Colorful coat

Harper and I were having a conversation on who one of my favorite people in the Bible is... I was telling her that I really loved Joseph, she said is he the one with lions, I said no, the coat and she said of many colors, you know that his brothers were mean to him, don't you.. I said yes because of his pretty coat. She said, I don't understand they had nice coats to but theirs was all just one color. That got me to thinking so I looked up the scripture in Genesis 37 to reread it. All I can find says that Joseph was given a coat that was made with many colors, I told Harper maybe since he was one of the youngest sons, maybe his Dad, Jacob took old fabric from all his brothers and made him a coat. To show him that even though they have been around for a while he was  part of this big family. We always been taught in Sunday School that Jacob loved him more because he was born to him at such an old age and we've assumed that the coat of many colors was something more special than what the other brothers wore. But think about it, they weren't really rich people, they were not wasteful people. What if like I said the coat was a heritage symbol and that's why the brothers were jealous, not so much about the pretty coat of many colors but of how Jacob had put so much time and thought into it. As we get older, when life is a little slower, we as adults stop and think more  about the important things of life. We realize that its not always about the money, its not always about self satisfaction, its not always about what will this get me... Life is so much more, but when your young you get caught up in the rat race of life, you have a lot of demands, some are self imposed, and you forget the big picture of family, love and quality & quantity time spent. So maybe the coat of many colors was not just because he was the favorite maybe it was because Jacob realized things he had forgot.

Love & marriage

Today I rented to a young lady who has decided she does not want to be married any longer to her husband of two years. Not because she hates him, or that he's abused her, or had an affair, she actually likes him. She just doesn't want to be married to him.. We are friends with her husband, and I told him I was very disappointed in this outcome and his response was "that's life Tracy."
Josh said I don't get it, if I was going to leave Abby I would at least have to think that I couldn't stand her... Today people think marriage is easy to get rid of, I think that they think can start over and its no big deal.. That haven't realized that marriage is hard work, it can be fun, it can be very rewarding, it can be loving, but there are times when you are in it for the commitment and that alone sometime. But after the dark has passed and you see light at the end of the tunnel you realize that God meant for us to work it out.  Our family are fighters, we will fight it out before we give in to it. But as I also know both parties need to be ready to fight it out, to do whatever it takes to make it work and many would rather walk away than get in the trenches and get dirty. I tell me kids, marriage is what you make of it.. If you put effort, time, patience, love and most of all the commitment you vowed before God, you can make it work but like I said it has to be both of you...I am a little sad because I know the fellow is heart broken even though he won't admit it and I keep hoping she will change her mind.
The meanness inside of me wanted to tell her no to renting and get her butt back home and make this work, but if you can believe it I held my tongue...

Horse crap...

I have a little rant today...I wonder what causes people to not clean up after themselves. I remember working at the concession stands at the different schools and thinking then what is wrong with you people, there is a trash can right in front of you and you throw it down beside of it. Josh has sub contractors who come to job do their work and then leave their mess in the house. How many of us get to go to work and not clean up after ourselves. Today I had a renter leave a bid pile of horse xxxx
in the middle of the driveway at the storage facility. I called to have a chat with him about this and you know what his first answer was...I didn't think about it. Wrong dumb answer to say to me, what you mean you walked around a large pile of crap and didn't think about it. We have had many other similar situations and the first answer of most of these people is I didn't think about it. Start thinking people. Horse mans other answer was "you have no clue how busy my life is right now". I stopped him quick in his tracks there... We all have busy lives, some of us are busier than others but that is no excuse to be lazy or uncaring on other peoples property. We have other situations where people are on our property and say I didn't think is was a big deal to be on the land. My first thought to them is oh ok I will just go park my big ole truck right in the middle of your front yard. It is time we as a group of people start calling out rudeness, teaching our children and grandchildren the respect of other peoples property and that trash belongs in a trash can not on the ground.

Can I be real and not scare you to death...

