Money, money, money…

Last night, Josh and I sat down and made a debt chart. It’s different than a “debt snowball” in that it lists our entire amount of debt in $100 increments so that each month as we pay, we can mark off some boxes to show how much less debt we owe (and when I say “we” I mean Josh sat down and worked Excel magic and I tried to keep up). It looks like this:

Yes, I realize that it’s so tiny you can’t see the numbers or really even the boxes. That’s not privacy planning on my part – that’s just how small they had to be in order to fit it all on one page (and even then I had to add on a little extra paper). Now, some might think that this is a catalyst for me to go on a despairing rant about having so much debt, being a teacher and needing things like a working car, etc. And it’s true, a very small part of my brain wants to freak out when I see a 6 digit number that I owe but that’s not the prevailing emotion. Mostly I see that number and think about the ways that it’s ok.

1) It’s “good debt”

In that scary number is only student loans and a couple medical bills. Josh and I were fortunate that when we got married, neither of us had any credit card debt. Neither of us make a car payment every month nor do we owe money on any of our possessions. That being said, should I have gotten a $80,000 education for a $25,000 career? Probably not.

2) We have a plan.

We’re not going into this blind. We know how much debt we have, how much we can pay each month, and about how long it’s going to take us if nothing changes. We sit down and make a budget every month so that all our bills get paid and we know what money is left to “live on” and how we want to spend it. We can sync our budget app on our phones so that we are both looking at the same numbers (I love technology!) and anything “major” we can talk about – and even some stuff that isn’t.

3) We’re blessed.

I know it sounds really corny but it’s true. We both have stable, regular incomes. We own a house so although it’s a mortgage it also means that what we pay monthly for our space is significantly less than what we would pay for the same space renting. Also, Josh is in a profession where there is significant room for growth which means we aren’t locked in at this salary for x number of years. We are also encouraged in having good stewardship of our finances from our closest friends and family. No one is encouraging us to buy a car or a bigger house or take vacations we can’t afford which makes it easier to stay on track.

4) We still tithe.

Even before we were married, Josh and I strongly believed in tithing – giving 10% of our income to our church. Truthfully, once I started, I’ve never not had the finances to make ends meet. Partially because I’ve been taught and guided well in my money decisions so that I don’t live paycheck to paycheck and partially because it’s an area that God commands us to do so why would He not provide the means?  This act of obedience has been instrumental in my learning to be obedient in other areas. While sometimes I selfishly think of what I could do with the money each month, I remember that God can do so much more than I ever could if I would trust Him with it.

I’ll admit, sometimes it’s a little overwhelming to think about, and sometimes I worry that something might happen in the next seven years like a hospital stay or a baby and it all might get worse before it gets better. But even if it takes a long time, we’re doing what we’re supposed to – stewarding the gifts God has given us to give Him glory. And that makes it OK 🙂

Teacups, Doilies, and Ladies Ministry

Or, why I make pizzelles at Christmas.

Now for those of you who don’t know, pizzelles are a traditional Italian cookie with a texture and flavor (if you leave out the anise) as a waffle cone. They even require a special “pizzelle maker.”

Mmm…yummy!

Growing up, our family was very close to two other families from church – the Converses and the Lingenfelters. Each year Nan, Kim, my mom and all the kids would get together at one house and the moms would make Christmas cookies while ran around in a pre-Christmas high. One of those cookies each year would be pizzelles, closely monitored by Nan or Herr Lingenfelter. She would stand by the maker with a stopwatch to get the exact right timing on each pizzelles. While it’s true they are very time sensitive, we started teasing her  about the intensity with which she would tell us to remove the cookies from the iron.

It also happened that Nan was in charge of the Women’s Ministry at church. I did go to a few events and as a young teenage girl I was pretty bored. I don’t know if there was ever actually an event with teacups and doilies but the feeling is so strong, I figure it must have some basis in truth. It was a long time before I could “trust” a church ladies event again – I like to say Lora Ebeling conned me into it.

The thing is, despite my relative distaste for the actual events, Nan was a leader and strongly believed in getting women together for fellowship and encouragement. She was generous and hospitable almost to a fault. I aspire to those things too – that’s part of what I love about being on the leadership team for ladies at Discovery, it took me a long time to get there but I now understand the importance of women pouring in to each other. I think of and pray for Nan now whenever I make pizzelles because being a little like her wouldn’t be such a bad thing. But I’m going to leave the stopwatch at home.