elloree (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} elloree) wrote,@ 2008-08-25 16:47:00 |
|
Mo’ Money
When we lived back in South Carolina, there was a mechanic I knew, and everybody called him “Bo”. He was a tall, lean, quiet sort of guy, and his wife was exactly the opposite. She was short, sort of large, loud, and she talked all the time. And she was funny. She wasn’t trying to be, but she was just plain fun to watch and listen to. One day, she told me, “Everybody calls my husband Bo, except for me. I’m the onliest one who calls him Willie Earl.” Bo told me about a time when his wife went to town. “She said, ‘Willie Earl, give me $20. I need to go to the store.’ I opened my wallet, and the only thing I had was a hundred dollar bill. So I gave it to her, and told her to bring me back the change. When she got home, she was so mad. She told me, ‘Dog gone it Willie Earl, I was so embarrassed in that store. I had to write a check for a dollar and a half.’ She spent the whole hundred dollars I gave her plus $1.50.” Seems like that’s always the way it turns out. Brient is enlarging their house, and he figured up what it would cost. He’s not done, and he can already see he’s going to be over budget. I could have told him that before he started. I’ve built a screened in front porch and a dining room onto our house, and they both went over budget. The enlargement on my shop and the prayer garden down at the church house; they both cost more than we planned. Life requires mo’ money.
I used to go to church with this big Mississippi redneck. He had his own way of looking at things. I remember one day he was talking about raising his kids. He told me, “Bubba, you can’t reason with teenagers. They’re in a tunnel. They don’t know anything, and they can’t hear anything you say. The only thing you can do is throw in food and money, and wait for them to come out the other end.” Ain’t that the truth? I always say, a man and woman can get married and they will do O.K. financially. But if you want to be stone broke for the next 25 years, have children. If I ever got the idea that I had $5 left over, the joke was on me. One of the kids would need shoes, or would get sick, and I’d be back in the hole.
And school… In our family, we have done it all: public, private, church owned, and homeschooling. You expect that private and church schools will cost a lot. But don’t let anybody fool you about public education. By the time they were done, I was wondering what happened to all my tax money they said they put toward public education. My children became salesmen at a very young age. The schools had them selling flower seeds, candy, candles, light bulbs, wrapping paper, raffle tickets, and chicken dinners. One little girl came by last year, and I asked what she was selling. “Nothing,” she told me. The school sent them out begging to see how much money they could collect from their neighbors. How much does it take? More.
And taxes… Everybody knows there’s no end to it. Not only will there be no end to taxes, but it appears there will never be an end to how much more of our money they try to get. There’s always one more proposal for additional taxes. I remember what Jesus said about paying taxes. He said we should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. I don’t want to appear to be a person who looks for loopholes or tries to split hairs, but I have a real question. How much of my money does Caesar think belongs to him? Well, if you ask that question to the ones working for Caesar, they will tell you, “More.” At some point, I tend to think it’s enough. The people who impose the taxes don’t actually do any work for their money. Their main job is to figure out how to get it from those of us who do work.
I guess money is one of those things that tells about our attitude towards life in general. John D. Rockefeller was once asked how much money it took to make a man happy. His answer – a little more. I’m writing this entry early on Sunday, August 24, just before time to get down to the church house. I’ve read the Sunday School scripture for the day, and it is James 4:1-12. Simply put, it says it’s just a part of our fallen nature to always want more. Even when we have enough, we still want more. Our closets are full of good clothes, and we are continually buying more. Our automobiles still run well, but we want a newer one. A man might have a good wife, but that natural dissatisfaction that’s in all of us may lead him to want someone else.
Just personally, I think that thankfulness is the only cure. When I stand still for a minute and think about it, I figure out that I really have all I need. If I don’t waste what I have, then there will be enough to go around. And without a doubt, I have more than I deserve. I might want a different car, but this one is way better than the one I had before it. I might want a different girl, but the one I have could have done better than to choose me. I’m thankful.
