thank you, now I'm moving!

Thanks to everyone who has shared our story and blessed us with gracious comments! Chaz and I are both overwhelmed that our story has encouraged so many and excited that God's name is being praised because of it.

I have just finished a new site on WordPress, so please follow me! I plan to write much more frequently from now on. Here is my new site: https://rischywill.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you over there!

our debt-free journey

(Hi! I have moved to a new blog on WordPress at https://rischywill.wordpress.com/. You can read Our Debt-Free Journey there at https://rischywill.wordpress.com/our-debt-free-journey/. Thanks!)

Chaz and I began our debt-free journey in late 2010. I was pregnant with our first child when he finally talked me into doing Financial PeaceUniversity. We were in bad shape. I had quit a full-time teaching job to be a stay-at-home mom, and his career had taken an unforeseen detour and landed him in a job where he was miserable. We had two student loans, a mortgage, and various other small debts. Once my full-time income was depleted, we realized something had to give.

FPU was an eye-opener, to say the least. For Chaz, it was about getting us on the same page; he had been applying Ramsey’s principles for about a year to help us pay off our cars. For me, it was about realizing that money was not the enemy. Money was a tool, and we could learn to use that tool successfully and in ways that would honor God. We were diligent with the class and became serious about getting out of debt.

But before we could get out of debt, we had to fix a major problem: our income didn’t cover our bills and other expenses. Chaz and I had decided together that I would stay at home to raise our child. This was something we had always wanted, but we had never actually planned for it financially. And I felt a calling from God to quit my job before I even became pregnant. It was obvious that my going back to work full-time was not an option, but at the same time, it was the only option that made financial sense. Ultimately, we both knew God had something bigger in store for us and that we needed to just trust Him with this decision.

Not long after our first child was born, we knew we had to give up our house. I remember Chaz telling me that this is what we had to do. I cried knowing he was right while hating the decision. How could we have let things get this bad? How could we have been so stupid and careless? Buying the house had been our first big mistake. We bought it when we had two student loans, two car payments, and paid almost nothing down. In hindsight, getting out of debt should have been our top priority. Our Realtor suggested we rent the house out for a while since the market was so terrible (this was 2011) and we had no equity. That was golden advice since we would have gone into much more debt trying to sell the house at that time. So, we began to prepare our house as a rental. We also sold a good many of our belongings to make downsizing a little easier and packed up our house, preparing to move into a small apartment.

Then we got this amazing opportunity to live in a house for free for a year!  Basically, a friend of a friend was possibly moving his family out of state for work temporarily. He was just waiting on the go ahead from his boss. If we could hold out a few weeks, he would know for sure.

This was the first real test for us and especially for me in trusting my husband to take the lead. We both felt we had to take the chance on it, but in order to do that we were going to need a place to stay when the tenant moved into our newly rented home. In stepped Curtis and Christie Frodge. At the time, we were only acquaintances. She read about our crazy story on my blog, and they decided to walk in faith with us: they offered us to live with them in an extra room, free of charge, for as long as we needed until we got the house-sitting gig. It was just the incentive we needed to take the big risk.

For five weeks, we lived in a bedroom out of our suitcases with a five-month-old baby and a dog. We shared a home with another family and became part of their lives and their story forever. We also became part of their small group. It was a beautiful time of Christian unity while also a tangibly stressful time for Chaz and me. Three weeks in, we found out the house-sitting gig wasn't going to work out.

Soon thereafter, we moved into a 750 square-foot apartment. The move was all but devastating. Our pride took an enormous blow; we had failed. We had it all, and we screwed it up. I felt the failure every day for a long time, and I questioned my decision to stay home with my infant daughter every day. And why did the opportunity for the house-sitting gig even arise? Why had that been laid in our laps if God knew it wasn’t going to work out anyway? The questions and doubts began to settle in and fester.

That first year after we moved out of our house brought us to the lowest point in our marriage and into an even worse financial state. We had been married five years, and every bad financial decision from those five years seemed to pile up on us all at once. We kept taking hits. Bills would come in one right after the other. There were a few months that I dreaded opening the mailbox. On top of that, we still had the house to care for. It seemed there was always something that needed fixing. We owed money that we didn’t even know about, and we had almost nothing with which to pay the bills. Our problems were overwhelming, and getting out of debt wasn’t even on the radar anymore.

