I'm Debt Free!!

I realized I never blogged about being debt free! I gave my testimony of what God did on my journey to becoming debt free at church, so I'm just going to copy and paste it here. Maybe it will encourage someone on their journey. (Feel free to reach out if you want to talk while you work to becoming debt free.)

Sorry there are no pictures or anything to break up the long text. :)

Money is one of those topics no one wants to discuss. It’s personal. It makes us uncomfortable. When Pastor Nathan asked me to share about what Christ did for me on my journey to becoming debt free, I immediately thought--no one wants to hear about budgets and Dave Ramsey and debt snowballs. But in reality, my journey had less to do with money and more to do with surrendering myself to Christ.

When I started the Dave Ramsey program eight years ago, I had never written down a budget, much less calculated how much debt I had, so I was in complete shock when I realized I owed 59,496.03. Other than a car and a few thousand dollars of student loans, I honestly cannot tell you what I bought. I serve as a school librarian, so I’m guessing it was a lot of cardigans.  

I began working the plan, full of optimism and determination to make a budget, stick to it, and get out of debt. But regret over bad decisions only gets you so far. Some months I would do well, but many months, I would drain my savings or use my credit card.  

I continued in that cycle until a year and a half ago. On a Wednesday night, Pastor Nathan talked about reaching unreached people groups. He said there were people who had not heard the gospel because they are in such remote places that we’d have to build roads just to reach them. He spoke about the money it would take to build those roads and the training for the missionaries to share the gospel and the cost of translating Bibles into that language.

I can’t tell you what he preached on that night because I couldn’t quit thinking what 59,496.03 plus interest throughout the years could have done to advance the gospel. I know God doesn’t need my money, but I had missed a chance to join him in the work he’s doing to make the name of Jesus known around the world.

The regret I had over bad financial choices turned to godly sorrow that I had put stuff I can’t even remember buying above the advancement of the gospel. I went home, got on my face in my prayer closet, and repented for not trusting His plan for the money He had given me. I realized God’s goal wasn’t just for me to be debt free--it was for me to completely surrender control of my finances to him.

I had only told two people ever how much debt I had. Now, I was sharing my monthly totals on social media with strangers. With a changed heart, I began to make different decisions, not just with the mindset of getting out of debt but with pleasing the Lord with my money.

I wish I could tell you that I surrendered to his lordship, and it was easy. It was still a year and a half of hard choices, of lonely weekends, of dying to my selfish desires. But, it was one of the most beautiful times, as Jesus poured out His grace to me through His word and encouragement from friends and even strangers.  

On February 15th, I made my last payment to Discover, and with the next paycheck, I paid to go on my first mission trip with NEHBC. While being debt free feels amazing, the true blessing was Christ using the long journey to fill my greatest need--more of him.

Throughout my journey, I kept coming back to Philippians 4:11, where Paul wrote “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Even though I hated dying to my selfish desires, the more I surrendered to Christ, the more content I became despite my circumstances. He is enough.

We all have areas of our lives that we don’t want to surrender completely to Christ’s authority. Maybe yours is finances like mine was. Maybe it’s something else. I want to encourage you to trust Christ and His authority over every aspect of your life. When we surrender things to Him, He never leaves us empty-handed. He will always give us more of Himself. And when we have Him, we can be content wherever He has us

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Mozambique: What the Women Taught Me

It's been six months since I got back from Mozambique. 

You can't travel to a country halfway around the world and not be changed, but I wanted to wait and see what feelings were a mission trip hangover and which ones were real changes God was making in my life. 

The women of Mozambique are beautiful. I love their bright colors, vibrant laughs, and open friendliness. Their front porches are a place to work and watch their kids and build relationships. They sit and laugh and call out to those passing by.  Even though I didn't understand a word of Portuguese, I understood the sense of community. Stories would be told and the gospel would be shared, and it was glorious. 

And I have missed it. I consider myself an extroverted introvert. I like people and enjoy their company, but I have to have quiet, alone time every day. I'm not quick to introduce myself to a stranger in a crowd. I'm better one on one than with a group.  I can be shy. But God used Mozambique to change me. I call out to women in passing and pause to see if they're willing to talk. Every Sunday night, I purposefully think of who I can reach out to that week to encourage or to pray for or to just hang out with. I long to be still and hear their stories and share my own. 

There's a longing in me to build a community, one of women who encourage and build each other up, women who are different than I am, women who will sit on the porch and talk about life and Jesus, women who laugh, women who challenge each other.  And I think women in my area desperately need it. We run in rat races and fight comparisons and worry so much about status that we have become empty. We have nothing to give those around us. We're too busy to sit on our porches, making a meal together while the kids play. We don't have time to be still and talk about our struggles and the answer to them--Jesus. We don't have people who will call us out in love because we're too afraid of offending and too scared to be vulnerable and open. And our community suffers. 

The world is broken. We live under the curse of sin. Suffering surrounds us, suffocating us. Anxiety and panic plague us. All too often, we trudge through it alone. And we don't have to. There are so many women looking for something beyond surface level acquaintances, women who desire true friends who stick closer than a brother. One of us just needs to be brave enough to ask, "Hey, you want to come hang out on my porch later?" 

Consider this your invitation. 

I think of the women of Mozambique every day. Out of respect for them, I didn't take many pictures of them, but their smiles fill my memories. They inspired me to reach out to those around me, to build relationships, to form a community. I don't want to have a busy social calendar but not one woman who is like a sister to me. 

I pray I can go back. 

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