Can I be real for a minute, I told a group of young couples last night in small group that I had prayed for the Lord God above to just take out someone so we wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. She is one of the most mean spirited women I have ever met. And you know when someone messes with your children or grandchildren the bear in you comes out.  Now deep down after I said those words, Lord just let her die so we don't have to deal with her anymore, I was reminded, she probably isn't a Christian even though she professes to be, so that means she would probably end up in hell and I sure don't want to pray anyone there for eternity. I had to remind myself that she is a lost, lonely, bitter, hateful unforgiving woman who really needs him. To see the wide eyes of these adults  from my honesty was, I will have to admit, funny. I know deep down some of them think this at times in their lives but would not likely say it out loud and not to a group of church  people. After sleeping on the situation and talking it over with Joey and Josh, we have all agreed she needs someone to hate and we are it right now. I told Audrey some people are mean and know they are mean and are proud of it, others hide in outward sweetest but will cut you down to the core all the while with a smile and say I am so glad for you (her exact words). So how do we as Christians live godly lives and still live smart lives in this fallen evil world. Many of you have never experienced people like this and can't imagine the thoughts that I have had. But God gave us brains, his word, and action. The key is apply all to this situation which right now seems hopeless unless she dies. LOL However, I know that there is a end to this and if we stay righteous through it all God will provide a way. My verse for the girls in bible study last week is in front of my desk, once again seek God, live right and he will provide what you need in his time.

Thy Kingdom come

I am breaking down the Lords Prayer with the two young ladies in our discipleship/small  group. You know we've al recited the Lords Prayer a million times and until today I never had really thought out the part where Jesus said, "Thy Kingdom come" we say it so fast with thy will be done, that I think we forget that Jesus is say, I'm here, I am the kingdom of God, I am the one that everything rest on. Our verse this week that I will ask the girls to memorize is pretty easy but I have used a different version because sometimes we have memorized or say things and we don't really look at the meaning of it.  Matthew 6:33. Seek the kingdom of God (Jesus) above all else and live righteously (moral and right) and he will give you everything you need.  I started looking up commentary's what is the kingdom in the Lords Prayer. I asked Joey when we say that what are we meaning. It hit us both the Kingdom has come, not thy kingdom come. We today should be praying Our father who art in heaven, holy is your name, you kingdom has come . It was fulfilled after Jesus died on the cross and went to heaven to get his gloried body and came back to earth. His kingdom is now established, its a spiritual kingdom, not a physical one that you can see, but now we should be seeking Jesus and his will, which is written out in the Word.

Pebbles in the shoe do hurt

The struggles we have every day are real, some are big as mountains and small are a small as a pebble, but a rock in a shoe is uncomfortable and hurts too. As we each struggle with our own problems and obstacles whether big or small we as Christians have a responsibility and with that comes some stress and pressure to handle these things with grace, love and not lose our cool. Now for me to be real, do I handle most things from the get go with grace, love and coolness, NO! Usually I complain, blow my top, call them all kinds of names, figure ways to get them back, then I pray and say Lord, I know you love them as much as you do me, help me see this. Help me see the bigger picture, the struggle with the demonic world, the real struggle. Usually after a couple hours, I bet you thought I was going to say minutes...I can calm down, regroup and start to see what is really going on. However this usually doesn't change the situation and with all struggles there are still consequences to all things that happen in our lives. I am doing a small group with two young ladies and they want to talk and learn about pray. So we are starting with the way Jesus told us to pray, the Lords Prayer.Last night was "Holy is your name." I started to look up what the definition of this Holy means, the words that came were sacred, worthy of complete devotion, spiritually excellent. WOW, when you start to pray with this in mind, I should be able to see quicker than a couple hours the bigger picture in my struggles. We are trying to memorize different scriptures and I gave them this last night,
Isaiah 57:15 " For this is what the high and exalted one says, he who lives forever, whose name is HOLY, I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite(remorseful) and lowly of spirit. (he lives with us) in order to revive(bring back to life) the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the contrite(remorseful).
I am thankful that while he is so holy he is willing to revive me when I fail him.

