Dear Reader:

I adored my first grade teacher. Her name was Miss Walker and she had just graduated from college. We were her (first) first grade class. She was young and pretty, kind and sweet…what every first grade teacher should be.

But what I remember best about her is the saying in the title photo. She told us she had an art student from a community college in Fayetteville  come draw the owl (during the summer) and write the message on the board…because it would be the best lesson we ever learned. It stayed up on the (second) chalk board all year.

I came home the first day of school (and like everyone in the class) I had memorized the saying  because Miss Walker introduced it, talked about what it meant,why the owl is considered wise, and why the most important gift in the world is the gift of wisdom.

She ended with thanking us for being her first class of students. Miss Walker considered herself lucky because she got to be the very first teacher to start giving us a part of the gift that would continue a lifetime…wisdom.

I must admit mother and my brothers were pretty impressed when I spouted the little saying at supper that night. To this day I have never forgotten it….perhaps that is why subconsciously I keep choosing “Listen” as my word of the year.

By the end of that first year of school the message (behind the beautiful owl on the chalk board) was crystal clear. There was a gift called wisdom to be found in every day experiences…and now that we knew it…we must continue to open the gift and then share it with others.

I am as guilty as everyone else when it comes to praying for things from God like getting getting me a new car (oh right…God already did that 🙂 or getting me out of debt or providing  more luxuries…trips, clothes…we all know the drill. But our God is so wise… He knows that this is not what we need…and we would fail at it if He gave it…if we weren’t prepared with wisdom and understanding.

…“But when God expresses His love to His child, he does it by offering you something far more valuable than gold, something more priceless than any precious gemstone. He gives you wisdom. Why? Because wisdom will

prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.— Proverbs 3:2.

If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. — Proverbs 9:12 NLT

God could give you anything, but He chooses to give you wisdom.

Wisdom is knowledge, with the spiritual insight to judge what really matters. And it is yours for the asking!” (Resource:  66 Ways God Love You) Jennifer Rothschild.

Today we see the true wisdom behind God’s greatest gift when we read that 70% of lottery winners go broke. Why? They didn’t have the wisdom to handle their winnings.

I am definitely wiser today handling financial situations because I was forced into this arena…sink or swim after my divorce. But God sent me wisdom through family, friends, and financial experts who taught me the ropes and somehow at the stage I am now…it has finally taken root.

So until tomorrow…Proverbs 3:13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. So before we start setting short and long-term goals… including wealth..let us seek the wisdom we need to be successful in our endeavor of living a fulfilled life by God’s definition… whatever that may be.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh