By the Rev. Dr. Ed Hird
Every financial decision is a life decision. As someone once said, “Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.” True prosperity, according to the original Webster’s Dictionary, is “advance or gain in anything good or desirable.” True prosperity is found in our posterity, not in our portfolio. As J.W. Whitehead put it, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”
Investing in the development of our children’s character is the most strategic kind of investing on earth. What greater reward is there for us than to see our children develop character qualities such as integrity, honesty, teachability, loyalty, responsibility, courage, determination, endurance, hospitality, generosity, and humility? That is why Albert Einstein once said, “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.”
Russ Crosson, financial planner and author of A Life Well Spent, holds that the only mark that will truly last is our posterity. He defines posterity first of all as our descendants, and secondly as those individuals in whom we have significant influence. The best way, he says, to get a higher return on life is to invest in our posterity.
The root of the word “business” is busy-ness. So often in our frantically busy world of business, our children get squeezed out of our day-timer. Lack of time is the greatest block to strategic investing in our posterity. Time is our most finite and irreplacable resource. Time is the best gift we can give our children. As Dr. James Dobson, Founder of Focus on the Family, puts it, “If a couple lose our kids, they have nothing.”
Russ Crosson points out four time-stealers 
that rob our investment in our posterity:
our inability to say no
our inability to slow down
our inability to turn off the television
our inability to control our desire for possessions.
Richard Swenson commented: “to be able to say no without guilt is to be freed from one of the biggest monsters in our overburdened lives.” Many of us unfortunately, in our desire to be positive, keep adding more and more onto our schedules. It is usually our time with our children that bears the brunt. Russ suggests that we should only say yes if it replaces something else that’s already in our schedule.
The second time-stealer is our inability to slow down. Crosson comments that in today’s world everything goes fast, and we strive constantly to see if we can make it go faster. If the computer makes us wait seconds for data, we want a new computer. If the fast-food line takes more than two minutes, we get impatient and visit another fast-food place the next time.
Richard Swenson holds that our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed intentions.
Perhaps symptomatic of this tragic busyness is how many families no longer have time to even eat together at dinner. Investing in our posterity means taking the radical step of slowing down our frantic pace and taking time to actually listen to each other.
Jane Fonda, the famous actress said: “The few things I regret in my life are.not having put enough time into mothering, wiving, taking care of the inner life.”
The late Billy Graham, Christian statesman and 
communicator, said: “The greatest mistake was taking too many speaking engagements and not spending enough time with my family.”. Life is just too short. Life is too sudden.
My prayer for those reading this article is that we may become strategic investors in the things that last forever.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, BSW, MDiv, DMin
-author of the award-winning book Battle for the Soul of Canada
-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier/North Shore News
P. S. Click this Amazon link to view for free the first two chapters of our new novel Blue Sky.
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident…”
Sandy Brown and her family have just moved to Spokane, Washington where her husband, Scott, is pastoring a new church. With a fresh start, Sandy is determined to devote more time to her four children. But, within weeks of settling in their new life, the Brown family is plunged into turmoil.
Sandy receives shocking news that her children aren’t safe, which brings back haunting memories of the trauma she experienced as a girl. Then, the unthinkable happens…
A brutal attack puts Sandy on the brink of losing everything she’s loved. Her faith in God and the family she cherishes are pushed to the ultimate limit.
Is healing possible when so many loved ones are hurt? Are miracles really possible through the power of prayer? Can life return to the way it was before?
Blue Sky reveals how a mother’s most basic instinct isn’t for survival… but for family.
If you’re a fan of Karen Kingsbury, then you’ll love Blue Sky. Get your copy today on paperback or kindle.
-Click to check out our marriage book For Better For Worse: discovering the keys to a lasting relationship on Amazon. You can even read the first two chapters for free to see if the book speaks to you.
-The sequel book Restoring Health: body, mind and spirit is available online with Amazon.com in both paperback and ebook form. Dr. JI Packer wrote the foreword, saying “I heartily commend what he has written.” The book focuses on strengthening a new generation of healthy leaders. Drawing on examples from Titus’ healthy leadership in the pirate island of Crete, it shows how we can embrace a holistically healthy life.
In Canada, Amazon.ca has the book available in paperback and ebook. It is also posted on Amazon UK (paperback and ebook), Amazon France (paperback and ebook), and Amazon Germany (paperback and ebook).
Restoring Health is also available online on Barnes and Noble in both paperback and Nook/ebook form. Nook gives a sample of the book to read online.
Indigo also offers the paperback and the Kobo ebook version. You can also obtain it through ITunes as an IBook.
To receive a signed copy within North America, just etransfer at ed_hird@telus.net, giving your address. Cheques are also acceptable.
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
Indigo also offers the paperback and the Kobo ebook version. You can also obtain it through ITunes as an IBook.
-Click to purchase the Companion Bible Study by Jan Cox (for the Battle of the Soul of Canada) in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
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