King David

Most people who know me know that David was not one of my favorite people.. Most people today say well if he is a man after Gods on heart then I have a chance. They think that their screw ups can't be half as bad as David, I mean he had a man killed so he could have this wife for his own( not that he didn't already have a wife, probably a few at that time). But as I am in a cycle of major hot flashes again through out the night, when I woke up about 5 this morning it came to mind some things on David. In reading Psalms 51, he wrote this after his adultery with Bathsheba, "have mercy on me, wash me clean, purify me, create in me, restore me, & forgive me. Joey told our small groups class last night, that God wants us to have fellowship with him. That he wants us to keep open dialogue with him even when we have sinned. Lots of times we are not obedient and then we shut down and feel because of our sinful nature that we can't or shouldn't be close to God, but David who so many times picked the wrong sinful way knew immediately that he had done wrong and went to God and kept the relationship open with him. Unfortunately because of his constant selfishness and disobedience the consequences with his children and others were not heathy or Godly.  But I did come to the conclusion this morning that God can show us through his word that while David was a man after God, he like many choose to think of themselves first but God is always there to show mercy, restore and forgive us. But the lines of communication needs to stay open and that is our responsibility.

Crazy World We Live In

I have been thinking about all that is going on in the world and lets just say in the most southern lady like way I know how, its a bunch of crap. I can hardly stand to turn on the TV, between the election mess, the shootings, the riots and the news media, late night TV watching has come down to funny sitcoms or of course the NCIS shows. I have started reading again that way I don't have to see all the commercials about how bad they all are. I will say as I get older I thought that fear is something I had overcome, but I do seem to feel a little more fearful these days. I know deep down in my soul that I am loved and taken care of by my creator. But the human in me comes out sometimes and if I am going to be real, I have fears, fears for my grandchildren coming up in this crazy world, where children are raising their parents, where in the news this week it said that the rise in pot smoking is in the 45-60 age group. When people take there children and make a family outing going to protest, when they don't really know what they are protesting over. When a man is drunk at 7:30 in the morning and kills two kids on their way to school. When a good, honest days work is look down upon because you don't make enough money by the worlds standards. When wrong is right and right is wrong, good is evil and evil is good. I know that I have to take some of the blame for not standing strong and standing up for my beliefs more. I know that as a church we have failed in so many ways and let government and Hollywood teach us about morals and how to treat people (in their own screwed up way). But in saying all of this, I will tell you there are a lot of good, kind, decent human beings in this world and it is about time we as Christians start noticing this and acknowledging this. We get caught up in the cynical  and complaining side of life along with the rest of the world and we are to shine his light. I had a black man come in the office yesterday and I talked to him like I do everyone else and when he let he turned around to leave he  told me thank you for being so kind. I thought how sad that thought he needed to say that. I know all people can  treat others so rudely and unkind, but like I said we as Christians can have bad days but in the big picture we need to keep a check on our self and how we reflect light to others.

It has been a while since I posted, life in the summer is crazy for us at the Nifong house. Added to it this year, we have another building at the storage so I am trying to get it cleaned up to rent out and it takes a while to do this. So instead of saying anything profound, which I doubt I could come up with anything at this moment. I am putting up pictures of my favorite little ones.

He is one happy little boy, and reminds me so much of his Daddy

We were having our last fun day before she starts Kindergarten,
 I found a new book called "How to Baby sit a Grandma"
So we were dressed up and singing a duet.
 

He loves his Pap-paws scruffy face

Pap-paw is so proud that she loves racing...Not sure Mom is...

OUR KINDERGARTEN GIRL

Buster

It has been a sad day around our house, our wonderful cat of 15 years had to be put to sleep. He got sick last week and could not seem to come out of it. We were caught between a rock and a hard place. I am not a animal lover, however I did consider Buster my cat, he loved on me and was kind to me not like our first cat FeFe. She was Joeys... We second guessed ourselves but as I told the Vet, we will try a few things but I am not spending $600 dollars on a 15 year old cat, when I had just spent that this past summer on him.  I try to rationalize that he is a cat, not a human, and how do we justify spending $1000 dollars on cat and not giving it away to people in need. So we have battled our hearts and minds this week. It is weird to not have to open the door for the cat 5 times a night. Joey has been very depressed about it. Everyone thinks that since he is the hunter in the house he doesn't like animals, this is so far from the truth of most hunters, they are usually the animal people. We haven't told Harper yet, we are slowly telling her he is sick, went to Vet , and next is telling her he went to Heaven. I know some people don't believe that, but its not the animals fault they got caught in the sin problem that causes death to all. So this will be our last pet, Joey and I decided a few years ago that after Buster there would be no more, it would be very hard to replace such a good pet.

