We are now Wireless

Now I can use my laptop as it was intended. I'm no longer tied to the desk.

Jackpot Millionaire

I used to fantasize about winning the lotto jackpot. I would think about all the things I could buy and do with the millions of dollars. I knew where I wanted to buy the first house (beach) and the second house (mountains), and what gasoline powered toys I wanted. We seldom bought tickets but it was still nice to think about sudden wealth and the changes it would bring to our lives.

It turns out the changes would not be positive. Many lotto winners find themselves in worse financial trouble than before they won. People get crazy when they can buy whatever they want. As I've gotten older I've realized that I can't really be trusted with the money I have now. What would I do with even more money?

I've decided the only way I could remain sane if I came into sudden wealth is to practice a reverse tithe. I would give away 90% of the money and keep the remaining 10% for my family. With the 90% I would give money to various charities including homeless shelters, scholarships for poor kids, my church, other churches, clean water projects for emerging countries, AIDS prevention and treatment, a private army in sub-Saharan Africa, inner-city ministries, and others.

As I have yet to win the lottery and it doesn't seem likely that I will, what do I do? Do I wait for the day when I come into sudden wealth or do I start tithing now? I think I can start now. I have a long way to go to climb up to 10% much less 90%. I better get moving.

A Simpler Christmas, Perhaps

Tabitha and I have decided to scale back our purchases for Christmas this year. The toys we get for the kids get played with only a very short period of time before becoming "clutter." And Tabitha and I really don't need anything else. But it is hard to break old habits.

I see all sorts of things that I want to get for Tabitha. I see things that I would love to have. I see things that I really want to get for Abigail and Aidan. And then I look around the house.

Our giant house crammed full of stuff. And I think about how little some people have - luxuries like food and clean drinking water. I wonder if I am really honoring the birth of Jesus by buying a trinket for Tabitha and asking for a new, bigger, television. Am I teaching our children to be doers of the Gospel or consumers?

At this point, I am teaching them to be consumers. I have bought into the delusion that stuff will make me happy. But worst of all, I don't really even believe that it will. I just buy stuff compulsively.

We are going to try to use this Christmas season to break our consumer habit. We are going to try to be faithful to the Gospel. We are not going to try - we are going to do.

Right-Sizing

About three years ago we bought a new home. We traded our 100-year-old two bedroom house for a brand new four bedroom house. And then we started to fill up the empty space. Our old furniture didn't really go, so we bought a bunch of new stuff.

Our queen size bed was dwarfed by the vast expanse of our bedroom so we got a king size. We moved the queen size bed downstairs to the "guest bedroom." Now Tabitha and I can sleep in the same bed and not even touch each other.

We had another queen size bed which we put in Abigail's room. What 3-year-old wouldn't want a queen size bed of her own? That would be Abigail. She slept in our bed for the next 2 years. Now she has a twin size bed like a normal little girl. Or a little girl with normal parents.

We still had an extra bedroom upstairs so we got another kid, Aidan. Fortunately he can't climb out of the crib yet, so we don't have to worry about him wandering around the house in the middle of the night. He might get lost.

So now we are a family of four in a 2800 square foot mansion with a three car garage and cupboards in the kitchen that are still empty. We need to buy more stuff just to fill the empty space.

Or...

We could get rid of stuff and live in a smaller house.