So we can…….

I have finally come to a point in my life where I realize that debt is a modern form of slavery.
For the 1st 9 years of our marriage my wife and I have been a slave to this debt. Sure we have been able to do some small things, weekend anniversary trips, 3 day weekend family reunions, and 2 or 3 longer Christmas trips, but we have also missed out on family vacation, Mission trips, some family reunions, family time, and adventures. We also missed out on opportunities quite often because we had to work to service the debt.

The debt has caused us to put up with unbearable cold ( Michigan winters) and uncomfortable heat ( July and August with Michigan’s humidity.) We talked about trips we could only dream of. We even put our health on hold for almost 8 years because we were convinced we couldn’t afford to be healthy.


For the past 9 months I have been averaging close to 80 hour work weeks. This seems insane, there has been a lot of nights I’ve had to phone in for bedtime prayers with our daughter, weeks where my wife had to manage the house and chores by herself. I’ve consistently been exhausted, both physically and mentally. We both have been frustrated and irritated.

You may ask “WHY? Is this really worth it?”
So now back to the beginning of this post…

My wife and I are working so hard to pay off our debt so we can……have Freedom to serve God when and where He wants us. We will literally be able to do anything we want too. (Not everything, but anything) We can travel the world, and take time doing it. We can serve others as God leads us. We can be generous with our time, talents, and wealth that God has blessed us with.

We can raise our daughter, and maybe someday our children, by teaching them to design their lifestyle instead of being indoctrinated that you have go into debt to get a degree so you can get a job working 40+ hours a week for someone else, making enough money to pay off that debt for 30-40 or more years of your life. I know, who in their right mind would want to do that, right?

So yes years 1-8 of our marriage have been a little tough, we have been good at living below our means so we could slowly get rid of this slavery known as debt. This 9th year has been extremely difficult and exhausting. In just the past 9 months we have paid off over $18,000 of debt, we have reduced our bills dramatically, and have almost doubled our income. We have trimmed our 24 month plan to pay off our debt into a 12 month plan.

We have $7,100 left and 3 months to pay it off. We will accomplish this with God’s help, and who knows maybe we’ll do it in 2 months. We have the taste of freedom in our mouths, and it tastes amazing. The opportunities being debt free will bring, makes this sacrifice of the next three months worth putting up with.