Money

Money is a funny thing.  I've been thinking a lot about it.  Most people assume we are poor because of the size of our house.  How do I feel about this?  I don't know.

We live small on purpose.  We have a plan.

• Go small (live in 400 sq ft with 3 kids at the in-laws for a year) COMPLETED
  
• Stay small (live in 920 sq ft with 4 kids in a rainy city)...CURRENT (will be a rental soon)
• Buy a medium size house in Texas to live in for a year (this will happen in 2 years,this will also turn into a rental)
• Build our dream house with no mortgage (this will be completed in 3-4 years)

 I guess I don't like "being thought of as poor", I don't know why.  Why does it matter?  And at the same time, I "LIKE being thought of as poor", puts it into perspective. I guess some people think we are poor because we have a small house, no matter what we have in the bank. What does it really matter anyway? We never want to be a slave to our house.  We want our money to spread around, building our legacy and helping others. We plan to completely support both our parents and be the house that all gather to for holidays and birthdays and every day.  We want to spend our money on our family taking trips and mission trips and helping everyone possible.

I think most people don't stay small enough for long enough.  They are always trying to catch up instead of waiting til they can just really explode.

Living small is hard.  I have 3 kids in one 8'x7' bedroom with no closet.  All of their clothes are in one dresser and the coat closet.  The baby still sleeps in our room and her clothes are in a plastic container under the bed.  Our bedroom is  9' x 13' and housing a king sized bed.   But we do have our own bathroom, that is nice.  Ok... I lied.  It's really not that hard at all, it's tight, that's all.  Living on the streets, that would be hard.

Redneck and I both feel like we "have it all".  We feel like we ARE the Jones's... you know the phrase "Keeping up with the Jones"?  It's funny because no one but us sees us like that.  Everyone thinks we are poor and deprived, but I couldn't be happier.  A bigger house and living in sunny weather, that's just an added bonus.

We are spreading our manure right now... so our garden looks pretty bare to outsiders.  But living in the "dirt" (the starting ground), we know the richness we have invested deep down and it's only a matter of time til everyone else will see why we invested in "manure" instead of a "ready made potted plant".