Over the last few months of being in a family finances class I have come to realize and be grateful for several things that I was taught and learned as a child.
The first is the importance of tithing. When I was young I made 3 dollars of allowance and the first thing that my mom would have me do is put 30 cents into my piggy bank for tithing. Ever since a young age I knew that money was not mine but give to God for him to choose what to do with.
The other thing that I was grateful that I learned as a young kid was the power that comes through saving. The first 10 percent of our money we give to God and the rest is for us to be righteous stewards over. It is a blessing from God that we have anything at all. At a young age I learned to save to do things worthwhile with our money. When I was young I would save my money all year and then spend it to go on a week long trip visiting my cousins in Oregon. Those experiences are some of my favorite from my childhood.
I also learned from my Father about living within our means. My dad was never one to go out and buy the newest and baddest toys. Did we have some nice things... sure, but my dad used his money as a blessing to us and did so without needing the most expensive accessories.
The point... because of appropriate examples and lessons the greed of money has never been a part of my life. Money has been a chance for us to have worthwhile experience and is a cherry on the cake so to speak and not the cake at all.
