Growth

Today the kids were up very early. They're early risers anyway, usually filling the house with yells and laughter by 7 a.m. This morning, for whatever reason, they were up a little before 6:20 a.m. So, we went through the motions, breakfast, snacks, drinks, supplements, shakes and so forth. Then I got a crazy idea: Why don't we walk to the park? We have an elementary school around the corner with a play ground.

We walked there and the kids climbed up to the highest slide and went down about 60 trillion times while I jogged laps around them for about 25 minutes (with High Knees and Sprints. I do love me some running).

On the way home, I pointed out all the flowers, trees, shrubs and leaves I could and we talked about them. I showed them acorns and oaks, and explained how everything the tiny seed needs to become a tree is right inside. The seed just needs the right conditions to grow. Good dirt, water, fresh air and sunshine. If the seed had all of those requirements, it would grow up to be a huge tree.

My 4 year old looked at all the acorns on the ground and looked back up at me. "Momma, that's a lot of trees!"

I went on to explain that not every seed would get those perfect conditions. Only a few of them would. God would make sure that the strongest seeds with the best potential to be a big ol' tree would grow. That was God's job.

I drew a parallel with the kids about people. How we have thoughts and feelings and God gave us free will, which means we get to choose how we want to grow. I told my girls about how God let us pick the conditions for ourselves to grow into. We could choose to grow into astronauts, or doctors, or gardeners, or secretaries or whatever we want to be.

The kids went on to make knock knock jokes, but our lovely little nature walk got me thinking. I've been on a learning curve lately, reading everything I can about personal finance, investing, real estate options, strength training, dietary recommendations, human psychology, charities, vlogging, marketing and, of course, biblical teachings to supplement my daily Bible readings. I want to grow in the area of finances so that I can have more to give more. I don't like only giving 10%, I want to really change the world, especially for kids in critical  condition.

But it's my choice to grow. That's such a beautiful thing! Likewise, everyone I listen to as I go about my daily life that complains, whines or grumbles about their current circumstances is choosing to complain over changing and growing. Library cards are free--go get a new skill set so you can change your circumstances. It really is that easy. Know where you're going, and then read a book or listen to a CD/MP3 on how to get there. If you want to be a real estate tycoon, learn from Donald Trump or Robert Kiyosaki. If you're drowning in debt, learn from Dave Ramsey or David Bach.

Even if you have no idea where to start, make the decision to start. If you are homeless, you can still get a library card and get access to the internet and go from there. You always have the power to affect your situation, don't ever convince yourself otherwise.

Do you feel helpless? Do you want to change but still don't know how to get started? E-mail me and let me help you! mannateamkratos (at) gmail :)

Lizi