Do you ENDURE or ENJOY life?

We all know the famous saying "Life wasn't meant to be easy, but it was meant to be enjoyable". I have been having this battle with myself for, I must say, quiet a number of years concerning money. Do I spend, how much do I save, how much is too much? You know those questions we ask ourselves when we have more than ourselves to think about. They aren't stupid questions, they are just questions that come up when dealing with day to day life of a family. Money can play such a controlling role in our lives.

As I was sitting on my exercise bike this morning in our hotel gym listening to the bible being read to me via my phone (I am loving this new way of doing exercise and not get distracted by the kids or turning on the tv............ which will then turn encourage my children to sitting around me while I am doing my exercises), I was lead to think about the phase from Ecclesiastes (as what was read to me was Ecc 1-7) "Everything is meaningless", which to tell you the truth is quite depressing!! But reading it in context with all that the writer is trying to say, is that whether you have a little or you have a lot of money (that is the part that is meaningless) you should enjoy life and be happy with every stage you are at.

 At the moment our family is in the middle of saving mode. We are saving for a family overseas holiday. We have the destination picked, we know how much we have to save and we are all ready to enjoy to fruits of our hard work and sacrifice. We are all going to have times of lean and time of plenty in our finances. Your plenty at times are not always going to look the way you wanted, e.g. not having a few hundred or thousand dollars to throw around, but you will have times when you have an extra ten, fifty or even one hundred dollars to enjoy. So ENJOY IT!! In the middle of all this 'meaningless' was a quote from Ecc 3:13 which says "...people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these ARE (my highlighting) gifts from God."  We can't take our money with us when we die. So why not enjoy ALL that has been given to you for your hard work and start investing and creating memories with it. Don't let money be the reason why you don't do things as a family. Be wise with what you've got but enjoy the ride. Be generous with what you have, this includes time, resources and money. Invest in your chosen relationships, know your seasons and enjoy YOUR journey!

"Life wasn't meant to be easy, but it was meant to be enjoyable"