By Susie Gay
Life is full of restlessness, isn’t it?
Personally, I think I’ve always been restless, especially since graduating from college. I spent years training and learning, then left it with tons of loan debt and no jobs to take my skills and me. Thus began my young adult life of juggling, compromises and, at times, stagnation. There were so many times I felt stuck, that I wasn’t moving forward—just staying in place at jobs I didn’t like and in my parents’ basement.
I’m a big dreamer, but I sometimes lack the actual drive to get there because I always seem to lack the resources or the time. There are always excuses and reasons; sometimes, they’re very valid!
As an imperfect human I lock myself in these situations. I choose to stay stuck in places and I choose to say that my dreams are too far away so I stay in that one place. I pray, beg and plead that God just throw me a bone already!
How easily I forget all the blessings in my life and how God provides for us everyday. I’ve been reminded of this time and time again in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace.
I was not thrilled about going to Financial Peace University at first. In fact I was quite nervous I was going to learn some disheartening facts about how I manage myself financially. I talked to my family about it, and I got a somewhat reluctant husband to join me and to top it off my mom graciously paid for us to attend the class.
The biggest thing I wrestled with in this class is the fact that I am being held back by money. It never totally dawned on me that my husband and I were being so controlled by our money; it never seemed that we were living paycheck to paycheck. But we totally were—talk about restlessness. If anything holds us back and keeps us stuck, it’s the lack of resources and the helplessness we feel from it all.
I am being held back by money.
I’ve certainly had access to resources. I have been blessed with several part time jobs and a college education. So, why do I have to take a money management class?
Because I’m a stinking sinner and I get distracted. We live in a culture of bigger and better, of “I deserve it all.” Financial Peace has been providing me with tools and lessons on how to turn off that way of thinking.
The end game of Financial Peace is that we as Christians be responsible and able to live generously. There’s a big portion of dreaming that comes with this class. We’re encouraged to imagine, “What could you do if you were debt free?” Imagine how clear some of our paths would become if we had no debt.
I’ve been in the class for one month. I am no where near to being debt free. But Alex and I are on the path for it. We’ve already had a significant change in our lifestyle and can feel improvements already. I won’t get into all the details but we’ve estimated that we’ll be out of credit card debt in 6 months and then it’s just student loans. That feels pretty amazing already.
That feels pretty amazing already.
I would encourage you to take this class. It’s helped me deal with my restlessness and it’s given me a clear goal with lots of milestones along the way.
The other plus to FPU is that it’s a onetime cost; you can take the course as many times as you want. I plan on attending a few this next round here at St. Luke, I hope I’ll see some of you there.
St. Luke will be hosting Financial Peace starting March 31 at 7 p.m.
Dan Flynn will be teaching the class, Register Here
If you are late to register we have some extra kits you may use until yours arrive in the mail.
