We Were Cold!

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Financial Planning

We stepped off the plane and immediately noticed the change in temperature.  When we had boarded the plane in the States, we were wearing summer clothes; now, after deplaning in Australia, we needed something warmer – which we didn’t bring.  This was our first time in the Southern Hemisphere, and we didn’t realize how cold it could be in “the land down under” when it was summer in North America. 

Our first stop in Sydney was at a store selling sweatshirts.  It was probably a tourist trap, but we didn’t care.  My family of five walked out wearing sweatshirts that only tourists would buy, but we were warm.   We had overcome our lack of planning, and it cost us.

The benefits of planning are apparent in Scripture.  When Nehemiah wanted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls, he planned by asking the king of Persia for building material (Nehemiah 2).  When Nehemiah heard of a potential attack on Jerusalem, he planned for the threat by giving spears to half of the builders to stand watch while the others finished the wall (Nehemiah 4).

By the same token, we can benefit from having financial plans to be good stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with.  Good planning, however, requires goals.   Nehemiah’s goals were to rebuild the wall while protecting his workers – and he developed plans that led to success.  When we want to set goals and create plans to reach them, the acronym SMART may be helpful: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Our first trip to Australia was twenty-five years ago – and the sweatshirts we bought are long gone – but the lessons we learned about planning remains.  Planning, whether it is for an overseas trip or for our financial futures, is important.  May each of us be SMART in our plans to build and protect our future!

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

208.697.3699

doug@christianwm.com