Will Wagon

Can and does God ultimately get his way? That is a loaded question. Joey and I have been in discussion about a situation that arose and a statement was made that "yes I believe ultimately this couple would have received the money they needed to go to mission field,"even if in the beginning a decision was made in a quick way. Some were upset by the way things were handled but as Joey put it, if you would have been in the meeting and looking back on it you can see how the Holy Spirit worked that day you would know that the people in charge made the right decision. Well it was brought up that they could have waited and had input from others and would have had the same outcome. We don't believe that. God does ultimately get his will accomplished, and he will use what ever means he sees fit to do so, however, we are called to get on his WILL WAGON, and do what the Bible tells us to do. He doesn't need any of us, he could use animals, rocks, trees if he wanted. He uses us so that we can grow, be blessed, tell others of who he is, there are a lot of reason that God wants us to participate in the work of his. But like I say he doesn't need any of us, but he wants us.
Some say well we need to pray about, Joeys key word is always is there a Biblical principal behind what you are doing or what needs to be done, you don't always need to pray, you just need to do.
For instance, we had a lady a church who had a leak, her husband and son are not very helpful and Pastor called Joey to look at it. Joey didn't go over there and say to this lady well I first need to pray about doing this, he saw the need and fixed it. God gives us a lot of freedom to do things, he gives us opportunities to be blessed by doing some things, the key is whether we are willing to put ourselves out there. Like I say God will get somebody to do his work for him, is it going to me or you.

My Doller General Story

My friend Cindy likes to tell Walmart and now Sheetz stories, well I have a new one.  I went to pick up a few office items in the local Dollar General when I heard on the isle next to me. "I'm getting ready to cuss your @## out if you don't watch it." I came around the corner and there was this little skinny older lady and no one around her, so I think well she's losing it, I will have to keep an eye on her. I go to another isle and  she bumps into my cart. I kinda smile and she says in a 10 pack a day voice "sorry". I notice that she is struggling to keep her sweat pants up and then I see what I at first thought was a growth on the back of her leg but I think that the reason her pants were having a hard time is she has stuck something back there to take home. I continue on with my shopping and start to check out and who is right behind me but this little old lady and she starts to mess with my stuff on the conveyor belt looks up at me and says "oh this is your stuff ain't it" then goes to the ice cream box and down comes her pants to her knees and guess what no underwear... I hope what she was stealing was underwear, I know she needs it because I saw it all. I heard her tell her family member that brought her, I can't keep my @#$# pants up. The life people lead is so different than my normal sometimes  I do forget that this is their normal. Its a sad normal but its theirs. I live in my own little fairy tell land. We talked last night in ladies small group about how it must be exciting to witness to people in foreign lands about Jesus, people who have never heard the name. But I believe that living here in the United States in Davidson County there are people who have heard the name, who think that they are good people, that they went to church at some point in there life, that their normal is not so bad, so of course they are Christians, they are as lost as the ones who have never heard. I think it might even be a lot harder to witness to these people because Satan has sold them a big fat lie. While I had to laugh at the Dollar General I was also very sad for this family.

Star Wars

Have you heard what today is....Why its the STAR WARS day. People all around have been thinking about this day for months. Some have been camping out for days. All anybody on secular TV is talking about is Star Wars. I have to admit that I, TRACY NIFONG, have never seen a complete Star Wars movie. I think as a child I watched a little of the first one, but thought that it was boring. As I watched "The Voice", which I will admit that I do sometimes plan around this show, but it is real people, wanting something real for their lives. Jordan Smith sang beautifully, "Mary Did You Know" and Adam  says" I had never heard that song till Jordan wanted to sing it".  I have a feeling he knows all about Star Wars because anybody who is anybody should, right? All this hoopla for R2D2 and I'm sure there are people not preparing to see the coming of a risen king. A baby boy who came to earth to really save the world.  The world can be a sad place right now, people sitting around planning evil for months in advance, I think to myself what makes a person sit in their home and plan out how to kill as many people as they can in one quick moment. The most I plan for is dinner and I don't do that much anymore. I can't imagine my mind wrapped up in such hatred and they think they are doing it for love of Allah. Satan has warped the minds of so many, with so many different views. What is important to you? Star Wars Movie, 75 virgins waiting on you, buying the next big ticket item, or knowing the Love of the Christ child who came to earth especially for you. 

A day in the life...

