When my friend Andrea from Lil-kid-things mentioned that she'd be posting all week about thanksgiving and encouraged others to join, I knew it was a no-brainer decision.
Today, I am thankful for life's hard lessons. They are not always fun, but they have taught me to value the things that matter — my faith and my family. Before we were married, hubby and I both knew we wanted to have kids and valued that our mom's each stayed home with us. However, we never really knew the sacrifices that our parents made to make that happen. Going from a two-income household to a one-income household, we did make many sacrifices. However, we did not understand the false security of credit and quickly found ourselves in too much debt and too little income. It was embarrassing and frustrating all at the same it. We worked so hard and already made so many sacrifices for me to be home with the boys. It was like a slap in the face to see that it did not work. Then, we found Dave Ramsey's radio show and Total Money Makeover book. On his radio show, we heard about people paying off debt and were making less money than we were. There had to be hope for us.
During the process of reading the book, I realized that I was holding on to "things" and giving value to them, rather than in my family. It was a serious epiphany for me. We quickly sold some furniture to get jumpstarted on our way out of debt. I sold my favorite dining room table. It was our first purchase, as a married couple. However, my boys were more important than a TABLE. If I had not seen my materialism for what it was, I'd still be wallowing in self-pity.
We are continuing to live on less than we make, so that we can finish paying off debt. Our dream is to be able bless others with our freed-up income. It's so much more fun to give the money away and see what good it can do!
Through that hardship, I've learned much of what I am sharing on my Almost On Purpose blog. In order for something to stay in my house it must serve more than one purpose. Otherwise, I'm going to sell it or donate it. I don't have room in my life for clutter. Is my house still cluttered? Oh, yes! But I am willing to let go of it. Material things should not define me or my family. (I said "should" because I'm still a work in progress). Plus, we have a greater admiration and respect for our parents and all the sacrifices they made for us.
Have you experienced a life lesson that changed your perspective?
Have you experienced a life lesson that changed your perspective?
