money, values & the magic purse

my parents are not perfect. but dwelling on peoples shortcomings isn't what brings about anything positive in any situation. i want to write a book about all the things my parents did 'right' while bringing us up...its really interesting to observe how different things in people's lives participate in the structure of that
persons personality when they become adults. well, i find it an interesting topic.
so, i'll start a series of 'what they did right' articles where i'll post what i think they did that i honestly appreciate since it contributed to the dna of my character today. (since we're trying to concentrate on the good remember?) hehe...tata my bad personality traits....what? i don't have any...haha i like this new approach to myself.

one thing thats stood out to me in our lives growing up, was that despite the fact that there are 8 of us, somehow we always got everything we wanted. not just needed. wanted. i think somehow my parents willingness to get us things that we wanted - instead of that constant 'no, you can't get that', or the 'oh we can't afford anything' attitude that a lot of parents have adopted, made us feel like we had a million dollars & as a result we didn't have that sinking feeling of everything being so out of reach hence magnifying the desire to have it.

my mom has this magic purse that somehow always has money in it. i call it magic, because no matter how little money we put in it or how much she takes out to give us, there's still always plenty inside for anything we ask for! im serious. its almost ridiculous. the funny thing is, my boyfriend and i are also just starting out & i guess we haven't yet developed that positive attitude to money. for us it's like: if we havent got the money, we haven't got the money. as a result, we never have the money. pretty much for anything. every now and again when we do embrace the fact that we can probably find the money, it just appears- but my mom constantly has that attitude to money. she always says: i don't care how much it costs. we can afford it. and then she'll proceed to stuff the money into my hand & force me to go get it. and she gives it to us in the faith that we'll do something good with it. so we're hesitant to waste it. we know by being given money that we're being given a responsibility to use it wisely. my dad's a little different, - his wallet isn't always brimming with money....but there's always a 20 in there. and it's always ours. my dad will sooner die of hunger & thirst than deprive us of anything.

i think the fact that my parents took that loving approach with us, that we in turn showed them a measure of love back in being modest in what we asked for. or in wanting to reciprocate that love in kind deeds or buying them things too, even if it was with our little collection of brown money.

i guess the emphasis on material things also wasn't blown out of proportion the way it is today. we learned to value things like the benefit of having each other, playing together, helping one another, taking pride in doing things, praying with & counselling fully grown adults (haha that was fun), memorizing the bible, & praying with people.

yup, so that's the first post on 'what they did right'...i hope its beneficial to someone...otherwise, whats the point right?