Perspective

So, I've been telling you recently about the changes that our family has been experiencing in our "worldview".   We've scaled down on tv, Christmas gifts, spending, etc.  Started giving away a lot more.  We began realizing we don't *need* most of what we have.    Some of you might still be thinking, what in the world is a worldview??   GotQuestions.org answers it this way:

A “worldview” refers to a comprehensive conception of the world from a specific standpoint. A “Christian worldview,” then, is a comprehensive conception of the world from a Christian standpoint. An individual’s worldview is his “big picture,” a harmony of all his beliefs about the world. It is his way of understanding reality. One’s worldview is the basis for making daily decisions and is therefore extremely important.

Basically, it's how you view the world, and how you live your life based on that ideal.   We believe that what matters to Christians should be drastically different from what matters to the rest of the world.  When we started noticing that what mattered to us wasn't all that different after all, we knew it was time to change some things.  


Lately, we've been talking about income, job schedules and ways to make our family time more effective in the long run.   In our household, Hubby works a crazy schedule.  It means that sometimes he's home in the middle of the day, but sometimes he's gone all day and into the night.  Other times, we just sit down to dinner or a family movie and he gets called out to work.   On top of that, he has varying days off every week, and during those days off, he runs our small construction/landscaping business.     It's a huge juggling act around here!   The addition of a second vehicle has made things a little easier lately, so for that, we're very grateful.    But there are times when we wonder, what in the world is he working so hard for?   Do we need to keep making this amount of money to survive, to meet our needs?   We're basically spending every cent that comes in, with little to nothing to show for it.   Meaning we haven't increased our savings, giving, property, etc.  

A few weeks ago, Hubby & I read that, 84% of the world's population makes less than $10,000 a year.   If you make $50,000 or more a year,  you are wealthier than 99% of the world.   We definitely fall into that privileged 1%.   We also learned that close to 2 billion people live on less than $2 a day.   I can't even imagine living on that amount.    That's $730/year.   My monthly grocery budget is way more than that.  And let's not even count the money we spend eating out frivolously.   *SIGH*    

So, there's a lot of conviction going on here about the way we use our income, and whether it is really meeting any Kingdom needs or not.   Lots of thoughts rolling around in here.... 

To be continued.....