Seriously?

I heard someone say today "Life is about money."
When I heard this I was speechless as it came from a very intelligent source.  I do agree that money is a necesity in life by means of meeting the "basic" needs of survival but I hesitate to give money too much credit.  Is life really all about money? 

In my first year of marriage Joey and I had a clunker.  As soon as we got the car things were wrong with it.  Ya it sucked but we were positive about it and were grateful that we even had a car at all.  I remember when Joey was getting ready to walk 3 miles in the seattle rain to the auto store to buy an alternator so he could get to work the next day.  I was about 7 1/2 months pregnant with our first child.  Poor guy I thought to myself.  I wish I could do something to help fix this like get us a more dependable car.  But I knew this wasn't an option.  So as he was grabbing his rain coat I got up and gabbed his extra one and slipped it over my big belly and pulled on the hood.  I remember when he asked me what I was doing and the smile on his face when I said, "I'm going with you!"  I couldn't get him a new dependable car but I knew I could give him my love and support and I wanted to be there right beside him through it all.  That was one crappy walk but we did it together.  I can share with you many more similar stories we had like when he had to ride his bike to work and I had to walk to work because our "newer" car, that was suposed to be dependable, the good ol' taurus kept breaking down on us.  We walked to the PX together to buy new tubes for our lovely yellow 10 speeder.  These are just a few of those memories. 

While we were going through these times we wished we had the money to compensate for our sacrifices that we had to make but now look back on those times and say "remember when....".  We worked together when we made less money, we were grateful to just have eachother, to have friends to assist with rides when needed.  We didn't let our pride to get in the way and accepted help when we needed it.  God was mindful of us and placed the right people at the right time in our lives to help us and assist us.  And although we didn't realize it then, I can now look back on this and see the many miracles God gaves us.  Walking to work all through my entire second pregnancy with a solid hefty 2-year-old on my hip is a daughnting thing to even think about.  But I did it.  Joey riding his bright yellow 10-speeder was embarrassing but he did it!  But the most important thing is that we didn't do it alone.  God was carrying us through it the entire time!

Now we've more than trippled our income.  More money!  Woo Hoo!  Financial Freedom!  Or so we thought...

So is life really about money? 

My thoughts say, "Nuh Uh, No Way, Absolutely Not!"  Yes, money is a necessity when it comes to the means of survival.  But doesn't more money bring happiness?  Not in my experience.  It has brought more problems, more chaos, more debt, more greed, more wants, more heartache, and some more wants, and some more heartache.  Money does not control our happiness, We control our happiness no matter how hard life seems to be! Period!  Now some of you may question me by suggesting that I just havn't had it rough enough.  Have you lived in my shoes? 

Money is good and brings many blessings and freedom.  But if we say things like "Life is all about money" then it can be assumed that money controls that person.  And I sincerely feel sorry for them.

Life is about living!  Life is about loving! Life is about giving thanks to the Lord for all that we have and sharing our happiness with those that are dear to us.  Faith is a powerful attibute...and with the works to support our faith, the Lord will do more than suppliment with the necessities of life, like money.  Those that were blessed with the riches of the world in the scriptures did not rely on these riches.  They relied on the Lord and the Lord provided. 

I STAND FIRM IN MY BELIEF AND WILL WAVER NOT!  Again, Life is about living, life is about loving, life is about my husband and four beautiful children.  I give everything I got to the man upstairs because I KNOW with all my heart He will provide for me.  He works miracles for each and everyone of us every single day.  I only hope we can all open our eyes and enjoy the power of these miracles.  No other way can peace fill our souls.