There are more and more people struggling with debt as economic times have become increasingly more difficult. Credit is tightening, banks are collapsing, Wall Street is off track, and millions have lost or are close to losing their homes. Many are so deep in trouble with debt that they have lost all hope and do not see light at the end of the tunnel. You may be in this place yourself. You may be dwelling on your mistakes, paralyzed from taking any action at all. The fact remains, we have all made mistakes, but no one is beyond hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel shining bright for you. Keep holding on! With discipline, action, and placing your circumstances under God's control, you can defeat debt.
No, it won't happen overnight, but it will be much faster with Him by your side. Lynnae is living proof. Her story isn't unique. In fact, it is quite common. However her dedication and commitment is rare and quite inspiring. She grew up in a lower-middle class family and had high hopes of climbing out of the socio-economic class her family knew all too well. Destined to break the cycle, she set off to college and fell into the trappings of credit card companies: "borrow a little, it won't harm you". After being introduced to credit cards, she was quickly hooked. What started as small debt became a downward spiral as debt burdened and enslaved her for years before she finally "saw the light". Debts snowballed out of control and her credit cards, student loans, and other bills become overwhelming.
After getting married, her habits remained unchanged and the trend continued. As her family's income increased so did the bills. Though they always had good intentions of getting out of debt, their behaviors did not change thus the results became the same - no progress! This continued for years until she recommitted her life to Christ. Through her commitment to Him and a new dedication to becoming debt free, she has made tremendous strides.
Today she is firmly committed to getting and staying out of debt. Her and her husband bought their first house; they drive fully paid for cars, and are working diligently to pay off a student loan. Then have defeated the credit card companies and paid off their unsecured debt!
Lynnae told me, "When I got into debt in college, I wasn't really walking with the Lord. After college I rededicated my life to Christ, and as a Christian, I knew it was important to keep my word in paying back the people from whom I'd borrowed money. That has always been my primary motivating factor in paying off debt. My greatest victory has probably been getting out of credit card debt completely. My husband and I have had balances on our cards from the time we were married until we paid off our last credit card in May of 2008."
Though they have had great success with God on their side, they admit it still has not always been smooth sailing. "Our biggest challenges have come in the area of income. I've been a stay at home mom for the last 10 years, which is very important to us. And my husband has been in Christian ministry for a good part of the last 10 years. We know this is where God wants us, but the lack of income can be discouraging at times. My husband also went through a long period of unemployment last year. That was also discouraging, but God has gotten us through difficult times in many ways. Encouragement from our church family has been important. We've also received money from various unexpected sources at just the time we needed it. I would consider the very fact that we managed to get through 8 months of unemployment without using our credit cards at all a big miracle. On paper, there's no way we should have been able to get through the last year without additional debt. But somehow God provided. It wasn't always easy, but He gave us what we needed."
After enduring the slavery of debt for the last twelve years, Lynnae has learned quite a bit: "I think the greatest lesson I've learned is that when you commit to doing something that you know God is calling you to do, He will make a way for you to follow through, even when the going gets tough. In our case, we made a commitment to get out of debt. We decided to cut up our credit cards, as we haven't always used the cards responsibly. Though it was tempting to get another card when times got tight, so we'd have something to fall back on in case of emergency, we opted to trust God. In the end, God came through, and my faith grew more than it ever could have without the financial trials." You can also get through the difficulties. You need to trust God and commit to making changes in your life.
If you want to follow Lynnae's progress she has a weekly blog dedicated to being frugal - looking at ways to minimize spending and control debt. She can be reached at www.beingfrugal.net. I highly recommend that you visit her site.
Jay Peroni, CFP
Author of The Faith-Based Millionaire
http://www.jayperoni.com