Joey had a little accident yesterday, he was not hurt nor anyone in the car that hit him. But it shook him up. To know Joey you know he is kind, enabling(LOL), tough, ornery sometimes, but has a tendency to feel sorry for people. He was doing some work for the County and was backing out on a road close to home and a young mom came around the corner, going way to fast, with the sun directly in her eyes and was on the wrong side of the road  and she nailed Joey in the back of his work truck. Thanks goodness it was the ole white truck because it is tough, hardly did any damage to his vehicle but totaled hers. He never saw her coming, but when she hit, it scared him to death. Then he gets out and all he hears is a child crying and the mom gets out of the car and says please don't call the cops I will go to jail. He told her first lets check on the little girl that was headed to Midway Elementary (late),but he told her that he had to call. To put it into quick details, no license, no registration, no insurance,  tags on wrong car, child not in required car seat, child sitting in the front (5 year old). She got about 7 tickets and was told if she did not show up in court she would go to jail. Of course, my enabling husband starts feeling bad about calling the cops, so my son who is so much like me its scary, says that is why our insurance is so high is because of people like her. I find out that to fix our truck, our insurance will sue her, which Joey won't do, like he said how do you get water out of a dry well. He was much more concerned over the child, he said the mom was all messed up about calling the cops, so he went and sat in the car with the little girl and asked questions about school, teacher and Disney Princesses. He said last night, that little girl doesn't have a chance in the world unless God intervenes.  Dad still home in the bed, Josh thought Mom was druggie, and we wonder why the world is the way it is. This is their normal. This is how they view life on this earth. We look at it and say what is wrong with these people and they don't think anything is wrong with the way they live and they are raising two children to see the world through their eyes. I hope since Joey was kind and told the mom that God was looking out for them that day, that they saw a glimpse of what life could be like with effort on their part.

My new grandson...

My second grandchild will be a boy!!!YAH!!! Josh said the other day, I was kinda of hoping for a boy because I don't know if I could love another girl like I do Harper. I told him you can but I see and know what he was meaning. They have a very special relationship, one that I am jealous of. He has always thought of her as a little person and treats her that way, this comes with good and bad. She thinks she is an adult and can make adult decisions so of course this is their battle. But her confidence is so high and I attribute that to she feels very loved, especially by her Daddy. Children need to know that they are special in their parents sight. Josh said he watch two documentaries this week and had night mare after them, Ted Bundy and the Natalie & Jordan Vanderslute story. He said that in about all cases of serial killers the one common denominator is they either don't have a Dad or have a abusive Dad. That is why the Bible and God put so much responsibility on Men. I read this week in my Bible Study that David told Solomon on his death bed. " Be strong, show yourself a man, walk & follow all of Gods commands & laws." Todays society could be a much strong society if men would take the responsibly that God intended for them. So now with another male coming into this world he needs to be taught, to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. To cherish his wife and take care of her, to love and teach his children the ways of the Lord, and be kind and respect human beings. If everyone would teach just one child...Wow what a better world it would be...

A Time for Everything

Scenario, Wednesday morning, Josh walks in office with Harper and says "mom you look awful," my reply "Son I feel awful." The day before I had just told my sister-in-law that I was actually feeling pretty good. Then I wake up. Could hardly hold my head up, the migraine was so bad. I don't have the migraines that effect light, mine are in lower head and neck. I feel like I need a neck brace to hold up "this big ole water head" as my sister calls it. It effects my hearing, smells, and makes my eyes and brain foggy. So I really didn't look good on Wednesday.  Life after the mini-stroke and full blown menopause is still to this day  kicking my tail some days.  I told the Ladies Group that I lead on Wednesdays that I am starting to think that some of this is spiritual warfare because Wednesdays are a lot of times my worse days. And of course this is the day I lead Bible study.  So the ladies said a prayer over me at the end of the class.  How do you know what is warfare and what is nature of life?
How do you know what is consequence of your choices verses Gods will for your life at this particular time? These are deep things to think about. Like I tell my family, I have spent thousands of dollars with specialist, who still are not sure what is going on in my body, why do they think they have the answers, like maybe your not resting enough, duh! maybe its the food you eat, maybe your to stressed (because of them), maybe you need a positive attitude. I have heard it all and as I think over the harder questions I still am not sure. However the Bible says there is a season for everything.
Ecclesiastes 3
For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

