"But those who
want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful
desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts
of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs"
(I Tim. 6:9).
Hey Gang: As one who
has experienced scar tissue in the area of finances and family issues, I
started this morning message to send along some advice to young couples in the
early stages of raising their quivers full.
But as I reread part one I find that it really addressed great grands,
grands, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews and even the next- door
neighbor.
My last statement on yesterday's message was "Let me
expand on that thought for a moment or two.” Now, remember,
that up this point in my life the one thing that was foremost in my mind was to
find a way to not go through what my family had gone through in my early years
- poverty. But I soon learned in Korea
that wealth does not necessarily mean green stuff in the bank."
The Air Traffic Control Center was located in a part of
Taegu that was not considered Knob Hill, but more like depressed-ville, or so I
thought. Our job was to prepare the
Korean Air Force to be self-sufficient and remove the need to have GI's. So, we had three members of the Korean Air
Force as part of our team. Over the year-long
period that I was with these young folks
there were opportunities to talk about other things beside Air Traffic Control.
I learned a great deal about their families and life in general.
It was amazing to me, being naive to the mores and folkways
of the Korean people, how similar their descriptions of life in Korea were. All had come from families of four or more
children; one had six brothers and sisters. Two lived in one room houses; the
other had a small pantry-like room attached.
They were considered more wealthy than the ‘one - roomers'. Their houses were made of mud exteriors, no
paint, and only one or two windows.
In America we were part of the bottom rung of the economic
ladder; we lived in a four-story house, that had a basement, main living area,
sleeping area and attic. Each of the six
rooms were larger than the houses of my Korean students. The attic in our house, which we used only
for storage, would have been considered extravagant. They each had running water and indoor
plumbing, that worked most of the time, and electricity was a forty-watt bulb,
most of the time.
The Korean lots were very small, with little or no back yard
or front yard. Houses were build right
up next to the roadway, which was unpaved and, depending on what part of the
year it was, dry or wet season, determined if it was passable. Such things as food markets and medical
services were extremely sparse.
Now for the lesson learned:
I thought I came from a financially-bottom-rung home and had committed
to fixing that problem for the family that I hoped was in my future. But in Korea I found families that had only
the bare necessities of life, and I mean
bare, seemed to be happy, content and really cared for each other. There was no television, no sports arena on
the corner, no daily planners with multi-activities for the week that prevented
the family from sitting down together for a meal or enjoying a time of
fellowship with the whole family present.
Yes, I was committed to working hard and providing a secure
and comfortable life for my family, but as I thought about that and seeing the
family relationships of my three trainees, I began to understand what Jesus
meant, If you want true happiness and contentment, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33).
Sooooo, my young friends, let me give you a piece of advice
from my mother. Years ago when the
inflation rate was hovering around ten percent and they were living on a small
fixed income, I called and said, "Mother, I know your income in limited
and everything cost more today than yesterday, do you need some help? I will never forget what she said, I can
still hear it clearly in my ear, "No, we are just tithing more".
I vowed that day that I would follow my mommy’s advice and
commit to the mandate given to me by God in Malachi 3:10-11 and give all that I
have into God's storehouse and let him
handle my finances. To date I have no
ulcers!
Blessings,
Gramps
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