AuburnChick's Adventures

Yesterday, when I was trying to figure out what was going on with my unemployment benefits, I pulled out the folder where I keep my documentation.

It was in the same place where I keep my paycheck stubs.

Real organized, eh?

But, it makes sense in a warped sort of way.

What can I say?  I am AuburnChick.

So, while I was trying to find that all-important number that would allow me to not be on hold for forever and a day (I couldn’t find it, by the way…refer to the last post for more on that), but I did see a stack of paycheck stubs that dated way back to 2007.

After hanging up with the unemployment office, I decided it was time to purge those old papers, but first I took a look at them…just to make sure I wasn’t getting rid of something important.

Oh my gosh.

What an eye-opener…and a bit of a downer.

I had about a year’s worth of stubs from when I was a computer tech (aka paraprofessional) at a middle school in town.  My salary was a lot higher than what I made the last two years as a substitute teacher with a bachelor’s degree and a letter of eligibility to teach from the state of Florida.

My pay stubs from mid-2007 through 2008 were LOVELY.  I longingly looked at the amounts of them and cried a few tears, on the inside, as I recalled days of not stressing over the bills…of having the extra money to write checks for school t-shirts, club dues, and other non-necessary splurges.

And then I saw my paychecks from 2009 to the present.

Paltry in comparison to their predecessors.

Minimum wage.

Chicky made more money babysitting than I did subbing/teaching.

As I thumbed through these financial relics, I thought about the link we make between the figures on our paychecks with what we, as humans, are worth.

Why is it that I felt my emotions soar with the law firm salary and then dive when I saw my school pay.

I am so totally not about money, my friends.

I mean, I have chosen a career that will not result in my wearing Prada or Jimmy Choo.

And I am okay with that.  My thrills come when, and this is going to sound totally nerdy, I see kids understand why you have to make nouns and verbs agree or when I take them through history so they’ll understand why Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, played an important role in the move for our country’s independence from England.

Why do we think the bottom line of what we’re worth is tied into how much bacon we can bring home at the end of the day?

I do not know.

All I can say is that I choose NOT to fall into this way of thinking, for I know that my worth lies in being a daughter of the King.

God chose me before I was formed.

I would never trade this assurance for even a tenth of Lebron James’ paycheck.

No way, no how.

Filed under: Christian | Tagged: Christianity, self-value, worth |