Money vs. Happiness

Oh my goodness, I am so excited to say that a comment I left on J. Money's blog was quoted in a MSN Smart Spending article. J. Money posed a great question: Would you rather be rich with a job you hate or poor with a job you love? Well, as I remain unemployed and unable to find a teaching job, I chose the second option. I really believe that at this point in my life my happiness is not tied to money. I also think the word poor is relative. My current goal is to find a job that will cover my monthly expenses while allowing me to save a bit too. This job however can't compromise my time with my family, my church, and myself. I'm just not willing to work 70 - 80 hours a week and then not be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor because I'm stressed and downright tired. In the past few months, I have had to make some major changes in my spending. I don't eat out as much, I don't rent movies or even go to the movies as frequently, and I don't spend as much on scrapbooking stuff. However, I have an unbelievable amount of peace because I really feel like I'm getting closer to God's purpose for my life. With each passing day, I'm learning that the acquisition of stuff and fancy titles isn't what life should be about. Instead it's about relationships. Since I've been unemployed, I have settled into a much slower pace that has truly benefited my relationship with my son. Of course, I know that all of us need a source of income. However, I think many of us are confused about WHO is really the source that sustains us. So I think it's only fitting that I ask you the same question: Which would you choose: money or happiness?

Lowering My Limbo Bar

I just listened to a sermon by Pastor Paul Shepherd that was right on time. (Doesn’t that always happen…you listen to a sermon and feel like the pastor is speaking directly to you.) This sermon was talking about “staying low” and being humble. Don’t get all full of yourself and your accomplishments. Well, recently I let my limbo bar get a little high. I have been unemployed for several months and I finally got a call for an interview. But my good fortune didn’t stop there, one day later I got another call for an interview. So now as I was preparing for these two interviews, my head was getting bigger and bigger. Whhhhhaaaaaattttt!!!! You couldn’t tell me nothing. I was telling my mom and my manfriend and anyone who would listen that yeah, my track record for interviewing and getting the job is outstanding. I started recounting the ONLY time I went on an interview and didn’t get the job was 13 years ago and that’s when I was fresh out of college. I even started asking them what should I do if I get offered my second choice job before my first choice offers me the job. You couldn’t tell me that I wasn’t about to get a job. Well, God has a way of helping our heads get a little bit smaller when they get too big. So I go on the two interviews a little cocky, really feeling like I am the best thing since sliced bread and why wouldn’t they want me at their school. So at the end of each interview, I’m a little stunned, huh???? Where’s the job offer? Oh, I rationalized they don’t want to seem too eager so they will call me tonight. Well, as you probably guessed, I didn’t get a call that night. In the meantime, I’m all telling my folks that I don’t even want this one job but hey beggars can’t be choosy so if they offer me the job, I’ll just have to suck it up and take it. Well that place did call me the following morning and guess what??? They promptly let me know that they had chosen someone else and wished me luck on my job search. After I picked my jaw and pride off the floor, I thought that’s okay…I didn’t really want to work there anyway. Well, it’s been five days since my interview and I still haven’t heard from the other job. It’s safe to say that since the job would start in less than a week, I don’t think they chose me for the job. These past few days have had a sobering effect. I was actually feeling a bit down and depressed thinking what if I can’t get a job. But, Oh then God sent His angels by way of a sermon and I quickly realized why I didn’t get either job. I so wasn’t staying low and being humble. Instead I was acting like it was my doing and actions that would get me the job. I wouldn’t have given God the glory because I would have thought it was all because of me. Well, as I remain unemployed with no job prospects in sight, I realize that my source is not me, it’s God. So I’m letting go and letting God. I know that all things work according to His purpose and that the interviews were sent to teach me a lesson about humility. I pray that the next time I’m preparing for an interview, I will turn to God and ask for His Guidance and acknowledge His Presence in all things. So where in your life do you need to lower your limbo bar?