Deserved or Earned?

Brian and I booked something REALLY exciting last night.  I can't go in to it too much on here right now. But if you're a long-time reader of this blog, you will be able to figure it out by remembering what we promised our kids as a family incentive for when we got out of debt.

Well, as you know, we're out of debt.  And we're making good on our promise.  And I can't wait!  (But as you've probably figured by now, we're keeping it as a surprise for the kids.)

So I am so excited for this "event".  Not only for how much fun it will be.  But also for the significance of it.  We worked hard for this.  We made a lot of sacrifices along the way.  We earned it.

I think that as "normal" people with fleshly desires - especially as Americans - we can some times get so caught up in "stuff" that we can lose perspective and easily slip into life outside our means.

I call it "claiming your blessing before it's really yours".

We could have easily gotten frustrated along our three-year debt-free journey and just said to ourselves, "let's just book this trip now.  We work hard.  Other people do this all the time.  We deserve it."

What about, "our t.v. is so outdated, and this other one is a great deal.  Let's just get it now and pay for it later."

Or how about, "our furniture is so old now, we deserve to get new furniture.  After all, we work hard."

It's so easy to justify to ourselves why we "need" new things.  We tell ourselves that other people replaced their old tv/couch/car way before we did - so we're really not being all that extravagant.

But here's the thing.  It doesn't matter if you have waited longer than someone else.  Or if your stuff is older.  Or if you work more hours.

At the end of the day, all that matters, is:  do you have enough money?  Is it your money to spend?  Have you truly earned it?

Don't try to claim your blessing before it's yours.  Wait until you've earned it.  Life will be so much sweeter.