The bars aren’t meant to keep you out. No, sometimes they are saying…fight to get in.
(Picture by Lisa R)

I am growing up. I can tell that this is happening because I am becoming more financially aware. I check where my money is going. I am conscious about spending. I want to be a good steward of all I have been blessed with. A couple of years ago life was not like this. I wasn’t as careful, I really didn’t pay attention to where or what I spent my money on. As a result I was often blindsided by unexpected events. Here’s the ironic part, it took a very unexpected and somewhat traumatizing event to get me to this point today. My brother and I are two very different creatures when it comes to spending money (which is odd cause we grew up in the same house). He is a saver. He doesn’t spend frivolously unless he is ABSOLUTELY sure it won’t mess up anything that he has previous put in place. I am not sure where I was when our parents taught this lesson, clearly I was absent that day (or asleep).  So as a result I have always been financially one step behind him. He may be my little brother, but he is my example when it comes to financial wisdom. God has taught me a lot about myself, as I walk this path of financial growth and responsibility. I have learned that how I spend my money is a reflection of me and my beliefs. That how I save is a reflection  of what I want to do with my future. We don’t think about money when we are young (unless we have none…then we think about it a lot), we normally spend without thought or conscious. Everything we do is a representation of who we are and what we believe (even how we spend our money).  Where I spend my money shows me where my heart really is.

“Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:20-21).

So what am I thankful for today? Financial growth (and no not because I am richer, but wiser).