For the better part of our marriage we did not do well financially. At one point Ray went years without a steady - good income providing - job except for his military employment. We have never been on government assistance but we have had to have a lot of help from our church community. 

During these past few years we have been doing really well. We haven't wanted for anything and we have been able to live a very comfortable life. 

My husband works for a consulting company in sales. This past spring he lost two clients. Not by any fault of his it is just how sales work. We knew that we would make less money but we had hopes that business would pick back up. 

Well it hasn't. 

We aren't poor by any means, we just don't make the same that we were. These past couple of months we have felt the pinch and have realized that somethings will have to go. 

Now we could force it to work. We could live paycheck to paycheck and barely scrape by or we could let the unnecessary go and live more reasonably. 

I sat down with the kids a few days ago and talked to them about our circumstances. I shared with them where we are at financially and that while things are not desperate at this point if we keep forcing a lifestyle that is currently unrealistic then things could become desperate. 

I was so impressed with their maturity. They were all willing to let go of the their current activities that we are paying for each month without hesitation. In fact it was their idea. They asked how much money it would save us and I shared the amounts with them and they were all in unity that a temporary step back from these activities would be the best decision.  

Alora is by far our most expensive child because she is a competitive gymnast. She asked if she needed to quit gym and I cried because realistically, yes we would need her to quit. She told me that she has had a feeling that she would need to quit or that she would be quitting but she didn't know why. 

I told her we could keep her in but it would keep the budget tight, especially with Christmas, her birthday and two more just days after hers coming up. I shared with her my feelings about not living on such a tight budget and trying to force a life that we want to live. She told me that she didn't want everyone in the family to live that way, that she didn't see the point in living such a way. She shared that there isn't peace in living desperately like that. I don't remember teaching her that and honestly I am not sure if I ever did. 

I cried that day, not because my kids don't get to have everything they want but because instead of complaining and worrying about giving something up they kept coming to me and telling me all the free things we could do as a family, and all the things we can do with our free time now in the evenings. 

Alora told me that she has learned in life that when one door closes other doors and windows open and that even when you feel like you have lost something that the Lord gives you something you never thought of. I can't claim to have taught her that either. She is 14 and this is her life perspective. 

Financially we will be fine. This is life. Money is not guaranteed and sometimes you have to give up what you want for what you need. I am so grateful for the example my children are to me of seeing the glass half full and that they recognize that living paycheck to paycheck is not a peaceful or even enjoyable way to live.