Bills Versus Investments

Shonda Ponder

Date: June 20-26, 2021

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Why didn't someone warn me that having six people in my house is a recipe for drama and no sleep? My son and his girlfriend are constantly bickering and it gets loud at times. It reminds me of why I am still single, and why I don't want that to change. 

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They both think that being together is better than being alone. I don't see it. It is not worth the tears and daily frustration against each other. THAT is not better than being alone. 

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Now, if I were to find someone that did not bring the tears and frustrations and drama -- someone who I was compatible with on every level -- THAT would be better than being alone. THIS kind of relationship is NOT. 

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What I am seeing is not love. What I am seeing is co-dependency. 

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And, in order to keep the peace, I am going to have to make one of them leave if it does not change. It has nothing to do with whether or not I like her, because I do. I just want the peace, and I am not throwing my family out until and unless it endangers me. 

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Of course, he has said, "If she goes, so do I!" So be it. At least I will have PEACE and QUIET and can actually ENJOY coming home again. Life is too short for this kind of drama. I wish I could teach him this. But he, at least, can't say I didn't try. 

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When it starts interrupting my peaceful dreams and starts disturbing the neighbors I do not care whose fault it is, it is going out of my house and off my property!

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I am not picking any side but my own! No drama! That is the rule!

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For some reason, the apps aren't pinging in Texarkana for me. So, on Sunday, I went to Shreveport to work. It is worth it for me to make the hour drive to make $20/hour - and, I did. It made me think about working there all week. 

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On Monday, my kids went with me.

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I decided, that I really liked Shreveport!

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It is easy to navigate. It's not near as crowded as some of the other busy cities, people are friendly, and everything tastes good!

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Not to mention the money is great!

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If I wasn't paying the mortgage on my house, I'd move there!

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However, the Horseshoe casino called my name and I lost $100. 

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On Tuesday, I came home to grilled Chicken cooked by my son. It was delicious!

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On Tuesday and Wednesday, I stayed in Texarkana. 

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I started looking at the weather forecast for the next 3 months. I noticed that we don't have one day over 98 degrees forecasted.

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Not one.

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Looks like we are in for a cool summer...

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Weird.

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On Thursday, I focused on trying to help someone become an investment so they don't remain a bill for someone else.

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My housemate wanted to gripe about the fact that I have finally put my foot down and forced him to go get the help he needs. It's easier for him if he gets me to feel sorry for him so he can continue to leech off me and his cousin so he won't have to get out of bed to go take care of business.

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Not happening.

 

I will help you to help yourself but you are not entitled to what I work for.

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Just because I have and you don't does not mean I should give to you. As a Christian, I try to help people help themselves. I give as long as they are working towards that. But when they start sitting there and taking just feeling sorry for themselves so they don't have to try, my generosity runs out.

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My generosity runs out at the point of enabling.

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If my own grown child was hungry, I'd feed him. But when he decides I should feed him just because he is hungry and he never has to go look for ways to earn his own keep, it is time to withdraw that support. Birds push their young out of the nest to fly or die. Not because they don't care for their own young, but because they want their young to learn self sufficiency.

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When God gives me something He doesn't give me something to waste. He gives it to me to invest. When I give something to someone else it is an investment in their future. If they choose to waste it why should I give it? If you waste what God gives you, he won't give it to you again until you learn how not to waste it. That is why a lot of people hit rock bottom. Because they have wasted what God has given them. It is not until they learn how to appreciate what they have been given and realize the value of it, and start using it wisely, they began to climb out of the hole that they have dug themselves into.

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I have always been a very generous person. And I have cast my pearls to a lot of swine for them to trample under foot. I never understood what Jesus meant when he said don't cast your pearls before the swine until I finally quit being an enabler and started being an investor.

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On Friday, scrolling the internet, I noticed how the racial divide is widening. While I was homeschooling my two boys, one thing I thought them was that skin color was not an issue to be concerned about. I taught them that Character Matters. And if one of them made any negative comments or actions concerning someone's skin, there were negative consequences to be paid. My boys did not grow up to be prejudiced. Nor did they grow up to favor one skin color over another. For any reason. Yes they were taught about the past. They were also taught the lessons that the past taught us. They listened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speech about his dream for the future. And they learned to dream as well. 

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All lives matter. 

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Today is the Sabbath. I am off work and going to relax. 

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What a week!