Living the "DREAM"

"When did the "American Dream" become a nightmare?" Recently, this thought hit me while I was talking to a couple of my girlfriends. 

The American Dream:  A romantic husband with 2 kids (1 boy & 1 girl) , a great job, lots of $$, a big house with a pool, a car for each person that drives, a nice long vacation, Disney passes, name-brand everything.   The list goes on and on....

It dictates to us that our kids need to be on a sports league and our vacations must be at a resort at Disney.  All our electronics must be the newest model and our house must be Pinterest perfect. 

These things are nice.  They can be a blessings but the "I must have", the entitlement, the DREAM, has become an nightmare.  To have it, I must do and do a lot. 

Both parents have to work--which means the kids are in daycare, which means more bills.  It means less time with the kids and, more importantly, someone else is raising them. 

To attain "the dream", it means that I must be the best and, to be the best, someone else must be the worst.  So my dream becomes their nightmare. 

Now, please don't misinterpret me.  I do believe in working hard.  I do believe in providing for our family's needs.  Notice I said "needs."  I do believe that we should try to be OUR best at our work.  I do believe that we should work for our food. That we shouldn't just be having our hands out and taking.  I do understand that, in some families, both parents have to work to make ends meet. 

HOWEVER, I would encourage us to look through our expenditures.   Ask ourselves a few questions:

Do I really need to spend THAT MUCH on my house? 

Can I find a less expensive brand? 

Do I really need THAT MANY cars? 

Do I need to take my vacation THERE? 

Do I really need to spend THAT MUCH on "that"?

Can one parent stay at home with the kids or could one of us only work while they are away at school? 

It's really not about what we have and what we do.  It's about whom we do it with and the memories and the moments that we make for our family for the rest of their life. 

It's the Friday night Family Nights and the family devotions.  It's the stories we tell them before they go to bed.  It's the giggles and kisses we receive.  It's the moment when they tell us that they want Jesus to come into their heart.  The moment that they decide to make the right choice because of those traits that WE taught them. 

Sometimes when we give something up, we suddenly realize just how much it was taking from us all along.  Am I living a dream or a nightmare? - Rejoicing in the Present