Money Money Money Money Money

I love money.

Not necessarily the abundance of it, but fiddling with it.
I love bouncing around money, finding the safest place for it to land whether that be with the highest amount of interest, or the lowest amount of interest.
My debt charges me 2.99% interest for the life of the loan, and my bank pays me 4.99% interest for the pleasure of holding my checking account. I like that equation. With a few crazy maneuvers my phone bill actually shrank by 15 dollars when I added caller id, call waiting and call waiting id. It's amazing.

If you're spending too much, I can find ways to cut your bills, and increase or decrease your interest rate. Some things take time, but considering it's your money people are messing with (hard earned money I might add) it is more than well worth it. Financial stewardship might make some cringe, but for me you might as well be discussing Christmas eve. It's a joy, a thrill.

I cannot say this to brag because the fact of the matter is that I learned these things because of some costly stupid mistakes. I made a forty dollar mistake that cost me $9,000. No kidding. Among other mistakes that have left me saddled with debt, at this point I wouldn't trade a penny of it. I've learned so much, that helps me so often, I wouldn't trade what I've learned from debt for freedom from debt.

What that teaches me, what I know now better than ever before, is that every pain, every frustration I've ever been through has been for a reason. We all say it, and we all may think we believe it, but I wonder how many of us can actually point out the plus side to every struggle? Who says to their family "that car wreck was the biggest blessing!" or "I'm so glad I got fired!". It's just rare.

I know as a parent you have to make some amazingly hard choices. But rarely do those choices involve physical harm or peril to your child. Or getting your child fired from a job. At least I hope not. I can't imagine Gods life. Gods mindset as He does whatever it takes to get you to follow His will - a place you've supposedly prayed He would keep you. I can't imagine watching the pain and confusion on your childs face as they struggle with the lessons they have no idea are actually all that is keeping them on the right path.

I can't imagine how hard it is to love a child that much.

Today, I do something unusual and I leave you with a story. In this story one of the pots is cracked. In our wisdom we would never crack a pot in order to accomplish a task. In our wisdom we would do everything in our power to fix the crack so the pot would accomplish a task. But true healing comes when we use the crack to it's fullest potential, to accomplish something no "whole" pot could never accomplish. The bible states God won't put more on us than we can bear. Some pots, if you tried to crack them, would shatter. God knows which pots to crack. If I had to be cracked for the glory of God, then I can only thank God for loving me enough to bring the right people and circumstances in my life that would inflict those painful blows.

A water bearer in India had two large pots
each hung on each end of a pole which he carried
across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other
pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion
of water at the end of the long walk from the stream
to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily,
with the bearer delivering only one and a
half pots full of water in his master's house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,
and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half
of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a
bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer
one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.

"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years,
to deliver only half my load because this crack
in my side causes water to leak out all the way
back to your master's house. Because of my flaws,
you have to do all of this work, and you don't get
full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot,
and in his compassion he said,
"As we return to the master's house, I want you to
notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked
pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild
flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad
because it had leaked out half its load, and so again
it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that
there were flowers only on your side of your path,
but not on the other pot's side? That's because I
have always known about your flaw,
and I took advantage of it.
I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,
and every day while we walk back from the stream,
you've watered them. For two years I have been
able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate
my master's table. Without you being just the way you are,
he would not have this beauty to grace his house.

"Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws.
We're all cracked pots.
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our
lives together so very interesting and rewarding.
You've just got to take each person for what they are,
and look for the good in them.
There is a lot of good out there.
There is a lot of good in us!
Blessed are the flexible,
for they shall not be bent out of shape.

*****For a quick and serious side note, the government might actually be holding onto money that failed to make it to you. You'll think it goes to everyone else BUT you, but you may very well be surprised. To do a search for your name in Texas go to Window On State Government For those that don't live in Texas you can also go to www.missingmoney.com and search your state. For those Texans that all this has confused... just call 1-800-654-3463 and they'll help you out. Or if you know my number call me. The idea of unclaimed money just floating around out there has been like Christmas morning every day since I've discovered it. I'll be more than happy to look up your relatives, friends, old bosses, any random name you can give me. ;) If I know your last name though, chances are I've already checked. This is too much fun!!