There’s lots to do around my home. I have an agenda for today. Our home is small and has gotten crowded as we have grown over the nine years we have lived here. I don’t have much money for containers that help organize. But I can still clean. I have much more time for that now.
Yesterday when I was in the kitchen I looked around at my worn home. It was a little frustrating. Where do I start to clean well a home that is crowded and has little storage area? I was annoyed.
But then I thought:

At least I’m with my children. They can be my cleaning crew. It’s a privilege to be a stay at home mom in a two income economy! They’re in better moods and I can stay on them to keep busy throughout the day. I’ve got a part time job watching an elderly lady. That gives me a break which I’m glad about. We’re hurting for money but we’re makin’ it. I seriously pray that the many “coals” from my husband’s internet endeavors “will ignite” in a big way.
At least I live in America. Just about everybody in other countries wants to come here. When I traveled to Nicaragua on mission trips I saw their poverty. Sometimes I would sense they envied or admired me because I was obviously American. Once again, I just thank God I’m American and I hope and pray our military can always keep us safe and free.
At least I’m a Christian. Although sometimes I feel cheated because everyone around us financially prospers and we have not for sixteen years. And sometimes I feel like God keeps us in this embarrassing hole of little money. At least I know I’m storing up treasure in Heaven. The Bible says in Heaven the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Honestly, I want big financial blessings while I’m alive on this earth and I want to travel (travelling takes alot of money).
At least I have good health. I’m definitely not overweight. My joints don’t ache from arthritis. At age forty I can go out and make a 100 yard mad dash without being overwhelming out of breath. I can go ride a bike or play soccer without having to build up to it. In a day I may not have as much energy to spend as other people but I do the best I can with what I have. (I do have back problems that tire me out but thank God I can keep my back from hurting by simply doing exercises.) I don’t have allergies. I’m not addicted to cigarettes. And I love learning all about nutrition and my children benefit from this.
At least I have set an example of keeping my wedding vows. In modern society, marriage is no longer considered a lifetime commitment. The “smart ones” know you need to live together before marriage and be on birth control to see if you can financially make it. To be honest, if you don’t do this you will be penalized. You will be forced to do what I consider “dishonorable” and get government aid.
I want to be an example to my children. You pray for the person you will marry, then you prepare as much as is financially possible beforehand and then you have an authentic honeymoon and are dedicated to that one person all through life’s struggles. You even stay married to that person when you don’t even want to be near them. You realize their faults and then they realize yours and then you mostly ignore how their faults annoy you and keep staying together each day of your life.