i'm the spoiled child

Today is the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year, and that fact, along with the perfect amount of chill in the air to start the month off right, has made me feel invincible today.

I absolutely LOVE fall! I love the colors, the events, the weather...in heaven, I'm gonna keep my thermostat set to "fall" all year long! :)

It isn't just about fall though. October is the beginning of the holiday season. I know some of you don't consider Halloween one of the "major holidays" (I do, by the way), but you're going to be side-swiped by the holidays in November and December if you don't start prepping for them now.

Trust me--it happens to me every year.

Anyway, we've been doing this series at church called "The Blessed Life," which I really had no interest in originally. Call me selfish, but I wanted something that was applicable to ME, and given that I'm new in the career world and make entry level pay, I didn't really think I was in a position to live the blessed life financially, which was the primary emphasis of the series.

Thankfully, I started leading a small group that, coincidentally, began meeting after church during this series. If our group wasn't meeting on Sundays, I can honestly say I probably would not have even given this series a chance because it's just so far from where I am. If I wasn't LEADING the group, I'd probably have just bailed on church and the group during this series. (Allow me to digress to say I highly recommend joining a group for accountability purposes if your church offers them, or if you know someone who does).

I wish I could go into all the ways this series opened my eyes, but I don't think you all have 4 days to read this blog continuously, so I'll save that for my next post.

I'll say this though. I had a huge eye-opener during this series. It was like God was telling me to stop complaining about things if I wasn't going to use the resources He'd given me to change things.

That might not make sense to you, since you probably don't quite know what I was "complaining" about in my prayers, so I'll explain it this way: In school, most of us were given text books. We also had class time in which we were able to take notes while someone who had devoted years to learning the stuff taught it to us. We had classmates who were better in certain subjects than we were, and, if we chose, we could study with them. But, come test day, if you never cracked a book, took a note, or studied at home, you couldn't just raise your hand and ask the teacher for all the answers. If you did that, they'd probably say you deserved to fail because you had not utilized any of the resources that had been given to you.

Now, do you see the analogy I'm going for here? God gives us so many resources--The Bible being the biggie. We also have pastors and sermons, fellow Christians, prayer....

Okay, so back to the story...

Actually, before I get back to the story, I should also add that I'm not really "broke." I mean, I am not where I want to be financially, but I complain too much for what I have. I live alone in a brand new 2-story apartment and, by the grace of God, I've been paying for it without ever missing a meal. Furthermore, I've paid rent, had food on the table, AND I've never had to turn down a friend for dinner or a movie...AND I haven't robbed God to do it (meaning, I've still tithed).

I don't say any of that to brag. Just the opposite, actually. I say it to express how much of a spoiled brat I can be sometimes. I don't think I'm alone in that (although I certainly won't call you a brat!) So, as I complain in the next sentence or two, don't take it to heart. I am not in danger of being thrown out on the streets. I'm just a prime example of one of God's "spoiled children.

Ok, now, back to business...

Long story short, I ask God often to take control of my finances. When He gives me some very direct blessings, like, say, this financial series at church, I try to blow it off. Thankfully, I wasn't able to this time for the reasons I mentioned above. Last week was the end of the series, and everyone had the opportunity to sign up for a financial learning class that would take place later that week and be taught by a professional financial counselor.

My church offers these occassionally, and I never go because I don't have money to save or invest or do any of the things I assume they talk about. This time, though, I felt that pressure again from God--that "use your resources or stop complaining" pressure. So, I signed up, and I went (and it was free, by the way).

As it turned out, the guy become a financial advisor after years of living the life I'm living now and finally saying he'd had enough. Surprisingly, he gave extremely applicable advice because he understood my/their situation. (It was a seminar, so I wasn't the only one there). Secondly, he was no longer in that situation, so he obviously knew something we didn't. Lastly, he said financial counseling was what God called him to do, so how can you argue with that?

I have some really important learning experiences to share that have come from "The Blessed Life" series and from the Financial Learning Experience, but that's all for another time. My point of saying all of that is to say this: if you want the reward, you have to do the work.

Don't ask God to bless you when you haven't used the resources to receive it.

Oh, and that whole thing about the holidays approaching earlier, that's a little warning for all you financially unhappy people like me. The financial counselor gave great advice on how NOT to go break financing the holidays. He said "Plan for them to happen every year." Who knew? :)

Happy weekend, and thanks for reading my terribly inconsistent posts!