What you never had, you can never miss.

This article caught my eye today. I read it and thought about how this explains my thoughts on money so well. Dan and I have had many conversations about money and our future... and we agree, that no matter how much money the Lord blesses Dan and I with, we don't want to change our lifestyle. I don't want the luxury car, I want to continue to drive my Honda. I don't want to shop at the expensive stores, I refuse to pay more than $30 for any article of clothing now and I don't want to change that. I don't want a big house, I want to have enough, but nothing more. Growing up in poverty, I have certain memories about the people who drove the luxury cars and who shopped at the expensive stores. Now, at 23, I know that people can be wealthy and love Jesus, be kindhearted, and be caring... but I have memories that I can never erase and convictions that I can't ignore. We never, ever want to be confused or mistaken for making someone feel the way people made me feel when I was young.

Dan grew up in a very different lifestyle. His father is a doctor and his family is very wealthy- but Dan never had any concept of what rich was until he was a teenager. He lived like every other person did. There was no value put on things to made him stand out as wealthy.

This couple, said something very wise. "What you never had, you can never miss". If I have the money for a $35,000 car, I'd rather spend $15,000 on a used car and give away the other 20K and really bless someone. I will never look back on my life and wish that I had better clothes, a better car, a bigger home... but I will look back and wonder if I used the blessings from God wisely.

Dan and I have made commitments to each other and to the Lord that we will always strive to live below our means and give above our means. No matter how small the gift, we hope to bless people more than we hope to gain better things. No matter what the Lord blesses us with- whether its millions or nothing else at all... I don't have some good lifestyle to keep up with. Like the man said in the article, "The money [is] nothing, we have each other." We have the Lord and each other-- and with that... I'm complete.