My husband and I can't help but notice the repetitive content of dinner conversations we've been having when we have our friends over. To put hours of conversations in few words they basically go like that:
-Economy bad. Very bad.
-Work little. Very little.
-Money little. Very little.
-Been stupid. Very stupid.
-My house=bank's house
-Smart now. Very smart.
This topic is truly unique to our circles. During years prior to this crises, financials were never discussed. How much people made was never discussed. What was often discussed were shallow subjects such as places we traveled too, things we bought, houses we built and sold. Nobody we are good friends with is truly wealthy. Most of our friends work in industries that are not doing well right now. We were all fools and thought we had money and stable incomes. It turned out what we had was lots of credit and jobs that once flourished but were diminished when the market got saturated with the service and product we provided.
Our family is doing OK thanks to God's loving mercy and Peter's diversification of skills in his industry. But barely. We never know what future months will bring, but have faith in the Lord that he will provide. We have learned our lesson and are now smarter, wiser because of it. We have changed our priorities and now place little value on material things. We are learning to use what we have and have learned to despise debt.
I heard on the radio today that in the near future, about 12% of American homeowners will loose their homes. Their American dream. This statistic though sad, hints that our little circle of friends and many of our acquaintances were not the only ones who have made bad choices or were victimized by the invisible hand of bad economy.
One thing is clear. Times have definitely changed. Not only for worse and for the better as well.
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