![]() The key to your future quite literally lies in the way you spend the time you have been given. We have all heard that old proverb (perhaps from Benjamin Franklin), “time is money.” Many are paid “by the hour.” Another old saying is, “Lost time is never found.” Time is also referred to as a gift, which it certainly is. So, let’s focus on being good stewards of this precious and limited commodity, our time. No one gets more no matter how much money or power they have.īut then why do some seem to get so much more done and be such amazing producers? The answer is, of course, that some are better stewards of their time. That means everyone has 31,536,000 seconds or 525,600 minutes every year. You can live without money, but when your time runs out, you are finished! You have the same amount of this valuable resource that everyone else has, 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 (or 366) days in a year. How precious is it? Reportedly, the dying words of Queen Elizabeth I were these: “All my possessions for a moment of time.” It can be spent or wasted but can never be saved or returned to you. Everyone’s supply is renewed every single day he or she is alive. It is a resource that is universally nondiscriminatory and fairly distributed. This also helps them take ownership of what they have, which hopefully will help them take better care of them.There is a resource you have that is far more precious than your money. Even if you can afford to get these for your kids, creating a plan for them to work for them creates a sense of value for what they have. This can work with extra clothes or sneakers, upgraded cell phones, or the newest technology. If that’s the case, consider giving your kids a chance to either save up for those wants or do jobs around the house to earn them. Sometimes kids don’t take care of what they have, and their things get ruined before they should. (This list could go on forever.) Even these needs can turn into wants over time as kids desire certain brands. ![]() ![]() Save Up for Wants.Īs parents, we buy things our kids need: clothes, shoes, school supplies, sports equipment, costumes and dance shoes. ![]() Choose family service projects that get everyone involved like packing lunches for a homeless shelter or cleaning up litter at a local park. Missions trips for their friends, child sponsorships from Compassion International, or buying food for local food pantries are great places to start giving.Įven if you don’t have a lot of money to give, you can be generous with your time. As they start earning their own, help them decide where they want to give a percentage. This not only helps kids begin to value the power of generosity but allows you to see where they feel led to give. When kids are younger, give them an amount of that money they can use to be generous. Start the practice of giving a percentage of your monthly budget and know how much you will give. Talk to your kids about your plan and how you decide where to give it. Be Generous.īeing generous as a family has been one of the most fun things we’ve done to teach our kids stewardship. Talk about your own struggles with time management and talk about the strategies you put in place to guide how you spend your time and money. This prepares your kids to have realistic expectations as they enter adulthood and need to pay for these things on their own. We do this not because we want to make life miserable for our kids but because we want them to understand those things cost. Invite kids into conversations about what it takes to live in your home. In our house, we tend to tell kids to turn off the lights, turn down the air conditioning, or not let the water run. As kids get older, talk with them about the cost of living.
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