It was just ridiculous! We had followed what we believed God was calling us to do and everything got WORSE. We wanted to get out of debt, so we downsized. But we still didn’t have extra money. Nothing made sense. I blamed my husband. I was so angry with him, and I was angry with myself. Chaz was miserable and frustrated. He hated his job and had no way of advancing. Nothing made sense, and everything was a struggle. Our arguments were brutal, and there was an icy hostility in our home all the time. At one point, we even considered leaving everything and moving back to Tennessee to live with Chaz’s parents until we could dig ourselves out of the pit.

Finally, this one particular bill came in that caused us to hit our bottom. It was something we should have known was coming but forgot about. We weren’t angry necessarily, but just overwhelmingly disappointed with ourselves. For me, it was the first time I went before God in true repentance.

That marked a turning point for us. God had taken that year to reveal small cracks in the foundation of our marriage. The financial pressure being put on us just spotlighted what was already there: I trusted and respected my husband very little; Chaz shied away from his role as leader of our family, and his confidence was at a very low point. Once we hit bottom, we knew there was only one way out. We started looking to God to fix us, and He showed up as our Provider first in our marriage. Instead of turning away from each other or fighting, we began to act as a team. God showed me how to turn to my husband in love and respect and trust; He showed Chaz how to lead our family. We had a big learning curve ahead of us, but we were finally ready for the lessons.

The next two years were hard and lean, but God continued to provide in every area. He began quickly by providing a new job for Chaz. For the first time, he wanted better things for us and began working hard and challenging himself to take charge of his life. I found odd jobs babysitting and working for a friend's business and also worked part time at PeeWee School (our church's preschool). For two years Chaz worked five nights a week at a restaurant waiting tables as a second job. That was so hard on us all, as we saw him very little through the week. However, it provided the money we needed to move forward instead of just treading water. The money also enabled us to get our house ready to sell.

We were changing in big ways during this time. We sought the guidance of a financial adviser affiliated with the church and FPU. We began having “budget meetings” twice a month. Those were very stressful at first, but they became easier as we went along. We cut back on everything we could and began telling our money where to go. We made things work with one car. We did very few fun things. We said “no” a lot. It was really, really humbling.

God provided in the hardest times. One of the best memories I have was making our pledge to our church’s Everyone Campaign. This was a campaign started by Clear Creek Community Church to build satellite campuses in two additional parts of our area as well as adding a children's ministry building to our main campus. The mission of our church has always been to "make fully devoted followers of Christ," and this is one way they do it. We made a pledge that was really big for us at the time. Chaz kept saying we needed to make it big to see how God would help us provide. We had begun tithing regularly for the first time in our marriage, so making the “over and above” contribution at that time was a real struggle for me to understand. But when I asked God about it, I got the clear message that He wanted us to make the commitment. He wanted us—He wanted me—to trust Him totally.

In early summer of 2013, we sold our house. It was bittersweet because in our hearts a part of us wanted to move back there someday, but we had to make that sacrifice in order to use all our extra money toward our debt instead of using it to make constant repairs on the house and pay other associated bills. For me, the house represented an idol of comfort that I had made. It presented a constant temptation for me to get caught up obsessing over getting back into the house instead of getting out of debt. We kissed it goodbye not knowing when we would be homeowners again.

Just a few months after we sold the house, we were able to pay off our first major debt. It was a small victory, but it gave us just the spark we needed to keep going. We continued to make sacrifices: Chaz kept working his night job; we drove a twelve-year-old car and an even older motorcycle; we continued living in our small apartment even though we had chances to move into something bigger.

 

With every sacrifice we made, God showered us with even more blessings. Just like that season where we kept getting bill after bill in the mail, we would open the mail to find a check randomly sent from a friend or family member for just the amount we needed. This happened time and time again. One example was when my grandpa handed me a check for a large amount of money. It covered paying for two very specific things we needed but weren’t yet able to buy. “You guys are doing a really great job. You impress me,” he said. That was a huge compliment coming from a man of few words! We received hand-me-downs for Savannah, a car seat for the new baby we had on the way, toys, and a good friend even loaned us a car for a few months. And through all of that, we continuously received prayers and encouragement from family and friends. We learned we had some amazing friends! The more open we were about sharing our story, the more people we met who had been or were in the same place. The blessings we received were so humbling. We knew what we deserved, but we received something better. We began to learn how to be grateful for whatever we had and joyful in times of abundant blessing. That is grace. 

