Baby Steps

This past Monday, Aaron and I sent a check to one of our student loans. Do you know what was written in the memo? "Pain in Full". Halleluia! We are no longer a slave to AES. It's a great feeling. We have worked hard, worked on being self-disciplined (emphasis on "worked"), scrimped and saved, and denied ourselves some luxuries. We have prayed that God would make us faithful stewards of the money He has given us, and we are so encouraged to see Him be faithful!

Paying off the first of our three loans was not a one-time event. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't about a David and Goliath moment of saying "NO!" to debt. It's been a daily process full of the tiniest baby steps.

The first step was to ask ourselves what was most important. The second was to make our spending consistent with that.: Can we spend $10 less on dry cleaning by freshening things? Can we stretch our food budget by shopping wisely? Can we do without eating out as much? Can we wear our clothes longer?

The third step was to actually implement our decisions from step two: Don't go out for lunch even though it's late and you're tired and just want fast food. Go ahead and cook dinner, even though you forgot all about that meal. Wait just one more month before you buy that thing, so that you'll have plenty of money for other things.

The fourth step is the hardest: finding the balance between sacrificing for later and enjoying your life now. It's impossible for anyone else to answer that question. It's difficult enough to answer it for yourself. What we find ourselves struggling with are questions like: Are we being generous enough? Are we being stingy with each other or our children? Are we greedy? Are we dependent on money for happiness? Do we think that being debt-free will give us peace?

I'm sorry if this sounds like a didactic post - it's not meant to be. I'm hoping to share how wonderful and great and exciting and liberating and happy you feel when a debt you owe has been paid. (Remember the year of Jubilee, when all the slaves were freed? It's a taste of that.)

Older, wiser people have warned us against "sprinting" for our financial goals. We need to look at it as a marathon. We should have built-in indulgences, luxuries and rewards. So, for our very first Debt-Free Victory, Aaron and I are celebrating by spending some of our coveted "extra debt money" (which usually goes toward our loans) to buy a few new things for our family. It's a strange thing, but it's nice. God is good to give us these things that we don't deserve. If anything, I need to remember to repent of believing I deserve anything.