Hello there Reader!
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​Last week, one of my kids told me they wouldn't be home for a while. By the time they're back, it'll have been about a month since they've been home. I know it's the right decision. It's important, it's part of their future, and it's part of growing up and building their own life.

I said something I've been saying a lot lately...

“Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. Doesn't mean I have to like it.”
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​This particular one has his mother's deep sarcasm and will always say "That's right, you don't and don't forget that..."
Most of the time, when I say that to one of my kids, it has something to do with when they're going to be home. 😂

They're young adults now!

They're building careers and making decisions about their futures. Sometimes those decisions don't work into what their Dad and I had in mind, and sometimes I know they don't particularly like the decision they have to make either.
​It's simply what their life requires of them right now.

I think I'm more aware of these moments because I know this season won't last forever.

Before long, they'll have families of their own and even more responsibilities that need their attention. The days when they can come home and just hang out without a spouse, children or a dozen other things pulling on them are limited.

I want to hold on to those days as much as I can.

I was a stay-at-home, homeschool mom all the way through their school years until they went to college.
I was there. I really did live those years with them.

Still, I look back sometimes and wonder, where did the time go?

How did all those ordinary days pass so quickly?

Now I look at these two young adults, and I'm insanely proud of them. We spent all those years trying to prepare them to make responsible decisions for themselves, and now they're doing exactly that.

Apparently nobody warned me that sometimes I wouldn't particularly like those responsible decisions. 😂

But, when I think about all the conversations we've had it makes me think about how much this applies to money.

There have been seasons when I've had to tell myself the same thing.

I don't have to like it.

There was a time when I could walk into my closets and see clothes packed everywhere, more than 100 pairs of shoes, and still go shopping again that weekend. At some point I had to decide there were things I wanted more.

I wanted us out of debt. I wanted security for our family if sickness, job loss or something else we didn't expect came our way. I wanted our kids to have opportunities Tim and I didn't have growing up, and I wanted to help them get through college without starting their adult lives buried in student loan debt.

Those things became more important to me than what I wanted in the moment.
That didn't mean every decision was fun.

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

And maybe you're in one of those seasons right now.

Maybe there's something you want that needs to wait. Maybe you're cleaning up debt you wish wasn't there, building an emergency fund when you'd rather spend that money somewhere else, or driving the vehicle a little longer because there's something more important you're working toward.

You don't have to like every decision you make with your money for it to be the right decision for this season.

And you also need to remember that it is a season.
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My kids aren't little anymore.
My closets don't look like they did all those years ago.

Our financial life doesn't look like it did then either.

Seasons change.

The decisions you're making today are helping prepare you for the life you're going to live tomorrow.

So if you're in a season where you're having to do something you don't particularly like, maybe this Sunday you simply need the reminder I've been giving my kids and myself:

You gotta do what you gotta do. Doesn't mean you have to like it.

Just remember what you're doing it for.

Melinda🩷

Helping you find calm, confidence, and margin with your money

P.S. If you're in one of those “I don't have to like it” seasons right now, hit reply and tell me what you're working toward. I'd love to hear about it.

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