Good Investments with Big Returns

Jun 30, 2012 | Faith


Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6:19-21)





The other day I was filling my Honda Civic Hybrid with gas.  “A good investment” I said to myself for it’s 45 miles per gallon.


I noted other good investments in our life.
The Important Ones. 


I’d love to hear some of your investments in life that have blessed you.  


Here’s my random list. 

1. Adventure In Odyssey audio CD’s
 from Focus on the Family.  

It started out with one, 
and over the last 15 years,
 even the teenagers 
ask for more episodes.

  I’ve discovered my kids 
know things about
 God, life, History, the Bible, 
that I didn’t know they knew, 
because they learned it 
from Whit’s End.
  
I’ve heard them say
 more than once 
“Mom, it’s an inside joke
 from Adventures in Odyssey.”   

 Last summer, 
the destination my children 
 wanted for our last family vacation 
was “Whit’s End.” 
 So off to Colorado Springs we went. 
  
 All of them still listen to a story at night. 
Even the 18 year old.
I’d say, a good family investment.

2. Dates with the kids

There are only a handful of things
I’ve tried as a parent
that have turned out fairly well, 
summer dates are one of them.

Being married to a dairy farmer
the first 18 years of marriage,
Small family outings were rare, 
so I made my own with the kids.

When Kaylee was 5,
I took her on our first
overnight outing 
which slowly grew into
one day away with
each of the school age children
during the summer.

 These have been days  filled with 
laughs and memories 
of silliness and soaking wetness,
 flat bike tires and
 lost cars in a rainstorm,
 With teenagers, 
it’s mainly a lunch date at a “fancy” restaurant,
 but it’s time together 
we don’t otherwise have
 in the busyness of life.

Good investment.




3. A dress up box.

  My talented sister gave
 Kaylee a box with dress up clothes when she was 3 and we have added to it through out the years.

 It’s provided 
hours of fun for little girls and boys alike
including our own private Halloween parties 
when we were the uncool parents 
who didn’t do Halloween.

 The kids still get things out and 
use them for their own fun. 
 Good investment (and cheap!)

4. Books.  

I’m a sucker for books. 
 They’ve provided bedtime stories
 I wouldn’t trade for a minute 
and contributed to
academic success on the report cards 
as three out of my four 
are self-proclaimed “readers.”  

I bought some books 
– Heroes of the Faith – 
I wanted the kids to read
and gave incentive “book bucks” 
when they read a book.
 It paid off.  

Kaylee became impressed 
with a missionary named Jim Elliot 
and she’s devoured
 biographies about missionaries
ever since,
 and now she wants to be one. 

 A most humbling good investment.


5. Family vacations

 When you’re dairy farmers, 
the only time you’re not milking cows
 is when you are gone.

From Year 1 
my husband made vacation a priority 
so he could get some rest from the Moo’s.  

Living on one income 
most of our married life, 
we travel cheap. 
We’ve stayed in motels where
 I’ve told my toddlers to 
“keep your shoes on!” 

 We took sack lunches 
to the Biltmore Mansion.
  
We’ve had more marital fights 
over directions
and could have made our own sequel
 to the Griswald’s Family Vacation.

 All in all, 
now that the kids are older, 
our best memories 
are from family vacations, 


laughing over Mom and Dad fighting 
outside of a XXX bar
under an overpass in Philadelphia
and Kaylee dropping her camera
  from the train in the Royal Gorge.  

From babies to teenagers, it’s been a good investment.
(Here’s the link to our Hollywood adventure)

My list could go one, but I want to hear from you.
  Post a comment here or on Facebook for my FB readers – 
what have been the eternal investments 
that have blessed you? 
 Can’t wait to hear!


Brenda
Uncomplicated

Simple Secrets For A Compelling Life

Do you feel trapped in a chaotic, relentless, demanding lifestyle? No matter where you live or what season of life you’re in, you can find inspiration from the simpler life. 

3 Comments

  1. Janette@Janette's Sage

    Oh I am with you on most of these, however financial means hasn't allowed vacations for our family and I have regretted that, but we learned to have fun with free events in our area..making memories comes in many ways.I was just pulling out the Adventures in Odyssey for my youngest…you know that series is now 25 years old…so I must have started buying them at the beginningGood investments…taking pictures…I have seen they need to see and re-hear the stories to remember…now if I could just get all those 1000s of pics into albums

  2. Brenda Lazzaro Yoder,

    Thanks J.J.! Daddy dates are so important! And you can make the tabs in Blogger – they are called "pages". When you go to your template, on the side bar there is an area labeled "New Pages" and you can create a page for each tab. It took me a while to figure it out! I hope you had a great week this week!

  3. JJ

    I LOVE this list! (And your blog looks great. I wish I knew how to get all those tabs.) This is my favorite post of yours. Lee takes the kids on Daddy Dates, but I think maybe I need to start taking them as well. And mine always enjoy Adventures in Odyssey when we travel, but I forget to play them at home. Great reminders and ideas!!!

Pin It on Pinterest

Shares
Share This