This Week: Money Problems

The economy may be beginning to bounce back this week. At least, that’s the spin this news cycle. Whatever your family has talked together about during this economic crisis, it continues to be a great opportunity to discuss financial wisdom and foolishness with your kids.

In addition to looking for natural opportunities to share from your own experience, understanding, and insight about the financial issues in play today, we’re encouraging parents this week to consider the ancient wisdom of Solomon about money as he expressed in Ecclesiastes 5. Consider reading that chapter as preparation for talking through the questions below.

Scripture identifies Solomon as the wisest and perhaps wealthiest man who has ever lived. Surprisingly, he was highly cynical about money. He saw money as fickle, limited, and ultimately disappointing. He urged his readers to develop the ability to enjoy what they had rather than making acquisition the point of life.

We’d love to hear if any of the following questions provoke some honest and productive conversations with your kids…

Talking Points:

• What does it mean to you to “love” money? Can you think of anyone we know who seems to live for money?
• What would be so wrong with living for money?
• Why do you think the economy is in such a mess right now?
• Do you think people who live for money ever feel like they have enough of it? How much money do you think you would need to be really satisfied with life?
• One of the problems with having things is that it costs so much to take care of those things. Have you ever thought about how much it costs to keep our car(s) running from month to month?
• During this economic crisis, people have been buying way fewer cars. What do you think that means for all the people who make their living on the costs that come with buying and owning cars?
• Have you noticed that we sometimes seem to get anxious or worried about money? Why do you think people get so uptight about money issues? Does it bother you that we can get worried about money?
• Do you think it’s sometimes easier to have less money if it means you have less to worry about? Why or why not?
• Do you think it can ever be unhealthy to have too much money? What would be some unhealthy attitudes that could come from having too much?
• Do you think people with lots of money should be more or less generous with money? Why do you think God cares so much that we give away some of our money?
• After everyone we know right now has died, will it matter who had the most money? Or who was the poorest? What will matter about our lives after we’ve died?
• How do you think we as a family do at really enjoying our lives? Do you think we enjoy our meals together? Our play times? The good things we have?
• Do you think it’s possible to really enjoy work? Why or why not?
• Do you think we do a good job at telling God thanks for all the good gifts we have? How could we do better at that?
• Does money provide all the good things in our lives or do they come from God? (See James 1:17)

(Originally published at http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/)

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

There might never be a better time in their lives for your kids to try and fail and try again than when they’re in middle school and high school. Lots of hard-learned wisdom comes out of failed attempts. Help your students to get past the idea of being perfect students or artists or athletes. Encourage them to push beyond what they can safely do well to get some experience in falling short, sizing up mistakes, and trying again with a new strategy or approach.

(HT: Kottke.org)