Makin’ Sawdust and Diggin’ the Music
When we lived back in South Carolina, there was a mechanic I knew, and everybody called him “Bo”. He was a tall, lean, quiet sort of guy, and his wife was exactly the opposite. She was short, sort of large, loud, and she talked all the time. And she was funny. She wasn’t trying to be, but she was just plain fun to watch and listen to. One day, she told me, “Everybody calls my husband Bo, except for me. I’m the onliest one who calls him Willie Earl.” Bo told me about a time when his wife went to town. “She said, ‘Willie Earl, give me $20. I need to go to the store.’ I opened my wallet, and the only thing I had was a hundred dollar bill. So I gave it to her, and told her to bring me back the change. When she got home, she was so mad. She told me, ‘Dog gone it Willie Earl, I was so embarrassed in that store. I had to write a check for a dollar and a half.’ She spent the whole hundred dollars I gave her plus $1.50.” Seems like that’s always the way it turns out. Brient is enlarging their house, and he figured up what it would cost. He’s not done, and he can already see he’s going to be over budget. I could have told him that before he started. I’ve built a screened in front porch and a dining room onto our house, and they both went over budget. The enlargement on my shop and the prayer garden down at the church house; they both cost more than we planned. Life requires mo’ money.
I used to go to church with this big Mississippi redneck. He had his own way of looking at things. I remember one day he was talking about raising his kids. He told me, “Bubba, you can’t reason with teenagers. They’re in a tunnel. They don’t know anything, and they can’t hear anything you say. The only thing you can do is throw in food and money, and wait for them to come out the other end.” Ain’t that the truth? I always say, a man and woman can get married and they will do O.K. financially. But if you want to be stone broke for the next 25 years, have children. If I ever got the idea that I had $5 left over, the joke was on me. One of the kids would need shoes, or would get sick, and I’d be back in the hole.
And school… In our family, we have done it all: public, private, church owned, and homeschooling. You expect that private and church schools will cost a lot. But don’t let anybody fool you about public education. By the time they were done, I was wondering what happened to all my tax money they said they put toward public education. My children became salesmen at a very young age. The schools had them selling flower seeds, candy, candles, light bulbs, wrapping paper, raffle tickets, and chicken dinners. One little girl came by last year, and I asked what she was selling. “Nothing,” she told me. The school sent them out begging to see how much money they could collect from their neighbors. How much does it take? More.
And taxes… Everybody knows there’s no end to it. Not only will there be no end to taxes, but it appears there will never be an end to how much more of our money they try to get. There’s always one more proposal for additional taxes. I remember what Jesus said about paying taxes. He said we should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. I don’t want to appear to be a person who looks for loopholes or tries to split hairs, but I have a real question. How much of my money does Caesar think belongs to him? Well, if you ask that question to the ones working for Caesar, they will tell you, “More.” At some point, I tend to think it’s enough. The people who impose the taxes don’t actually do any work for their money. Their main job is to figure out how to get it from those of us who do work.
I guess money is one of those things that tells about our attitude towards life in general. John D. Rockefeller was once asked how much money it took to make a man happy. His answer – a little more. I’m writing this entry early on Sunday, August 24, just before time to get down to the church house. I’ve read the Sunday School scripture for the day, and it is James 4:1-12. Simply put, it says it’s just a part of our fallen nature to always want more. Even when we have enough, we still want more. Our closets are full of good clothes, and we are continually buying more. Our automobiles still run well, but we want a newer one. A man might have a good wife, but that natural dissatisfaction that’s in all of us may lead him to want someone else.
Just personally, I think that thankfulness is the only cure. When I stand still for a minute and think about it, I figure out that I really have all I need. If I don’t waste what I have, then there will be enough to go around. And without a doubt, I have more than I deserve. I might want a different car, but this one is way better than the one I had before it. I might want a different girl, but the one I have could have done better than to choose me. I’m thankful.
Makin’ Sawdust and Diggin’ the Music
