What would you really....

Good Morning Company Girls!

When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money...I can vividly remember my dad coming home with a smile on his face....he reached into his pocket and came out with ....chocolate bars....oh, the excitement....four chocolate bars, displayed in his hand, in an arc, like a deck of cards....sister and I were so excited!! My dad worked hard at a steel company and at a coke ovens...he'd come home covered in black soot...I remember him washing up at the kitchen sink...getting all clean. When we moved out to the 'country'..(now it's the suburbs that everyone wants to live in)...he would work all day, come home at the stroke of 5 p.m., and we'd sit down to eat. Supper was suppose to be ready at 5, cause dad had work to do....he'd usually spend any remaining daylight hours working outside.....doing yard work, rototilling the soil....

.....today, most men have different days, days filled with stuff that usually of course, our fathers didn't have..it wasn't even invented yet....computers...televisions...oh yes, we had televisions, but they were black and white, you might get 2 or 3 stations, you had to get up off your duff to change the station...you actually had to wait for the t.v. to 'warm up' after you turned it on before you could watch anything! Now, you can actually work on your computer while you watch the t.v.! Quite often, that's what my hubby is doing....because he wants to spend time with me, he'll often bring his laptop , sit down beside me and 'watch' the t.v. too. He doesn't go out and rotortil the garden but he does work in the evenings...just different kind of work..but works, just the same....

Hubby and I don't have a lot of money either...of course, our kids think we do...they think we are holding out on them.....that if we really wanted to help them, we'd just give it to them...or buy them this, or that.....which I'd really love to do....if I could....I'd also love to be able to give more to more charities...there are so many worthwhile ones out there..especially the ones in other countries that help children.....

I watched some guys on tv last night claim their lottery prize...that they won 7-8 years ago....apparently the small convenience store owners that sold them the ticket, cheated them out of their winnings..they were eventually found out and sent to jail....the guys were finally able o collect...over 2 million each!! What would I do with that much money???

Well, first...I'd pay off our mortgage, line of credit, charge cards....have absolutely no debt..wouldn't that be a wonder after almost 38 years of marriage! Then I'd go down my kids, one by one, all nine of them, and take care of their debt...school loans are a biggy....then I'd want to get a professional family photograph portrait done...(they're sooo expensive), then I'd take all the kids, and grandkids on a holiday...somewhere, something really special....then I'd give to the charities that I always wanted to give...sponsor some more Compassion kids...then,...whatever was left would go for our retirement (something that is a concern right now since we have virtually nothing saved and people, we are getting up there ya know!)

So, where is that pin to pop that bubble? Hubby and I don't ever play the lottery...so, there's really no chance of ever winning and doing all that...but some days, it's nice to dream..just for a few minutes.....then we get on with real life.....stretching the pennies to get from one pay check to another, trying to see how many days I can go without moving the van so the gas gauge needle doesn't go even lower, trying to meet the material needs of four teens....not easy....for instance, every month Megan comes home from school and for several days 'reminds' me that teacher wants the snack money.....in the special needs class that her and Ben attend, they shop for snacks every month and then the kids are learning about shopping and preparing snack food.....the 'donation' is the term they use at the beginning of the year...but every month the teacher is at the kids to bring their money in...well, sometimes I just don't have an extra $40 in the budget...so, I just ignore it...maybe next month...I really think they need to change their word terminology here though cause obviously it's not a donation.!

So, financially, this is my life and I'm okay with that....I grew up with it....it's fun to dream sometimes as long as we don't let the dreams rule us and spoil our joy....we do get little and big perks along the way...the Lord gives us these little pleasures just as we would want to do it for our kids..if we could...I hope they realize that if we could that we'd do it in a heart beat...but if I could do stuff like that for them, I'd rather do these things...I'd get more students for Leslie's Musikgarten classes, I'd find Ryan a teaching job, I'd fine some way to keep Corey out of jail and functioning in a 'regular' life, I'd pay off Lauren's debt and help her go back to school, I'd help Paul find the perfect job that would satisfy his heart, I'd help Ben find a really nice group home to live in and a job that would make him feel good about himself, I'd help Maya find a full time job when she was done with this internship that she's on, something to encourage her and make her feel good about herself, I'd help Emma to find out who she really is, that she's worth more than she thinks she is and she wouldn't settle for second rate, and I'd help Megan find a lovely group home that she would feel at home in and loved.

That's what I'd really like to do....just the musings of my heart and mind today...what would you really like to do?