Waste not, want not.
John Wesley
1703 – 1791
The following is a reader’s comments about last week’s lesson, “What’s your belief about money?”
John, I would like to comment on your article. We too, grew up very poor as far as money was concerned, but we were the richest people around when it came to family love and unity. I was taught all of the sayings that you mentioned and learned them well. Today, everyone teases me about my “beer and cigarette money.”
By NOT smoking or drinking I have been able to save enough to buy anything I want or need, plus be able to give to the needy. But I refuse to help those who waste their money on cigarettes, alcohol and other foolish things.
Here is a good example. What I am about to tell you is true beyond belief.
We wanted to retire and move back to the country to have animals, lakes and a garden to be self sufficient, like it was when we were “Poor.” We found a place in La Grange, Texas, but didn’t like it. It had a big ravine running down through the middle and it was so full of yaupon bushes that you couldn’t see across it. We turned it down 3 times. We loved the area and kept being drawn back to this place. It was a strange message that we had to buy this place. We offered a ridiculously low bid and got it. With my beer and cigarette money we now have 5 lakes, a beautiful home, a cabin by the front lake for visitors, several barns, all kinds of farm implements and lots of animals. We have longhorns, donkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, guineas, and a Rio Grande turkey. We also have 4 dachshunds and 2 cats. Everything we have is paid for. I still have some beer and cigarette money left.
Here is where the story gets interesting.
Shortly after we bought this forbidden place, we met our neighbors through the woods about 1/2 mile away. They lived in a shack with 4 beautiful little girls. They had absolutely nothing. We tried to help them, but the father refused help. He quoted the scripture in Matthew 5:3 this way: “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” They wanted to be poor and have nothing. Their girls, ages 2 to 13, had never even been to school, and couldn’t read or write.
I told him the scripture actually read, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” These girls had never tasted sugar, cookies, meat, and had never even had a coat. Their shoes had always been flip-flops; they never owned a pair of tennis shoes. To this day, their front door doesn’t even have a door knob on it. We went to work on these people. All they knew was work. They lived like you would expect someone to live in the 1940’s. It didn’t take long before the girls were coming over here every day to visit. I didn’t want to undermine the good that their parents had taught them, but I didn’t want them to grow up illiterate either. It was OK to be poor, but not that poor. For money, they raised fighting roosters and shipped them all over the country. I didn’t like that either. (Seems like a poor set of beliefs that will allow a person to raise fighting roosters but not give their children a good education.)
I just couldn’t keep my nose out of their business. It was like we were sent here to help these children.
I talked to the high school counselor and told her about the girls, and she said “You have to call Child Protection Service.” I told her that I couldn’t but now that she knew about them, she could call. She did, and things started happening. The parents got mad at us, but you will never guess where they are now.
We had an apartment built over our barn. It is 12 feet X 72 feet. It has a full size bathroom and kitchen, one bedroom and living room. We ended up with the oldest girls. I told them as long as they went to school, no boys, no parties, no beer or cigarettes, we wouldn’t charge them one cent of rent. We got them a TV and a microwave. We bought all the girls a coat and shoes. And we bought them groceries. My husband found a pretty good used pickup truck for them to drive, and I took them to get their driver’s license. The older girls were 14 and 16 at this point when they moved in. It took them 5 minutes to move in, because they had nothing. We also told them that they had to go to school. The high school had a tutoring program, and I taught them how to read and do simple math. The younger girls started 1st and 5th grades.
The girls lived with us for almost 4 years. The oldest girl is graduating from Sam Houston next semester with a degree in Criminal Justice. The next one works as a dispatcher at the jail in Bastrop. The 2 youngest girls are in 7th and 11th grades.
What would have happened if we had not moved here? God works in strange ways. He made us move here. He gave us this job to do and with His help, these girls will amount to something. They learned a lot of good things from their parents about surviving on nothing, but they learned a lot from us too. We are so proud of them and we are back on speaking terms with their parents. The one in 11th grade has made honor roll every time since she started 5th grade.
Life is what you make it, and some people choose to be poor, but not this kind of poor. I’m so glad we listened to our instructions and things turned out well.
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
William Shakespeare
1564 – 1616