I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance from an online moms group that I am a member of. She is married to an Equine Surgeon at a large Equine Clinic in Kentucky….Needless to say, he’s making MORE than enough for them to live quite comfortably. In a thread about how other moms save money for their families, she asked me(in response to my list of things) “How can you stand to live so…thriftily…” The undertones were more than obvious. What she was really asking was “How can you stand to be so poor?” That comment kind of stung.
According to the country’s standard, yes we are technically “poor”. According to someones list of numbers, as a family of 3 we live well below the poverty line. However, I firmly believe that being “poor” is a state of mind. We aren’t poor. We are blessed.
We have food on our table, gas in our vehicles, clothes on our backs…in reality, what more can you ask for? We are blessed every day with things that honestly, I consider people poor if they never get to experience.
We wake up every morning to a beautiful sunrise coming up above the trees in the pasture. Often you can sit outside and watch the mist rise off the ponds. The deer & turkey are usually wandering around in search of breakfast. If you leave the yard, you will probably be greeted with the irritated call of the Great Blue Herons as they take flight to wait for you to leave. There are no cars. You won’t hear them out here. The only human sound you may hear on a clear day is the distant whump whump whump of an oil well. Other than that it’s just the sound of the birds, bugs & the horses tearing grass. We go to bed each night to the symphony of cicadas, coyotes, and the barred owl asking his never answered question, “Who cooks for you?”. The sunset each evening that sets behind the hill is more stunning & breathtaking than the most expensive watercolor painting on the planet.
At night we can lay on a blanket and see a whole sky full of stars. Not just a handful of the brightest ones that those in the city can see, but ALL of them. Seeing the milky way stretched out above you is very humbling.
We can walk out my back door and go fishing. We can walk out the front door into the woods to go squirrel hunting. I can ride my horse for hours and never leave the dirt roads.
The smells are amazing. Depending on the season, we are met with the smells of fresh turned dirt, wet grass, the tangy smell of fresh cut alfalfa. If you don’t know what a handful of fresh turned warm dirt smells like, well then I would consider YOU poor.
In an effort to stretch our food budget I began baking a lot & making MUCH of our food from scratch. Those who always buy their food pre-made in packages at the store will never understand the richness that comes from the satisfaction of eating something that you made yourself. The smell of home-made bread floating through the house smells better than the most expensive air fresheners.
Our family is full of love & laughter. My husband is my best friend and we get along better than I thought I would ever get along with anyone. We VERY rarely fight, and when we do it always ends with a hug and asking for forgiveness for getting angry. Our son is a happy child who is loved more than life itself by his parents. We look forward to adding additions to our family and the joy that they will bring.
We are not poor.
The Kansas Happy Homemaker 