Once in a while, while chatting with friends with school-aged kids, the topic of allowance comes up. “How do you guys do it?” we’re asked. We aren’t financial gurus by any means but we do have a little system in place that will hopefully instill some basic financial sense in our children.
Our system is based partly on how Tim’s dad (former accountant) taught Tim, and partly on a short, practical book called, Money-Smart Kids: Teach Your Children Financial Confidence and Control
Hello dear readers,
Spring is a season where change often happens and Tim and I have two developments we wanted to let you in on. This post will be more of a personal update from us and less of the reflective type of article we usually post.
Below is the text for the eulogy given at my dad’s Celebration of Life on March 24, 2019. To watch a video recording of the event, click here.
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Traditionally, the season of Lent is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday (not including Sundays). It is a season for fasting and repentance, a season of soul-examination drawing from Jesus’ experience in the wilderness. This year, Lent starts on Wednesday, March 6 and lasts until Saturday, April 20.
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Back in January, Tim and I did our annual Blue Day – a day to review our direction, plan, and dream for this coming year (we explain this idea more in our ebook “Fight With Me“). We also chose a theme word to focus on for the year. For 2019, our word is Enough.
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When I think about what we did as a family in 2018, two practices stand out in as particularly life-giving and beneficial to each of us. These were both spiritual exercises that we incorporated into our daily rhythms over this past year and were only possible because our kids are now at an age where they could both participate. The first was what we call Good Parts/Hard Parts. The second was what we call the Quiet Minute.
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Advent is a season observed by many Christians as a time of preparation and expectant waiting for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. The term comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” Many people like to go through a set of readings during Advent. For me, having one word to contemplate throughout the day and looking for an image to capture that word allows me to practice Advent in a simple, accessible, and integrated way that flows with the rhythms of my life.
The practice of capturing one photo a day throughout Advent has enabled me to live with eyes wide open, in both a physical and spiritual sense. In the midst of the hubbub of December, it has allowed me to slow down and be attentive to my life. It has been such a rich practice over the past few years that I wanted to continue it this Advent.
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