In my perfect world I’d be doing a better job teaching my four year-old how to handle money. He understands that we only buy the name-brand fruit snacks when they have the sale sticker underneath them, which is a starting point. Although I really wish he’d quit announcing to every stranger in the grocery store, “We only have enough money to buy Toy Story snacks if they’re on SALE.” I really admire those parents who give their kids an allowance and help them divide it up into saving, spending, and tithing. I intend to do that as the kids get older, but right now I find myself reaching into my purse for lose change as the offering plate comes by so Josh has something to add. It costs him nothing, but I see he agonizes a bit about having to part with it.
A couple weeks ago he whispered to me, “Mommy, when do we get that back?” I started to tell him that we don’t get that money back, but I realized that wasn’t entirely true. It required more whispering than I generally like to do in church, but I explained that God can use that money however He wants and we have seen how God does give that money back in ways we never anticipated.
In 2005 Brian and I were struggling to figure out how we could afford to pay for an international adoption while working as houseparents at a Christian children’s home. Had we made a mistake to take this job that wouldn’t provide the money we needed to become parents? We were shocked when friends of ours who weren’t financially better off than we were gave us money from a recent inheritance that covered the majority of our adoption costs. Their explanation- “God told us to give this to you”. Without that gift we wouldn’t have been able to pursue our adoption. It is impossible to fully express what a blessing that was and we trust that God will reward them for their obedience and sacrifice. Having been so blessed to receive, we consider it a blessing to give and want to teach our kids to do the same. We never know whose life it may change.