In all honesty, many of the things I write on this blog are things I think about while driving/praying on my 30 minute commute to work.
Today on my drive home I was listening to the radio, and there was a short news piece about a couple of famous young women who are now billionaires.
I've gotta tell ya, my $20,000 a year income cannot even wrap its mind around what a billion dollars even means. And billions of dollars? Can't comprehend, other than I know it means being able to live without the constant worry of what extra jobs I can pick up this week to pay my bills.
So, away with this thought my brain went.
If money was not an issue, what would I do? How would my life be different?
Of course there are the little things. I would pay off my car and student loans. I would throw out several shirts that are ready to go and replace them with new ones. I would go out for a sushi dinner more than once a year. I would fly to Colorado to see my family more often.
On a bigger scale though, I gotta be honest. If I didn't have to worry about money, I would keep the same job I have now, working with autistic kids.
I would continue to volunteer at Youth for Christ, but instead of squeezing in time with my girls when possible, I would buy a house in their neighborhood and quit my extra tutoring jobs so I could be home with my door open when they get out of school. I could bake them cookies and help them with their homework every day. I could hear the little details about their everyday lives instead of once or twice a month updates.
Then summers. Oh, the things I would do with my summers. Since I work at a school, and I wouldn't have to work summer school, I could travel the world. But first I would get my master's degree in Community Development. I would spend the summers building schools in rural areas where there is no formal education, but I would do it in a way that they are community sustainable. (I have ideas, let me tell ya).
And as I continued driving, my ideas expanded. Then I realized that my dreams are not that far away from reality. In some areas I would be able to do the things I love "better," but I wonder at what point my reliance on Christ would turn to reliance on money.
Since I can remember, growing up in a single parent home, each month was lived by faith. There were days we didn't know if we would have dinner, and somehow God always provided.
Yeah, it would be awesome if I had the money to, with the swipe of a card, just pay for the
Rural School Project in Zimbabwe. But then I would be missing out on being part of an international community. The members of New Life Church and I would miss out on the act of stepping foward in faith each month to meet the government regulations and time line in the building process. The communities around Binga would miss out on offering their time and talents and sweat in order to give their children an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. And the kids would miss out on the opportunity to experience through this project the faithfulness and power of Christ, through whom all things are possible.
And all of these things, they can be hard, but they are good. These are the things money can't buy.
I ended my drive with a prayer that if God ever entrusts me with more money, that I will be faithful with each cent I am given, and if he doesn't, that I would do the same. I prayed that I always remember that no matter how much or how little I have, it all belongs to Him. And I thanked Him for always proving himself faithful.
What would you do if you never had to worry about money? How would your life change?
