130507 Joy is an Inside Job - Prosperity

Sometimes, we have the wrong expectations. This is cultural. Joy is an inside job; it depends on the Word in our hearts. It doesn't change the circumstances, but it does change what the circumstances do to us. When my children were younger, periodically I would have them write a list of things for which to give thanks. This may sound flippant, but the elder once wrote that she was thankful for air. She was serious. She explained that without air we couldn't breathe, and if we couldn't breathe, we would die, so she decided to thank God for air. It is too easy to dwell on what we don't have and ignore what we do.

Whenever I feel that my finances are not where they should be, I give more. When no money comes in, I give away stuff I'm not using. Sometimes, I consider whether I really need stuff I do use, especially if it costs money to maintain. My Branch Coordinator once asked me how we even paid our bills with our limited income. I simply determined not to have any bills.

I may have attended every Word in Business and Profession Conference there ever was. I know I was at the first and the last. At one of them, a presenter said to a group, "You already make enough money, lower your expenses." I really took that to heart. What I cut would not do for everyone, and what I kept others might cut. A State Coordinator once told me that if one really needs a Lexis, God will provide it. Few, however, really need that Lexis.

We have no TV reception, no cable, no satellite. No packaged dinners, no microwave oven, no home phone, no eating out, no new clothes. If it costs money, we analyze everything about it. We do have a home, two cars, and plenty of food. Often, when we need something, someone else gives it to us. After the divorce in early 2011, my two girls were denied food stamps on a technicality. We had been getting them while married, because his income was so low.

"Fine", I told myself. I had already managed to pay all his debt, and noticed how much freer we felt. I realized that we could live without him and without government help. We depend on God, now.
It hasn't been easy, and I'm still looking for steady employment. An idea I have is to teach other people how to live on less by teaching old fashioned Home Economics classes. We have a large homeschool community, so that would be an ideal place for me to start.