In the spring of 2014, we received a big blessing: I inherited a substantial amount of money that helped us to pay off our second major debt, a student loan. We were also able to put away money so that we could pay hospital bills up front after our second child came, baby Charlotte. And we made our final contribution to the Everyone Campaign; we had reached our goal!

In late 2014, we only had one debt remaining: my student loan. Chaz was no longer working his second job because he had been given a promotion that required him to work downtown, making it very difficult to get to another shift after a long commute home (I was just fine with this development, by the way). I had stopped working at PWS after the baby came and because we had assumed Chaz would still be working his night job. Because of all this, we had hit a lull in our debt-payoff plan, and it was tempting to get down because of it. When we looked at how much further we had to go and at how little we had to go on… well, things seemed pretty bleak.

Then two amazing things happened within a week of each other. A friend of a friend gave us a car. FOR FREE. NO STRINGS ATTACHED! It was not something we had been thinking or praying about; God just put it in our laps. When we went to pick up the car and sign the title over, I was able to tell the benefactor a little bit of our story. I told him how earlier that year we had been struggling over whether or not to buy a cheap car just to make things easier and get us through the yucky winter. But I had told Chaz, “If we just keep doing what we’re doing, God will bless us. Who knows? He could even GIVE us a car!” And that’s exactly what He did! It gave us the faith to pray boldly and to continue trusting God to provide even in our financial lull. I remember praying something like this: “God I am worried about our future. But you have proven faithful time and time again these past few years. And you just gave us a car, for goodness’ sake! I trust that you are going to continue taking care of us. You are so good to us!”

Later that week, I got a letter in the mail from an attorney I had never heard from before. I was set to receive a portion of a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home where my grandmother had passed away over four years earlier. I had no idea the lawsuit had even been opened. My uncle had kept up with the legal proceedings for three years without my knowledge.

The amount of money made me stop in the middle of cooking dinner and sit down on the floor, my mouth agape. I just couldn’t believe it! We were simply amazed by God’s perfectly timed blessing.

That lump settlement put us nearly four years ahead of schedule! We were able to pay off the remainder of my student loan and then save a full emergency fund per Dave Ramsey’s baby step #3. We also tithed and gave that amount toward the church’s First Gifts to Jesus. It was a sweet Christmas!

We are now DEBT FREE! We have paid off nearly $60,000 in three years!

And we have just received yet another blessing! Chaz is about to get hired on full-time to a major energy company in Houston. He’ll receive a raise that will almost double his earnings from when we began our journey four years ago! It is pretty amazing to see how God made this happen. Let me connect the dots for you. When we took that detour to live with the Frodges after our house was rented out, we got in their small group led by Nathan and Sarah Southard. Nathan was able to get a good word in for Chaz at a company here in League City in 2012. Chaz worked hard at this new job in a new field in which he felt completely out of his league. But he proved himself to be a diligent and hard worker. Last year, Nathan asked Chaz to be contracted out to work for him at the major company in Houston, and the rest is unfolding before us. We had no idea how that little detour God told us to take would change our future!

So, it is January 2015. FPU gave us the tools to use our money successfully and for God’s glory as well as tools to help us communicate more effectively about our finances. We started our journey to be debt free four years ago, but this journey was about so much more than that! God changed us. Four years ago, we didn’t know how to handle our money, and we never budgeted or really talked about money. Now we have “budget meetings” every two weeks or more often if necessary. No fighting involved! And better still, we now feel confident that we can leave a better financial legacy for our children. Four years ago, our marriage had foundational cracks of distrust that we were as yet unaware. God showed us how to let Him meet our individual needs first and how to trust Him. Now we share trust and respect and have accepted and come to love the roles God has given us, not the roles we designed for ourselves. Our marriage is thriving in it! Chaz has grown as a man and leader of our family; I have grown in my ability to trust and willingly submit to his leadership. Four years ago, our perspective was focused inward on our best interests and comforts. Now we look to how we can give and learn to continually be more grateful for what we have. We once thought too much of how others perceived us because of what we did or didn’t have. Now we both accept where we are and are in no hurry to “keep up with the Joneses” as we once did. That line of thinking got us into our trouble in the first place.

