Okay, call it financial backsliding... we've hit the wall! After doing very well on Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University plan for over a year this has been one bad month. We've had not a few "not right now" and "no" conversations with the kids about things we would have said "yes" to a couple of months ago. So now we're learning, or re-learning what contentment means. This time it's "forced contentment" because we don't want to be here and we really do want to buy new stuff and go out to eat!
It all started with a couple of incredibly good online deals. We had money budgeted for the blow-up swimming pool (but not for the chemicals that go with it.) We also found a whiz bang deal on a flight to see grandma. But then the new-to-us car needed tires and headlights... Next thing you know it's back on the credit card.
I wish I were the Apostle Paul and could say with all sincerity that "I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in" but to be honest I can only say, "I have learned..." I have learned that things you buy nearly always entail extra expenses. Even a child's toy that requires batteries has extra baggage. I have learned that money goes into envelopes for a reason. It's to show me that my money for going out to eat and school clothes does come from some concrete place in the budget. I have also learned that contentment is a discipline. And it's a discipline the Lord is not done teaching me. I want to be a better student so I can pass this lesson onto my kids well.
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