Human Heart

After watching the sadness of the killing of these two innocent people. I have thought long and hard over this situation. I have heard it is a gun problem, wrong it is a heart problem. Murder was from the beginning of creation, with Cain & Able and there was no gun used there. This is a person who was mad in so many ways, mad at the world, mad in the mind, mad at himself and didn't know what to do about it. So instead of getting out of himself and thinking of others, he decided to take it out on somebody else instead of fixing his own self. Since we are a generation of selfie people, why else would he think to do something that doesn't think of himself first. We as the older generation have a responsibility to the younger to teach them. I was at the park with Harper and she is all about "I WON" in everything she does, she gets mad if she doesn't win. It brings back memories of her Aunt Audrey. So as she is running around winning every time, I took her aside and told her not everything is a competition and that sometimes you will lose and it is just as important on how you lose as how you win. As I overheard another grandmother say, thank you for telling me you hit so and so, did you tell them your sorry, no says the little boy, well at least you told me about it.  Why not make him go back and apologize. We have become so lazy when it comes to personal responsibility to others.  Its all about me..me..me..me. What happened yesterday was a pure hate crime. Hate will rot your insides, your mind, your heart, even your bones. I hate that we now have to pay attention to every person we meet  and watch to see what they are doing. You can't feel comfortable going to the grocery store I caught myself looking before I went into Big Lots at every person in there, or the DVM which would drive people to do crazy things, I looked at faces and paid attention to my surroundings. It has made me even more untrusting of people. Which to me is sad because that is a struggle of mine anyway. Jeremiah 17:9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ONLY GOD

Sickened...Also

After reading Cindy's post and seeing for myself the video of the Doctor talking about the "specimen" , it totally sickened me to. I decided to do a little research. For the life of me, I am trying to figure out why there are still so many abortions being done today. With free birth control, educating people on how you get pregnant. Its not like back in the 60's when sex was never discussed in schools. But after looking at some statics from North Carolina alone, did you know that between 2002 and 2013 that the average abortions per year is 26,233 babies aborted every year. That 74.6% were between the ages of 20-35 years of age.  These are not women who live in caves, they have  been to school to get education, they have watched enough TV to inform them on how you get pregnant, they can have free birth control. So I tried to think, what is this all about. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.  The root of evil. People are making money on the killing of innocent babies and we as Christians have forgotten what is happening as we sit in our comfortable homes and comfortable churches. ME INCLUDED... I have recently because of this video realized how politically correct I have become by keeping quiet. 26,233 babies just in North Carolina alone have died and we worry about how so and so was rude to me, how our food took to long to get to us, what sales are on today. I myself need to rethink what I believe and start doing something about it.

Cindys Post

After reading my friend Cindy's post, I totally agree with her how the world is so backwards in its thinking. That Satan has tried to make sin look good and good look evil. This song when I first heard it made me realize that Satan can't have the Christian soul but he can mess a Christians life up. He is watching us and waiting to see our weak areas and uses things we like to bring about the "slow fade"( another great song). We can get so wrapped up in our life that we don't even see him invading it. We have let down our guard. The Bible says he is hear to kill, steal, and destroy those are not sweet words. Those are harsh, hateful words so we need to always be on guard.

I Timothy

Joey and I watch on Sunday mornings three different pastors before we go to church. They are each very different in personality and delivery but we appreciate all of them. First is the well know David Jeremiah, second is Michael Youseff, then there is a local pastor Michael Thomas from Love & Faith in Kernersville/Greensboro, they have two campuses. Sunday Pastor Youseff was preaching and he mentioned a verse and it stuck with me, mainly because Josh and I have been discussing money. As a teenager he has always said he wanted to be a millionaire by the time he was 25, but that didn't happen. We are always in discussion on the reasons behind why he thinks this way or that. I am always asking his motives behind being rich. When Pastor Youseff mention I Timothy 6:17-18 I read it in three different versions and stuck with this one, I printed it out for Josh to keep close, to  remind him when he does become a millionaire, what is expected.
"Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so
unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life."
I know both sides of the story I hear from people, we should not have lots of money when so many others don't. We should have lots of money so that we can employ and help others. You can look it from both sides and see how both can be right. So I say, what ever lot you is, rich or poor. Remember that trusting in God is the most important thing and be generous with little or much so that you can experience true life.