Four years ago, we trusted in ourselves to make things work and to provide all our needs. While we believed and trusted God, He was really just there as our emergency back-up in real life crises. In our journey to become debt-free, God became our Provider. He changed our faith from something we just talked about to something we lived and breathed—every day. And He is still changing us. The message we want people to get from our story is this: FOLLOW GOD. It doesn’t matter if what He is calling you to is straight up crazy; He will provide! Our worries and dreams are puny compared to His care and imagination. We have come into a greater joy and knowledge of Him because we trusted and obeyed. 

                                                         

Now we are asking a new question: “God, what would you have us do next?” He has given us a huge blessing by enabling us to be out of debt years ahead of our schedule; we know He must have something big in mind for us again. God has used the past four years to put us on a totally different path: the path He wants for our lives, not necessarily the one we wanted. The journey was about getting our financial lives straight, but it was more about growing our hearts and changing the mission of our family. We are now entirely more flexible with our plans, willing to wait on God’s lead and on His time. What we want just really doesn’t matter as much as what God wants. After all, we are here to bring glory to His name. A friend reminded us of the parable of the talents from Matthew: “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.” We were once on a mission to make a good life for ourselves, a kind of life focused only on this earthly life. Now we have an eternal perspective with a mission for God’s kingdom. We can’t wait to follow the road He will take us down next!

Photo: S Pandolph Photography

our BIG news

So, I was going to write an embarrassingly long-winded post updating you all on the last two years as well as our latest news. But since my last post was a year and a half ago, I thought it best to not be rude and just get to the point.

It all began with a calling. I felt God pushing me to quit my full-time job, and Chaz felt God pushing us to get out of debt and sell the house. As I write this update four years later, our lives have changed dramatically. We are debt free.

WE ARE DEBT FREE!!!

So, let me tell you how THAT happened.

Most of you know that we have made many sacrifices to get to this point including the following:

• Chaz worked a second job as a waiter for almost two years
•  Living in a super tiny apartment (2 adults+2 kids+1 dog+1 cat=6 uncomfortable creatures)
•  Driving old, beat-up vehicles (and, for a time, only ONE vehicle)
• Saying “no” to fun stuff A LOT
•  Saying “yes” to budgeting and all things adult and boring, like saving money

But many of you may not know that God has poured out many financial blessings on us over the past couple years, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Getting random checks in the mail from family or friends EXACTLY when we needed the cash
• Chaz’s new career opportunity (which was almost single-handedly provided to him through a friend we may have never met if we had not started this journey)
• A FREE CAR that we received this Halloween

• An inheritance I received from my late grandfather, my sweet Poppy, who passed away in 2013
• So many gifts of money, hand-me-downs, free rides (back when we had one vehicle), a borrowed car, a car seat, prayers, encouragement, etc.

Recently, I received a windfall of a fairly large amount of money. Unbeknownst to me, my late grandfather had filed a lawsuit against the nursing home where my grandmother passed away in 2010. As an heir to her estate, I was entitled to 25% of the settlement.

With that money, we just paid off the balance of my student loan. We also gave a portion to the church and saved the remainder to complete our next baby step (having an emergency fund of 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses).

Do you mind if I write it again in all caps? You can cheer if you want to…

WE’RE DEBT FREE!!!

Those three words look so good on the page. I can’t wait to do our debt-free scream on the Dave Ramsey show.

This journey to become debt free came with so many blessings. We knew only that God gave us a very clear directive to change our lives, but we had no idea how He would change us in the process. We sacrificed so much to get here, but I will tell that story at another time. Right now we just want you to share in our joy.

This journey has been more about building trust in each other and in Him. Our marriage grew into an exchange of love and trust and faith. We have learned that God's path is not just a good idea or principle that can be negotiated; it is life and truth and the BEST way. It is narrow and hard, but it is best.

The work is not over! We are not magically rich now, just in case you were wondering. We will continue to live our lives and manage our money in the ways that God has taught us to do so these past three years. We will just be doing it with a little less burden and a little more security. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.

P.S. My goal for the New Year is to get back in the habit of writing often, so I hope to be in touch with y'all soon. :)