Growing up in a household where money was scarce (read: small time farming dad and mom raising 7, count 'em, 7 daughters and one not-so-motivated-to-farm son) and so from little on, I developed a hatred for debt and a strong desire to make sure I would always be financial comfortable.
15 years and a masters degree later, I had my wish. Our two income household was comfortable. Husband and I had just spent a small fortune building our dream house. We had the requisite two children, two dogs, and one cat.
Then why did I feel empty? As I wondered around my new home, and as God, through the work of His Holy Spirit, began whispering to my soul, I realized I had taken on triple the mortgage and triple the work, all in pursuit of what? Happiness? The image of success? To show off on Facebook and at class reunions that I had "arrived"?
God would bring a scene from a movie back to replay in my mind as if someone had set the DVD player to "repeat" and left the room. (Yes, God speaks even through movies...imagine that)
Let me set the stage:
Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist who set up munitions and enamalware factories in Poland and the Czech Republic during World War II. Self-serving and opportunistic by nature, he sought to profit from the war but was however, visibly uncomfortable by the treatment of Jews by Hitler's army. He soon found that by wining, dining, and flattering high-ranking SS officers, he could purchase Jews to work in his factory, thereby saving them from the death camp. His choice of whom to purchase was based more on the advice of his accountant Itzhak Stern (also a Jew) than by the Jewish person's actual ability to perform the given tasks. Nearly shut down after the SS finds that he has employed a one-armed factory worker, claiming him to be "essential", Schindler, nonetheless, manages to keep 1,100 Jews from perishing in the Holocaust.
Below is the scene at the end of the movie where the Nazis have been overcome and the hunters have now become the hunted. The Jews from Schindler's factory have gathered to say their goodbyes as Schindler plans to flee (since Oskar was officially a member of the Nazi party although his actions clearly said he did not support their platform). Oskar is presented with a ring from his accountant Stern that in Hebrew reads "He who saves a life saves the world entire"...and the magnitude of Schindler's past decisions hit him square in the chest. He realizes that he could have saved so many more...that he had wasted so much money.
(Facebook followers can click on this link...video clips don't stream over)
http://movieclips.com/mX2f-schindlers-list-movie-he-who-saves-one-life-saves-the-world-entire/
And so for the past six months, God has been enabling me to see money differently. He has proven that He can outgive me any day of the week. He has helped me to realize that, had I invested in Isaiah 55 instead of building a house, I could have paid teacher salaries for YEARS to come...which would have resulted in hundreds of students learning to communicate and ultimately learning that God did not make a mistake when creating them and that they had an important voice in this world and that through His Son Jesus Christ, these students, and their families, can be adopted into the family of God forever.
I can't change the past. But I'll be hanged before I waste any more time or money in the future.
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