Sick of Slavery

I hate debt. I hate that because we have debt we cannot save as much money for the future as we'd like. I hate that we can't give as much as we want to give. I want our debt gone and gone for good. I hate that my husband has to work many hours a week to pay creditors.

Jason and I are working to pay off all of our debt. We've been at it for a while. Some of it is from our very costly adoption. Some of it is from a hugely expensive repair made to our nearly 40 year old home...one that we did not foresee and really could not help (except that we had not saved money in anticipation of the inevitable emergency!). Some of it is from our selfish impulsiveness. This time last year we had 7 debts to pay. Now we only have three left. (Plus a mortgage) I am so thankful that at least some of it is gone. We hope to be debt free in about a year.

I want to share a quote with you. This is from the great missionary Hudson Taylor and can be found in this book. "To borrow money implies, to my mind, a contradiction of scripture - a confession that God had withheld some good thing, and a determination to get for ourselves what He had not given." Ouch, ouch, ouch. His contemporary, George Muller, was able to care for thousands of orphans in his lifetime without going into debt for even a penny...ever.

A few years ago, I didn't like being in debt. I knew it was bondage. However, now it is a conviction to no longer use debt. I no longer feel like I can borrow money and honor God at the same time. And I am broken that I have participated in living beyond our means and not been content with God's provision.

But God is so merciful and so good. First of all, He has blessed us with enough. We have more than we need to live and can put extra toward debt. This is a huge blessing. I have a husband who agrees with me and is good at managing money. It is not an uphill battle with him...we are in agreement about the nastiness of the debt monster in our lives. And God has provided His word to guide us, along with many other helpful resources. He has also granted forgiveness and a huge desire to GIVE...which is a great motivation!

One of those helpful resources is Dave Ramsey. Not everyone will like his style, but we have appreciated the simplicity of his babysteps. We have learned a lot from him, but his first baby step has been the most helpful so far. Having a small emergency fund has kept us from further debt while we pay the rest off. And since we don't like to mess with that fund, we constantly reevaluate whether something is truly an emergency or not! Earlier this year my dishwasher broke. We decided this was NOT an emergency and we could wash dishes in the sink...so we did. And then we were blessed with a FREE dishwasher about 6 weeks later from someone who wanted a quieter model. We saved money and let me tell you I REALLY appreciated the dishwasher after weeks of not having one! What a kind Father we have.

I look forward to being debt free. And when that happens, I look forward to praising God and honoring Him with any abundance He gives us.

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PS...The Teasuer Principle by Randy Alcorn is another awesome resource that will help you see the beauty of giving away what is God's (and not ours) in the first place!