How can one not help but notice the controversy that surrounds the Christmas season?  There is always someone or some group that objects to the whoopla.  My experience has been that these same folks still accept a “Christmas” bonus, and don’t volunteer to work during a “Christmas” shutdown.  That being said, I would like to share a warm thoughtful miracle blessing!

It occurred the week prior to Christmas.  Getting ready for the winter beef show, kept my daughter and I busy and away from home.  Coupled with work, school and shopping, I was dumbfounded to get a call one evening from a young lady, telling me she needed to make a delivery.  I thought someone was sending flowers or something like that.  After several attempts of us trying to find a day and time, we finally settled for Thursday at ten thirty at night.  Then I thought, who delivers anything at ten thirty at night and why am I opening my door to a stranger that late?

She said her name was “Kelly” and there were two envelopes she needed to deliver.  She made sure my daughter was home as well.  A knock at the front door, one I rarely use, and a pleasant young lady delivered two envelopes.  One was for my daughter and one for me.  I was awestruck at the sum of money we each received!  She said we would never know who it came from.  She was just a messenger.  After picking up my jaw, I managed to say thank you and to tell whoever it came from God Bless them!  The envelope simply said from the North Pole.

My readers never question the power and magic of Christmas.  Blessings come in many ways and my daughter and I are truly grateful!

It was just before the Thanksgiving weekend when my daughter decided on a Friday night that we should do a puzzle and turn the TV on.  Relaxing is quite a luxury for us. Going to school, raising a steer for a 4-H project for her and work and running for me, a night home is rare.  At first I didn’t want to do a puzzle.  I just wanted to sit! Then I remembered how lucky I am to have a fifteen year old that wants to spend time with me, so I said ok.

Thus we started a round puzzle of a dolphin.  A funny thing about puzzles, they become addictive.  So day by day we worked on it.  Sometimes we only found one piece, but slowly it came together.  There was one spot we just couldn’t figure out.  We both kept trying different pieces but no luck.  Each time we found a piece elsewhere, we high fived each other.  This was incredible.  A week went by.  Finally, we got close to the end.  We really didn’t want it to end, yet we wanted to see the accomplishment.  My daughter figured out the tough section, and then we moved on.  We got through the whole thing and you guessed it, one piece missing!  We stood up, looked around and there it was the last piece!  We high fived each other, sat down and just admired our handiwork.  Then my daughter says, “That was empowering”!  How cool is that?

I guess sometimes empowerment comes from little things unexpected.  I didn’t really want to do the puzzle, but once I got into it, that was all I wanted to do.  The sense of accomplishment, the sense of completing a project really was empowering for both of us.  I suggest over the Holiday or for the winter months to find a project you can work on as a family.  It really is a lot of fun!

Routes to wealth are broken down into two easy thoughts; do I need it or does it distract me?  Wealth isn’t just having more of something but rather having what we need to fulfill our purpose, according to Jim Muncy.  If something is distracting us from our purpose, then we are actually becoming poorer.  There is no mistake that we need money, time, relationships, health and mind power.  If one of these is out of balance to our purpose then we slide down the wealth scale.

The first route to wealth is the “acquisition” route.  You need something so you go get it.  You need more mind power, so you begin reading, taking classes, associating with people who have it. If you need your health to improve, you begin an exercise program and adjust your diet. 

The second route to wealth is the “divestment” route.  Sometimes we have stuff or are doing stuff that no longer fulfills our purpose.  Unloading this baggage can free us up to focus more on our purpose.  It’s hard to believe that there are occasions that downsizing your life can actually upscale your wealth.  I wonder if anyone can share a story about this.  Jim Muncy writes that he sold his company, changed jobs, moved to a smaller house, and exercised regularly.  He says this sky rocked his quality of life. Personally, I decided about a year ago after much prayer, to go things on my own.  I too found that this allowed me to reschedule my time with my daughter.  This is the most important thing for me right now as she will graduate high school in two years.

Reevaluating your wealth should be a regular process.  It is so easy to get out of balance.  Always ask yourself two questions; 1) Do I need it? 2) Does it distract me?

Do you remember all those songs from the seventies and eighties that dealt with time?  “Time in a bottle” by Jim Croce comes to mind first.  We are obsessed with time.  Most of us tell everyone we can about how busy we are and that we don’t have time.  Yet time is a most precious commodity.  It is especially important when we take time for our spouses, children, or family (relationship factor).

Jim Muncy says nothing is free, it all costs time.  All of us have twenty-four hours.  How we spend it determines the kind of trader we are.  Time is always traded for something.  Also, we can recapture wealth, health, and make new relationships, but once time has been squandered it is gone forever!

What is it you desire most in life?  Don’t wait to pursue it.  Live life as though tomorrow may not come.  That is how important time becomes.  When it is gone we say  I wish I had taken the time, or that phone call wouldn’t have taken so long, or I always wanted to ….   So what is holding you back from doing the things you’ve always wanted to do?  Don’t let time be a factor.  Our life is short on earth.  Spend time wisely and it pays off.  It pays off to have the time to use and develop your mind.  It pays off to develop your health and fitness, your relationships and an income that sustains it.

There is no way to put a price tag on the opportunity to take my mother grocery shopping on a Tuesday at ten in the morning.  No price tag can be placed on the opportunity to attend daily Mass or to have breakfast out during the weekday. My lifestyle has allowed me this time, and that readers is wealth to me!