Living For Him Now, So I Can Live With Him Later

Many know parts of the journey of David and I as we started questioning our lives three years ago, probably before then, but a little over three years ago was a definite marking point in time.  Along with so many other couples we realized many financial mistakes we made that could have saved us tons of money, you know the ones like trading cars when you really didn't need to, etc.  Then there were the things in life that we chose to do that were huge financial costs {but the biggest blessings and priceless} like making our family.  That being said, we had started Dave Ramsey 5 years ago, so when we started having this change of heart in our lives we had already started the debt reduction process.

We were on the tract of "If you live like no one else now, then later you can live like no one else later."  When we realized that there was more to life than what we were living, we were weeks away from bringing Leia home.  We had been questioning everything and all the choices we had made and wanted to make.  We continued on with Dave Ramsey, finished paying off the adoption, paid off a car, and were finally left with our house and a very small car loan.  Weeks before traveling to bring Leia home, we decided after much thought and prayer that we needed to take our first trip to Costa Rica.  I had had several yard sales over a span of 4 years of adoption processes and had gone through my house always finding more and more that I could do without.  So, again, went through the house, sold more stuff, and booked flights for our first trip to Costa Rica.  Dave Ramsey would have balked.  We were not stashing the extra money toward the small car loan or the principal on our mortgage.  Instead, we made our first trip to Costa Rica.

Our first trip down here, led to our second trip, then another, and another.  For two years we had tons of yard sales, made hundreds of pieces of jewelry, and using birthday money, Christmas money to make these trips to Costa Rica.  While we were doing this, I will be honest, we were not saving a dime.  We continued with the envelope plan, and kept paying the car and house debt we had, but not knocking any extra away.  We prepared to sell our house or rent our house.  We prayed and prayed and prayed.  Things started falling into place for us to move here.  Our house rented.  We literally sold almost everything, aside from linens and my kitchen.  Sold both of our cars.  Shipped 3 small pallets of our belongings.  And moved our family to another country.  It was one of the hardest things we have done and in so many ways one of the best things we have done.  

Dave Ramsey would not have approved.  Really, not a day goes by that I don't think about "What if."  What if we had continued with the smart and more financially responsible decision of paying our house off, so that we could live like no one else later?  What if we had not decided to make all those trips here because that would not have been "living like no one else?"  What if we had liquidated all of our belongings and instead used the money to pay double payments on our house instead of moving here?  

What if we had continued to plan our lives around smart financial decisions?  We had been a slave to money and debt all those years and our logic was if we could pay off all the debt, we would be free.  But free to do what?  Save our money to buy the things we wanted with cash?  Is slavery to cash much different than slavery to credit?  In the end it is the same chains that bind us, we have just shined them up a bit because we are "debt free".  Smart financial planning tells you to save and save and save so that someday you will be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors.  Sounds a lot like the man in Luke 12:18 that said, I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."  As all these thought ran through our heads we decided to stop living for a tomorrow that might never come.  We realized that we had put a lot of faith into our ability to prosper and make a bright future for our family.  So we finally put our faith where it belongs, into the loving hands of our Lord and Savior.

What if we had continued on our path to debt free prosperity and physical security?  This is what I know.  We would have not followed the steps of Jesus.  Our hearts truly would not have known the brokenness, that you just don't see in the United States.  We would have never met the people here who we love dearly.  We would have never made the relationships with people here and been able to share the Gospel with them.  Lots of people would have never heard the Gospel.  Tons of people would not have a Bible to read.  I do NOT at all say these things in anyway to glorify anything about us.  If we had let our heads lead us and continued to overlook where Jesus was trying to lead us, we would have not been able to spread that seed.  Instead we would be storing and stashing every penny into our mortgage and possibly that IRA fund we don't have, planning to live like no one else later.  A "Later" that may never happen.

James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  

I don't believe in living above your means, running your life on credit, mortgaging 1/2 your income.  I think there is a balance, a balance that can only be truly measured by the word of God.  Some will say to listen to your heart over your mind and others will say the opposite.  But lets face it, both our heart and our head can lead us astray.  We have to use both our hearts and our minds to know which direction to go, which choices to make.

Luke 10:27. And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 28 And he said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.

When our entire existence is focused on GOD and what HE wants us to do with our lives, that is when we will stop making choices that are based on selfish desires.


Proverbs 16:9. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.



Jeremiah 10:23. I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.


Today marks one year since we moved to Costa Rica.  We had no idea what the future held one year ago, and still don't know what the future holds.  All we know is today.  We pray about the uncertainties and for His will.  We pray daily for HIS plan.  His plan is the certain thing in life.  Their are so many uncertain things in our lives but the one thing that is certain is that He gave his life for us, the Lord paved a way for us.  It is our choice whether we follow.  

I WANT TO LIVE FOR HIM NOW, SO I CAN LIVE WITH HIM LATER.

~ This post is a join effort from David and I ~