The Joys and Glories of Creation!

Have you ever wished that things could be easier. Wouldn't it be great if things were just done for you? I know as a kid it was nice to just have some things handed to me. I was the only girl in my family surrounded by 4 brothers. Two older and two younger. I have to admit I was pretty spoiled. I pretty much got what I wanted. Oh, I had chores to do and I complained about that. But looking back I know I was spoiled.

I also learned some valuable lessons. I learned that the things I was just given became things that I ended up not appreciating as much as I should have. I probably felt I "deserved" them for some reason. 

My father worked hard his whole life. He owned a donut shop when I was a teenager and when I learned to drive I had a job working for him. It was pretty cool working for my dad and I enjoyed it very much. However, my dad didn't give me a paycheck. He simply gave me pretty much what I wanted. If I wanted $20 bucks for something he would just had it over. He bought me a brand new car for my birthday. My older brothers had to work and buy their own. He would give me gas money or money to buy new clothes. Sounds pretty nice right?

Well, I didn't learn how to manage money. I felt like the person who believed they had money as long as they still had checks in their checkbook. I remember once asking my dad to give me a paycheck and he asked why, since I could have whatever I wanted from him. I didn't have a good answer.

A few years later I got a different job where I did get a paycheck. All of a sudden I was responsible for car insurance, spending money, and other typical teenager expenses. I learned to appreciate and take better care of the things I bought with my own money. After all I worked hard for that. Eventually I learned how to manage money and how to save for a rainy day. Those were valuable lessons I needed to learn.

I determined that I was going to teach our children those lessons early on. They had chores that they just had to do as part of the family. They also had other chores they could do and earn some money. They learned responsibility and are all well functioning adults. Hopefully they are teaching their children these same lessons. I'm sure they are even improving on the way to teach their children.

I thought of these lessons when I read this quote today. There are truly joys and glories of creation! And I might add "and doing things for ourselves".