Squirreling a Little Away

My older son has worked steadily as he has attended college.  He did so to earn "spending money". He told me a few months ago that, because he had listened to the advice of a local radio personality, he was automatically saving a portion of his pay and investing it in a no-load fund.  I was both surprised and impressed with both his maturity and wisdom.

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about money, (as does the Bible as a whole).  This particular verse comes to mind this morning.

Wealth gained quickly will dwindle away, but the one who gathers it little by little will become rich. 

Proverbs 13:11 (NET)

I remember when the boys were small, we had these compartmentalized banks we ordered from Focus on the Family.  Each bank was divided into 3 sections: one for 80% of the child's "income", one for 10% (tithe) and the third for the remaining 10% (savings).  Never too early to teach good stewardship.

Some would say that I am not the best steward of my financial resources, because I do not chase down and keep laborious track of every, single penny.  Admittedly, I could have done a better job of that. (My mother and my younger son are masters in this area!) The fact that I'm not a details person" did not serve me well in that regard.  Hubs and I have never attended Financial Peace University, even though I do admire Dave Ramsey's work.  However, my husband and I have followed scriptural principles all our married lives, and God has blessed us accordingly.  I give Him all the glory for that.

Yesterday, I found myself at Kroger with a few extra minutes.  (I was waiting on a prescription.) So, I used the time to browse through the "clearance" bins.  In particular, school supplies were on deep clearance.  In the back of my mind I remembered my Operation Christmas Child project - - two shoeboxes I plan to prepare for that ministry.  Crayons, watercolor paints, coloring books, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners - - all these and more went into my cart at a huge discount.  That money was well-spent, and those items were packed into the shoeboxes after I got home, squirreled away until November, when I'll flesh them out even more before the collection begins.  I'm grateful God enabled me to save those dollars, and still accomplish what He called me to do with OCC.

The verse highlighted today emphasizes the routine, steady, unglamorous habit of "putting a little away".  This is a very important part of stewardship, whether you are squirreling away part of each paycheck or squirreling away tangible goods and supplies, as I described above.  It serves us well whether we are saving for retirement, as my son is doing, or whether we are saving "for a rainy day", those unexpected expenses that occasionally hit us "out of the blue".

I do believe the Lord will hold us accountable for how we spent the resources He gave us during our time on earth, whether they be our talents, our time or our money.

One final (humorous?) story to close:
About six months ago, my microwave exploded.  It is a combination unit of microwave and conventional oven, built into a wall cabinet.  We think that one of the sensors got stuck, unbeknownst to us.  We left home for an event and when we returned, there was glass all over the floor because the glass window of the microwave had shattered.  Wow.  Well, the entire combination appliance will cost over $2500 to replace, and I am rebelling against that.  So, for now, we have taped the shattered glass front of the microwave up with bright blue painter's tape.  Yeah, it looks awesome.  While I have the money to replace it, I can't decide what I want to do - - put another combo micrwave/conventional in that space, or....do double ovens.   #inertia  However, it is comforting to know that, when I feel led to make a move in that direction, my "rainy day fund" will cover it.

I'm so grateful to God for His goodness, and for the wise scriptural principle of Proverbs 13:11.