brittany nicole

So I never wanted to be a broke nothing. But if I’m being honest with you, I started out as the broke auntie.

My niece turned 2 yesterday. I love being her aunt. She thinks I’m so cool and she laughs at all of my jokes and funny faces.

When I put on make-up, I have to give her a clean brush (that hasn’t been used) so that she can put on some too.

When I put on deodorant, I have to pretend like I’m rolling some under her arms too.

When I put on lip gloss, she wants her lips to be poppin’ too.

And when I eat, you best believe she gets to eat good too.

This is our life now. We classy together. Boujie together. and she doesn’t understand Ratchet, but she loves it when we turn up together.

So how did things start…

The day that my niece was born, I was living in Birmingham at the time. Had probably only been here 6 or 7 months. My sister called to tell me that morning that she thought today may be the day.

During that time, my sister and her husband were living in Nashville.

I wish I remember how much money I had in my account that day. But I do remember it not being enough for me to make the trip to Nashville.

Of course, I didn’t tell my sister that. I didn’t want to add any unnecessary stress. Even though I knew she would have sent me the money had I said something.

That day, ironically. I was scheduled to judge a pageant. Now judging pageants is fun and something that I did for many years. Sometimes I would get lunch/dinner and paid for judging. Other times I would get snacks and a goodie bag. It would just depend on the budget of the pageant.

I prayed for God to lead the way and for my sister to have a healthy delivery. She hadn’t had any complications during her pregnancy so I wasn’t nervous for her.

Now that I read more articles about black women having pregnancy related deaths, I realize just how blessed she was.

I expected to be there. I wanted to be there. I so wish my circumstances would have been different so that I could afford to be there.

But there I was in Gardendale judging a pageant. When I arrived, they were going over the rules/guidelines.

Shortly after that, a meal arrived. A good meal at that. So in my mind, I’m thinking this pageant committee might have some money in the budget.

Truth be told, most pageant committees get the judges’ meal sponsored, so I’m not in the clear yet.

In between the interviews, I kept checking my phone for updates.

Nothing had happened, but my sister was convinced that her baby was coming that day.

Finally I’m giving an envelope. This too doesn’t mean anything. I’ve received plenty of envelopes that had a thank you card and some discounted coupons to use at local restaurants.

I didn’t open it immediately because you don’t want to look greedy. And I wasn’t being greedy. I just knew that it there was anything in the envelope, it would help me see my niece within at least 24 hours of her being born.

So I’m still checking my phone, but the pageant is about to start.

No updates.

We get through the first half and my sister tell me that the baby is coming today. It’s settled. Today is the day.

Then as the young women were being crowned, I got the text that she was born.

The crowning moment. Such a queen move on my nieces’ part.

Now I extend congratulations to the winners because I’m a judge that loves to wish the winners a successful year and that I look forward to seeing them compete at the next level.

I run to the bathroom to tinkle and open up the envelope.

I’m either about to go back home to Birmingham or I’m hitting the road headed to Nashville.

You guessed it. The Lord provided.

A check was inside for $100 and that was honestly more than enough for my little Toyota Corolla.

So it was like 8:30/9:00 when I hit the road.

I DID NOT EVEN CARE.

Too excited to think about sleeping.

The funny thing is that when I got there, the maternity hall was shutting down for visitors.

That’s okay, I guess. I’ll be back in the morning for sure.

Here I am for the first time holding my niece…

And God has provided in ways for me that have allowed me now to be the lender in my family and not the borrower. I’m blessed. I don’t take it for granted. My niece is the blessing that keeps on giving. Being her aunt helps me look at life a little differently. Money can’t buy happiness, but being broke can rob you of so much.

Some people wonder why do I share stories like this. I be wondering the same thing. lol

The truth is because there’s someone out there who will read this and be encouraged by it. See, I used to hide behind these stories because it’s so much harder to write about financial freedom if you’ve never actually experienced it. I’m on the other side now but I’ll never forget the many lessons that “being broke” taught me.

I could go on and on…

The biggest lesson is that you can’t afford not to tithe and that regardless of the little that you have, be a good steward over that. If you can’t manage a $100, you’ll struggle trying to manage $1000 or $10,000 or $100,000.

My niece has expensive taste and we’re going to have to work on that as she gets older, but it is nice to just treat her to things that I didn’t have growing up just because.

Now I’m trying to become the wealthy auntie…

But being the blessed auntie gives me rich auntie vibes.

And in my book, that’s a win for my niece and for me!

#BNspired2day