Not a dictator....

As a little girl life seemed much easier. I couldn't wait to grow up and have this uninhibited sense of freedom. What I didn't realize until I became an adult though was that there wasn't this new found freedom uncovered but actually a greater sense of captivity by the world. As I watch my 7 year old daughter play with Barbies, make friendship bracelets and draw pictures of flowers and sunshine there innocence and simple beauty found through her eyes. I have said numerous times over the past few months "Macie growing up isn't fun so just stay little forever." Of course she scrunches up that button nose covered in freckles just as I did at her age and laughs but I wish I could scoop her up in my arms and keep her 7 forever. Now let me clarify and say everything about being an adult isn't bad it's just super complicated. I love being able to eat a brownie for breakfast if I wish or stay up as late as I want.  Being able to go places that I choose, decorate my house, cook my family dinner, go shopping and be a wife and mother but let's get honest for a minute its  complicated. I can't just eat a brownie for breakfast because I feel like it, I can't just stay up late without feeling like I got hit by a truck the next day, I can't go shopping and buy anything I feel because there are bills and responsibilities and being a wife and mom is hard work!

I mess up daily and am still sorting through being a grown up and making wise decisions. There isn't an instruction manual at Barnes and Noble that you can pick up with all the categories to being an adult with a step by step strategy on how to conquer life but there is a God that sent His only Son Jesus to die for me. The same Jesus that died on the cross for me when I was innocent at 7 also died for my imperfections and weaknesses at 29. Life doesn't get easier once you begin a relationship with Jesus but you can always count on Him to help you and through His word the Bible you will find an instruction manual for the difficulties. One of the most difficult Chapters on being an adult is about money. The Bible mentions money 2300 times, 5x's more than prayer and 5x's more than faith. Did you know the average debt per family is 136%? When talking about Credit Cards the average Credit Card debt is $14,575. The average debt for 21 year olds is $12,000 and for 28 year olds which is my age bracket average $28,000 in debt. Money causes young people to be held in bondage, marriages split and families destroyed. 55% of families are living paycheck to paycheck which causes stress, worry and poison in relationships.

Hearing these statistics its terrifying! The bondage that we can find ourselves in because of money doesn't limit itself to a certain category of people, it doesn't matter what economic bracket you fall into money can be difficult for all of us. We are under this misconception that if we just had a little more money life would be so much easier but what often happens is the more you make the more you spend or the more you find yourself in debt. Proverbs 2:7 "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender." They did a study and found that the average lottery winner is bankrupt within 3 years of striking it rich. Like all other temptations and strongholds money can be a big one that Satan tries to use to lure us into bondage. I would love to say that money isn't an issue for me but to be honest it has been at the root of difficulties in my husband and I's marriage at different times. I am a spender but he is a saver. We are both moving towards improvement but I think you can take both sides to the extreme and get into trouble. It's crazy how many difficulties in life we can pick apart and find somewhere money being a contributor. "Money is not the root of all evil its the love of money. Money is neutral it's how you use it."Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Money is an uncomfortable topic for most people and one of those subjects that's off limits to discuss openly. As scary as it sounds "money is one of the best outward measurements of the inward condition of our hearts." Although we would like to place money out of bounds in life we must surrender it to the Lord and ask for His wisdom and guidance in our spending, saving and giving. Money doesn't have to be a dictator in our lives and a destroyer of our relationships but instead we must take a stand and say "As for me and my family we will serve the Lord in ALL THINGS INCLUDING MONEY."