drinks more pop than anyone else he knows. He may have just learned an important lesson about marketing.
Jean Chatzky advises parents to motivate their children to save. She has found a dollar-for-dollar match to be effective. Sometimes it is not possible to put aside money for our children, even if we would like too, but we can definitely teach them to save their own money responsibly. We tell our boys to separate any money they get into four even portions. Then they give away one pile. I let them decide where they would like to help. We talk about the needs around the world and in our town or our church. My two older boys have read through Randy Alcorn's, Treasure Principle, which is a book I highly recommend. I want them to learn to store up treasure in heaven, to invest in the things that matter to God.
One pile is theirs for spending. I tell them this pile is for any thing they would like to buy for themselves or as they get older, it could be for monthly living expenses.
The last two portions are for saving. I try to keep the future in front of them. For example, even though they are years away from having a license to drive, we talk about their older cousin who is about to drive. I encourage them to ask him if he plans to buy a vehicle and I tell them some day if they keep saving they will be able to buy their own vehicle. We talk about people they know who are in college and how they can go to college too with the savings they are working on now. We talk about buying computers and some day houses.
We do need to be wise with our money, but also realize that it is God who gives the power to get wealth. It's amazing how hard and long we can work on saving only to have something unexpected come up that uses all of what we have saved. Our money can never be our security.
I hope our children can learn without making the same mistakes we did. I also hope they will grow in faith that we serve a God who is bigger than our money.

Waiting

What does God want from our lives? I know what I am suppose to do today and tomorrow. Isn't that enough?
I know we need to move -- although I can never seem to explain why to anyone else. Sometimes I feel like Abraham. Called to go somewhere, but not knowing where. Wanting to do something that matters for eternity but feeling like we have no direction on what that is. Obviously this includes teaching our children the best we can to love and obey God, honoring God through our marriage, loving our neighbors, etc... The list could go on and on. So why this restlessness?
God says He gifts His people to serve the church. But what are our gifts? Or what if the church doesn't see the same gifts or any gifts?
Moses was 80 when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Caleb was in his eighties when God used him to wage a war for a mountain. Isaac and Rebekkah waited 20 years for God to give them a son.
Waiting. We are not too old to wait longer. I've heard that God can use someone of any age -- that in a symphony not all the instruments play at the same time. So our instruments are silent and we wait.

Pending Birth

Often I have thought of physical pain and how it is a relief that it happens so quickly. One minute you are riding your bike and the next you are laying on the sidewalk with a gash on your forehead. One minute you are buckling your child into the vehicle and shutting the door, the next your thumb is black and blue and you feel faint. Of course initial pain may be fast, but enduring the pain and healing may take longer. I am glad we don't know all the ways we are going to hurt ourselves.
Labor is different. You know it will hurt. You know it will come. What if you had a week to think about slamming your shin with a sledgehammer. You knew you were going to do it, just not yet. Could I lift the sledgehammer?
God will not take me to birth and then abandon me. He will not lead me somewhere that He is not. Still I do not like pain. I am not fearful now. I am ready to be free. It seems the hardest time for me not to be fearful is when I am laying awake in bed at night.
I cannot quite believe that we might have a baby. I pulled some baby clothes out of a box and washed them. I hope we will use them.
For the record, I think it will be a girl born on September 6th (Labor Day) weighing 8lbs 3oz. Of course logically I should guess a boy born September 11 weighing 7lbs 10oz.
My husband guesses it will be a boy born September 15th weighing 7lbs 2oz.
My mom guesses it will be a girl born September 8th weighing 8lbs 1oz, and my sister guesses it will be a boy born September 10th weighing 7lbs 6oz.