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Posted: March 17th, 2008 at 2:00am By: Rev. Kristi Denham
You can learn a lot about a person from his or her checkbook. I'm not talking about identity theft. This assumes that you actually keep a record of your transactions, of course. This won't work with the folks who lament, "I can't be out of money. I still have checks in my checkbook!"
For 20 years, while raising my sons and studiously ignoring the still, small voice that was calling me to ministry, I made my living as a bookkeeper. My business, The Legal Booky - Lawyers Professional Bookkeeping Service, began by specializing in doing the books for lawyers who had a sense of humor. They are a unique group.
Eventually I expanded into non-profit bookkeeping, where Fund Accounting made things more interesting. Major donors, federal and state contributors all want separate accountings for how their particular funds were spent (hence the term, "Fund Accounting"), but the agencies I worked for all needed to know where they stood "over all." So a specific set of ledgers had to be kept. All this before computers began to simplify things significantly.
I loved it. Numbers come easy to me, and there are mini-victories all day long when two columns actually add up as expected. Then there are the creative investigations into the occasional mystery when they don't. So bookkeeping was a lovely way to earn a living when my family was really the total and most demanding focus in my life.
Some of my clients were wealthy individuals who preferred a lawyer and a trust to handle all their affairs. As I posted their expenses against their income, I learned what was important to them and, sadly, how lonely they often were.
The discipline of doing other people's books got me to looking at my own finances and how someone would see me if they sat down to record my income and where my money went.
Certainly a minister's salary looks good on paper, but what percent of it goes to frivolous things? What do I really need for food and shelter? How much do I contribute to charitable causes? What causes?
As I ask these questions of myself, I find myself asking it of my community, my state and my nation. This is budget season for many organizations and specifically my state of California and the nation. It hurts (no, angers!) my heart to see our schools and teachers on the chopping block while increases in prison funding now give us the dubious distinction of having more folks locked up than any nation on earth - 1 in 100.
We are a nation in a War on Terror, and perhaps we need most to fear our own lack of genuine moral values. That's what comes to mind when I look at our national checkbook. What do you see there and in your own wallet?
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, Calif. (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.
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You can learn a lot about a person from his or her checkbook. I'm not talking about identity theft. This assumes that you actually keep a record of your transactions, of course. This won't work with the folks who lament, "I can't be out of money. I still have checks in my checkbook!"
For 20 years, while raising my sons and studiously ignoring the still, small voice that was calling me to ministry, I made my living as a bookkeeper. My business, The Legal Booky - Lawyers Professional Bookkeeping Service, began by specializing in doing the books for lawyers who had a sense of humor. They are a unique group.
Eventually I expanded into non-profit bookkeeping, where Fund Accounting made things more interesting. Major donors, federal and state contributors all want separate accountings for how their particular funds were spent (hence the term, "Fund Accounting"), but the agencies I worked for all needed to know where they stood "over all." So a specific set of ledgers had to be kept. All this before computers began to simplify things significantly.
I loved it. Numbers come easy to me, and there are mini-victories all day long when two columns actually add up as expected. Then there are the creative investigations into the occasional mystery when they don't. So bookkeeping was a lovely way to earn a living when my family was really the total and most demanding focus in my life.
Some of my clients were wealthy individuals who preferred a lawyer and a trust to handle all their affairs. As I posted their expenses against their income, I learned what was important to them and, sadly, how lonely they often were.
The discipline of doing other people's books got me to looking at my own finances and how someone would see me if they sat down to record my income and where my money went.
Certainly a minister's salary looks good on paper, but what percent of it goes to frivolous things? What do I really need for food and shelter? How much do I contribute to charitable causes? What causes?
As I ask these questions of myself, I find myself asking it of my community, my state and my nation. This is budget season for many organizations and specifically my state of California and the nation. It hurts (no, angers!) my heart to see our schools and teachers on the chopping block while increases in prison funding now give us the dubious distinction of having more folks locked up than any nation on earth - 1 in 100.
We are a nation in a War on Terror, and perhaps we need most to fear our own lack of genuine moral values. That's what comes to mind when I look at our national checkbook. What do you see there and in your own wallet?
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, Calif. (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.
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