From USA Today

I know I haven't blogged in a while. I have good intentions, but priorities prevail. I am posting today two different letters that were published in USA Today - one in last Monday's paper, and the other, a retort from the weekend edition. They both concern stewardship ... two different women and two different lives. The first letter reminds of someone I know who judges everyone without looking outside her own little box; the second letter reminds me how we should never assume we know the whole story. See for yourself ...

LETTER #1: Where is reward for good stewards?
Sarah Kapcar - Cincinnati
For some reason, I feel like an American anomaly. No, I am not perfect, just confused. My husband and I own our beautiful three-bedroom home in a great suburban neighborhood. We could have moved into a big two-story home with a three-car garage. We could have sent our kids to private school, but we thought better ("How rising home values placed your finances at risk," Cover story, News, Wednesday).
I work only part-time, and raising our two sons, ages 20 and 17, has been my real career. We have no credit card debt. Yes, we use our credit, but we pay off our balances monthly. I could have used those credit cards for a pair of Manolo Blahniks but thought better.
My Chevy is a lease, but my husband's older car is paid for. He could have purchased that new Audi but thought better.
We could be just like all the other Americans who are in trouble, but we thought better. We have been lucky in terms of maintaining good health and jobs, and I can understand how some families today need financial help.
Where is my government thank-you for being responsible and not going into debt and facing foreclosure?
How can some people spend so freely and not think better?

LETTER #2: Hard times hit even good stewards
I laughed when I read the letter "Where is reward for good stewards?" from USA TODAY reader Sarah Kapcar (Monday).
She has two sons. I had one who died of cancer three years ago. He was 8 years old. The hospital bills drove us to bankruptcy. My husband went back and forth from work to the hospital so much that he lost his job. It took him more than a year to get another one, which paid less.
Now we have a mortgage we can't afford, and no bank will refinance us because of the bankruptcy.
I forgot to mention that on Sept. 28, my mom passed away. She had been very ill for more than six months. I spent a lot of gas going between my house and the nursing home to visit her.
All this time I thought we were having a run of really bad luck. Now I understand it. If only we were better stewards, all of this would not have happened.
The good news is we own one vehicle, so when we are evicted from our house we can live in it.
Thank goodness for small miracles, and my husband and I will keep working on that stewardship stuff.
Tracy Grady
Mesa, Ariz.