Pipe Dreams

Last night Heath made an announcement to me and the children at dinner. He told us that Saturday could be his last day at work. He had been thinking of putting in his resignation. Of course, that got all of our attention, so he had to explain. He said that he gave $1.00 to a co-worker to buy him a PowerBall ticket in Wisconsin. The winner will be announced tonight and the winning amount would be $275 million. Obviously it is a long shot and Heath was just joking about quitting his job. Gambling is not really our thing, but sometimes throwing a dollar in a hat can be just for fun.

Talk of winning $275 million dollars got us all to talking about what we would do or how we would live if we did have that much. After taxes taking half and tithing on 10% we would be left with $123 million. Putting alot of it into investments and savings so that neither of us has to work again, we would then pay off all debt, the house, and buy new cars (in cash.) We would then help family members to be able to pay off debts and learn ways of securing their futures. We would then have money that we could just Blow. So the question became what would you blow the money on?

Karston said that he would buy a car that was red and shiny and didn't have a top on it (all while pretending to drive and making the sound of a race car.) Josiah said that he would want the same car as Karston except that his can go off road. I am sure that there are many other things that would be age appropriate that they would ask for as well. I know that they have been asking for a treehouse for a couple of years now.

Heath said that he would either buy a house in the mountains of TN., or a house on the Lake, or possibly even an island off the coast of Greece. He would also spend the money on traveling. He would not only travel all over the U.S., but to Every country at least once. He couldn't think of any great toys he would want just the traveling.

For Me? I would also like to travel, but not to every country (some are not so safe for women to visit.) I would also spend some of the money on adopting children from abusive homes. The only other thing I can think to spend it on is remodeling our house. I would have our hardwood floors restored (even though they aren't that bad right now,) and I would have an extra bedroom put in the basement along with a bathroom for the boys, and I would have all of the top floor reconstructed and redone. Upstairs we want to knock down all the walls, put in an incredibly luxurious bathroom, a new walk-in closet, new flooring, fresh paint and french doors that lead out to a brand new deck w/ a catwalk and spiral stairs in the backyard.

As I sat there at the dinner table listening to all of us laugh about our pipe dreams, I thought we should talk like this more often. It is good for our children to dream big and have big expectations for the future. I want my children to know that they should never downplay thier dreams because of money. I have often wondered how it affects them when we have to say "No, I'm sorry we don't have the money for that." Granted, money is not always the reason that we say no, but I worry about them growing up with a "Poor Man's" mentality. Dreaming of what we would do if money were no option is just one way that we can show our children that they should never hold back just because of money. Karston, Josiah, and Alyssa, we want for you to achieve all of your dreams, the big and the small. We want the best for you and the families that you will have one day too.