Thursday, March 8, 2012

March Debt Update

Coming out of February, this is where we were:

First 10K Chunk, started 10/1/11
fundraising ideas
Fundraising Thermometer




This month is promising. We may be able to finish off this thermometer and start a new one, depending on how this one goes.

But even more promising is what I heard from some friends of mine today.

B&R are high school sweethearts, people I knew way back when who got married pretty much right after graduating. Through the magic of Facebook, we connected and remain on each other's friends' list. I'm not in Texas, so I didn't know the particulars of their situation, but I knew that R worked away from home, out of state, and they had a school-age daughter who wasn't adjusting. I knew at Christmas, she would count down the days to see him, if he could come home at all. I would read B's blog about her struggles with her daughter and dealing with R's absence. My heart went out to them, but I didn't know if I could help.

Then in July of last year, R posted this:

I HATE MONEY!!! I hate how it makes me feel! I hate how it controls me!! I hate it being tied to EVERYTHING we do!! I HATE MONEY!!!!


I told him that it sounded like he needed some Financial Peace in his life, fully intending the double meaning (a la Dave Ramsey). His response was essentially that those two words can't exist in the same sentence.

I prayed about it and prayed for them for a couple of days before I finally got the courage to send them a message, offering up tidbits of our journey and encouraging them. They were very grateful for my dose of hope, and I ended up sending them the Kindle version of The Total Money Makeover, and then for Christmas, I found a really good deal on FPU Online, so I went ahead and bought one for them since they can use it from their separate locations.

Today, I got an update from B, and I am so excited for them. The Lord is working in their lives. R switched companies (same type of job), has a regular schedule, is still away from home, but it is predictable when they will see him, and it included a raise to boot! They are working through Dave's principles as outlined in the book, but haven't started the FPU class (plan for next month). The hope in that e-mail was something I know comes from God. They have paid off all their credit cards and are two payments away from paying off a loan they've been facing for the last five years. They still have a long way to go, but there's wiggle room, and their debt snowball is rolling, and they are all happier than they've been in a long time.

I thank the Lord for using me as a tool and for giving me the courage to share with B&R. It was scary (who likes to be rejected?) but so worth it to give God the glory.

Cheers!

(I'm backdating this post a few days just so that the update on the kids will be on top.)

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