Your money or your life #2: What money represents

Our dining area: nothing new in
this repurposed space, but it
represents a different direction for us

Last time, I wrote about "Whose money is it, anyway?" This time, I'm asking,

• What does money represent? 

We gain a token of tangible value (money) in exchange for life, for hours spent working or services given. 

We never get those hours back. They've been traded for ----- well, for what? At the cost of our life-hours, we acquire shelter (rent/mortgage), food, the lust of our eyes ("wants" encouraged by advertising), and our appetites (including recreational pleasures like hobbies, sports, concerts, restaurant, excursions, and vacations).

Money itself has no real value. It is paper, ink, and coins that gather dirty fingerprints along their journey. It may be only a flash on the computer screen in an electronic transfer. However, it represents our earnings as a medium of exchange, our life swapped for stuff, goods traded for services, and a means to an end.

The Russian samovar, ready to be
rehomed. Bamboo floor samples
found in a box = a temporary counter

A few years ago I read Your Money or Your Life by Robin and Dominguez. Their premise was we barter our energy, hours, relationships, and personhood for stuff and experiences. The authors presented this stunning option: Before buying something, consider how many hours of your life you are willing to give up for it.

That revolutionized my spending. Was that bowl worth a half-hour of my life? Was the haircut and color worth three hours of my week (plus an afternoon in the hairdresser chair)? Was the meal out worth an hour of my husband's life? Sometimes the answer was yes. Many times I've forgotten to ask those questions and frittered away my time and energy. But that philosophy of money-for-life filters most major purchases.

Granddaughter K having tea
in the new space: she's worth
an investment in the future

No wonder Jesus talked so much about money. He said where our treasure is, our heart would be also. Is my treasure here? Or in heaven? As I've sold off and given away over half of our household in the last months, I marvel at what is left. We still seem have too much to dust, vacuum, and store.

What did you purchase last week (or month)? Were the hours of your life worth investing in these things? Did what you acquired - in goods, services, or relationships - provide the soul-satisfaction and meaning you expected? Did they make the world a better place for others? Did they spread the Good News of God-with-us? Why or why not?

What does your money represent? The way you spend or save your money reflects how you are investing your life - in transient or eternal ways. Think about it!

Read more:
*Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you. Proverbs 3:29 NEV

*For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NEV

*Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant. 1 Corinthians 13:4 NEV

*“Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians15:55-58 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Passionate Lord, help us to live planting and sowing love. Do not harden our hearts but rather make them tender so we can live in peace and harmony with our neighbors and friends. Amen.

Oh the fun to come

This week I'm going so far beyond my comfort zone that you may hear me screaming from the north end (if you don't hear me snoring as things drift beyond my comprehension zone.)

My husband loves technology. Anyone who knows him or has sat in on his university courses gets to see the latest Apple products, the best little gadgets, and the most practical apps. Why? He researches hours a day in his Reader feeds - and can cut to the chase for what works and what doesn't.

I've never learned to do much beyond typing and editing. I use social media to connect with friends. But I'm not one to sit on the phone, to explore computer programs, or install new apps on my IPhone. (I wouldn't even have a smart phone without W.)

I'm going to class, a technology class taught to masters and doctoral students at NU. By my husband. Those of you who know us both recognize the disparity in tech gifting, right? Should be interesting.

 So how can you find "fun to come" in the challenges that don't align with anything you know or have done before?

1. Decide on benefits. This class will introduce many ideas that I may need for the future. I'm hoping it opens my eyes to consider new ways of thinking and possibilities.
2. Define your investment. I promised I'd sit in at least today and maybe tomorrow. If I'm totally lost, I won't invest the whole week.
3. Align with your values. I'm a learner, always eager to know. Mom found my elementary report cards with teacher comments: "Rosemarie could spend more time to perfect assignments. She just wants to finish and go to the library." (Doesn't everyone?)
4. Invest yourself using your best methodology. I'm going to try my best. I have my computer, IPad, AND pen/paper ready. I'll scribble notes as we go because I never remember the little steps of processes that look so simple in class. (I know this from past experience.)
5. Take time to review and make the experience your own. I'll blog about it - and you'll get the scoop later, ok?

Read more:
*Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment." Proverbs 23:23 NLT

*Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Jeremiah 4:3

*No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62

Moravian Prayer: Everlasting Father, open our hearts to receive your word today. Remind us that your grace is sufficient in spite of life’s challenges. Guide us through your Holy Spirit and as we journey may we sow seeds of light and truth. Amen.

Lent Day 6: A father's confidence

I grew up with absolute confidence in my father. We kids were thrilled by how he loved Mom and treated her as his sweetheart. He embarrassed us as youngsters when he came home from work and danced Mom around the kitchen to kiss her. "Ooooo, yuck!" we'd scream, covering our faces to hide our happiness and embarrassment.

He has always believed in the potential of others, and conveyed his optimism about what we would accomplish. "You can be whoever you want to be," he communicated, though he is a man of few words.

Each of us children had the freedom to find our diverse callings. We tried all kinds of endeavors, some successful, some not. Through it all, Dad's wise words summed up the experience and encouraged us. I got fired from a summer job as a food server, and came home in humiliation. Dad shrugged it off with, "Well, I guess God hasn't called you to be a waitress, has he?" That settled down my wounded pride and squared my shoulders for the next task.

My younger brothers have a definite flair for their jobs: the youngest, a computer consultant, works from his office in Canada for a British firm. The middle brother, with a high people IQ, makes everyone feel welcome and included, working as a successful and sought-after realtor.

My oldest brother and I are officially in ministry, though not in the traditional sense. He wanted to do music, and nothing but music. He learned to play one instrument after another, loathing his post-high school job at a building supply and running a thriving retail business into the ground. When he heard God's call, he bought plane tickets dated seven weeks hence, picked up his wife and two kids, and moved to Europe without pledges of support or guarantees. Thirty years of God's provisions later, he continues to compose, arrange music, and design special-events productions. He leads worship in the most creative, missional ways I've ever heard of. His touring "big band" consists of a small cadre of volunteer musicians who play in towns where churches are dying and need renewal or where churches are being planted. Local musicians (often professionals) join the team to play his big band arrangements of World Music. The audience, whether in taverns, theatres, town squares, or churches, sing and dance along, opening their hearts to stories of the gospel and God's love ("testimonies," between songs.) The IHS Orchestra has traveled the globe, including Africa, Cuba, Israel, and Europe.

I learned early that when God called, the only answer was, "Yes, please speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." My father taught me what Jesus' father taught him: a father who believes in you invests his character, resources, and confidence in his children.

Our heavenly Father can be trusted to take care of the details of provision and care, leading us from one place to the next. In the process of maturing us for Kingdom service, he may lop off beloved appendages that are unhelpful to the missio dei. He may place us into hard schools to train us and shape our gifts. He oversees our development, not to control us, but to release us into the freedom of being fully human.

Jesus assured us that God responds to our needs and knows what is best for us and for his whole Family: "You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:9-11)."

Today, our Father in heaven has confidence in us. But do we have total confidence in him as our parent—who knows us, believes in us, and calls us to tasks impossible to do without his help?

Has he called us to life and ministry that seem beyond our capability? Perhaps he knows things about us as his children that we haven't yet recognized or accepted. Let's trust him completely, as a child trusts a good father (someone like my dad!)