If I Were A Rich (wo)Man...

If there is one thing that I need, hate, love, want, think of a lot and wish it totally didn't exist...it would be money. Having money in your hand is a blessing, but the way it can control and define your life is a pain! This past month of May I've had many interesting lessons and thoughts come up about money, of all things. Let me say that for us, May is like christmastime. There are more birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and holidays than any other month! And this year included three weddings as well! So I think a lot about money during the month of May.

Did I mention it's my birthday in May too? I used to like May, but now I feel like the kid whose birthday is too close to Christmas. Or maybe I'm just getting too old to make a big deal out of birthdays. Anyway, a dear friend gave me $20 for my birthday and you don't know how excited that made me! I spent a couple weeks trying to decide what to spend it on. I made lists, of course, of my top desires. I picked out several things at Target, walked around and looked at other options and after a long time finally headed to the registers, only to turn around and put it all back. Then I went home confused and defeated. What is wrong with me!?

Once upon a time I used to be a shop-aholic. Not that I ever had much money to spend but I distinctly remember the awful, sickening feeling of leaving a store without having bought anything. I had to buy something! I just had to. If I didn't, crabbyness and discontentment were sure to follow.

That drastically started to change when I went off to college and didn't have a mom to convince that "I really NEED this". And it changed even more drastically when I got married and the responsibility of adulthood seriously set in. But maybe I've gone a little to drastic when I can't even spend $20 on myself for my birthday!

Well, the real reason I went home empty-handed from Target that day was because I had just read Proverbs 17:16 "Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom."

For the first time ever I understood that you can buy wisdom, not just learn it or pray for it, but buy it with money. Some time later I heard this quote: "There are two ways to be rich. One is to have a lot of money and the other way is to not need a lot to be happy."

I've become really convicted about how I use money and what I allow to define my happiness. I can honestly say that I would rather be the second definition of "rich" in that quote. Although I would love to go shopping and buy a lot of things I want, I have lately been so strangely attracted by living a simple life full of simple joys. But I am still trying to wrap my mind around how a useless purchase is different from a wise purchase, and then how that is different from purchasing wisdom. Any thoughts, ideas or experiences to share? Leave a comment!

In case you're wondering about my $20, I got a couple awesome books from Amazon and I'm so happy I did because they are adding so much wisdom to my life! (Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson and Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy...REALLY recommend both! That last one is about money!)