Stewardship and Christian Budgeting. This can be a very emotional and sticky subject for people. Money encompasses so many things; trust being the main one. We must trust God with everything and this includes our finances but it can be extremely difficult.
Abby points out that supporting one’s parish is a precept of the Church. When we are responsible and practice good stewardship with our money this becomes a joyful thing rather than an obligation. I love this quote; “Through tithing, our attitude changed tremendously. Instead of looking at it as Our Lord wanting ten percent of our hard-earned treasure, we came to realize that He is simply letting us use ninety percent of His.”
How beautiful and trusting.
Abby gives twelve budgeting guidelines in order to help us calculate spendable income and to be good stewards of that income (which after all, comes from God). She includes some forms to help organize the process (which you can copy/print for your personal use). Abby really puts the whole budgeting thing in the right perspective and I find that both refreshing and rare. There are a lot of decent resources out there to help you get on track budgeting and money-wise but none that I know of that put God at the center. And shouldn’t He be at the center? Of even this part of our lives?
Still it’s sticky and emotional. That’s where the meditation prompts help, I encourage you to make use of them.
In our home it is mostly my husband who handles the money (he’s a CPA it comes natural); the big bills and investments. I handle the house stuff and the kid stuff and we both make decisions about how our resources (what there are of them)are used. It’s my least favorite thing in keeping a house but it is extremely important. I think that’s why I hate it. Money (or the lack of it) causes such stress that I would rather hide my head in the sand. Silly but there you go.
Next week is the last post in this series and it will cover the section dealing with vital documents. I’m thinking my manila envelope system is about to get an overhaul. 😉
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