December 2010 Brad brought up the idea about us looking at our finances again, creating a budget, making some sacrifices again and I was a little skeptical. I felt we were already living tight what more could we do? He was teaching FPU now and I just thought it was his emotional high from that and I wanted some proof that if I committed to this new way of life and gave up my cable it'd mean something. Even though we never argued much over money, the stress of debt touched our relationship in ways I never realized until now. I learned I struggled with my trust in Brad for starters; was it fair for me to doubt his committment to FPU at the time? Nope, but I did. I believe that mistrust was linked back to our immigration problems and the debt and stress that created. Over these 14 months I learned of my mistrust and finally let go and now I trust him 100%. I know he is leading our family down the correct path and I'm more then I'm happy to follow his lead.
So I agreed to do this again, not ready to make any major sacrifices that Brad was proposing at the time. He wanted to axe the cable. This was a tough one so I said yes but give me until early spring when all the bad TV starts :)
A situation occured during Christmas time and that motivated us that enough was enough and we were committing to getting rid of our debt. We were actually mad that we had this debt and wanted to do something about it. That was partly our motivation. The other side was we want to be free to give when we feel led to. Personally, I had my moment of realization when I was building our web site, I was entering in items that you can purchase and one was to feed a whole school in Rwanda for one week was $250.00. One week we could feed a school, which I visited and all it would cost us is one car payment! I felt almost sick to my stomach at our selfishness. We were surrounding ourselves with 'things' that we told our selves we needed or deserved while that same amount could feed a school of 450 children. I told Brad that I was ready to kick this debt and fast.
So we started with the budget, had a few disagreements over the amount I should/could spend on groceries but other then that we just put our heads down and stayed focused. We didn't go out much, did no repairs to our house, or even bought those little items you don't think much of that we kinda need but I knew could wait. We were determined to make this work. We had a garage sale, sold everything we could think of in that. We still weren't satisfied. So we talked about Brad getting another job but this is kinda complicated since we can't legally work anywhere but Brad at the church and me not at all. But Brad became a ref and started reffing at the church which he can do and an opportunity came along in the summer for me to give personal lessons in basketaball. This was an unexpected bonus and we socked that money away towards debt. The Lord also gave me an opportunity to watch my friends kid for 2 months. That was a huge blessing and ended up paying for Christmas this year so we wouldn't have to use any of our money that we were to put towards debt. After Christmas my other friend asked me to watch her child as well so God is continuing to use me to bless my friends and bless us in the process.
At the start of this Brad asked that I think about selling our car. I immediatlely said no and I'm sure rolled my eyes. I explained to himnd that car was a blessing...it's got an automatic starter...I've never driven a car that nice...we only have 2 years left to pay off the car....we need a reliable car. I kept feeding him all the lies that I was choosing to believe. We agreed that we would hold off on that. But what Brad didn't know was I was praying and chatting to God about it constantly and finally after a few months I told myself and God that I was ready to sell the car if Brad brought it up. Of course he did and 1 week later we kissed our Honda Accord goodbye and began that painful search for a new to us used car.
After 2 weeks the Lord blessed us again with a perfect car for our family, it was in our price range and it was a perfect fit for our family. I was once again thanking the good Lord for taking care of us and providing in His timing.
So we were getting closer and gaining momentum. We are extra motivated since I am due to give birth May 28th and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to work after the baby comes. I plan on working but I'm a stay at home mom who works from home so we'll see.
Today we offically made our last payment and are now debt free. I actually feel more humbled then excited. Reflecting upon this past year showed me God's goodness, his grace and sweet mercy.
So proud of you both for all your hard work. Doria
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