Mom's Open Checkbook

     

Walker Percy, half-amused, speaks of a woman who has moved in with her illicit lover, but who is nevertheless frustrated with the living arrangements.   When a counselor asks whether she talks to her boyfriend about his inexplicable spending, she replies, “I don’t yet know him well enough to talk about money.”

        This Mother’s Day I celebrate the way my Mom always made sure family finances were not a source of shame.  I remember one rare occasion when Dad asked about the grocery bill. He knew from the pot-roast to the vegetables, everything had come from the farm.      

       “How can anyone spend 200 dollars at the grocery? What else besides flower and sugar do you have to buy?” he asked.

      Fearing that my weekly quota of bottled Pepsi was in jeopardy, I was relieved when Mom brought out the receipt, schooling my Dad about the benefits of, among many other things, deodorant, paper towels, bleach, and the little dryer sheets that reduce static cling. 

       Years of ministry have taught me to realize how healthy a thing Mom’s receipt was.  She could account for every dime.  It wasn’t that Dad didn’t trust her.  He did. But that trust was always bolstered on the rare occasions he asked about an expense and Mom had an answer ready.  Purchases were subject to scrutiny.

       I know there are boundaries that ought to be observed in families and that those will differ from home to home; but secret checkbooks give me the creeps.  In my thirty years of ministry nearly every family scandal I’ve endured with friends was preceded by secret finances.  Accountability builds rather than undermines trust.            

        And accountability can’t be dodged forever.  “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account...And He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.”  One day people are going to see exactly what we do with our money.  A little openness now can prepare us for it.