Discard Checkbook Agony

Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.

Proverbs 15:16-17

Some time ago I ran into Debby, a young friend who had been hired right out of college by a prominent business in the Midwest. As we chatted over mango tea, she sighed as she recited a long list of credit-card debts caused by her attempts to maintain the image she thought her job called for: expensive clothes, a sporty car, and an upscale town house. She also confessed she wanted to be liked by the office decision makers, so she often picked up the tab for expensive lunches even though she was not reimbursed through an expense account. Now it seemed as if her coworkers expected her to bankroll their fancy culinary tastes. Further, her checking account was so horribly muddled she had been forced to change banks for the third time and open new accounts.

Even as I wondered how she, a bright woman of the new millennium, could have gotten herself into such a mess, I could sympathize with her checkbook agony. After all, I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of my joke that the first time a friend asked if I had reconciled my checkbook after my husband died, I retorted, “Why do I have to reconcile myself to it? I’m not angry at it!”

But financial ignorance is not funny, and financial disaster can result from a woman’s decision not to manage wisely whatever amount she has. Debby ended our mango-tea discussion with a promise to accept the invitation from one of the bank officers to take the company’s financial planning class. As we parted, I felt confident she would regain not only financial control but her emotional freedom as well. —SANDRA

Lord, how did I allow things to become so important? I thought I knew that shiny items won’t bring happiness. I thought I was above trying to impress others. But I’m surrounded by “stuff” that has not made me content, nor has it gained me the deeper friendships for which I long. In fact, it has done nothing but push me into debt. I ask for your help in getting out of this mess. Help me to learn from this tough time. And may I invite you into each future financial decision.

The Lord holds us accountable for what we do with His provision.

—FLORENCE LITTAUER, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR

From the book