"We're Not In Kansas Any More"

Feeling pressured to write - it has been quite awhile since my last post, I don't promise any mind bending thoughts today.

I've used the title of this post often recently, mostly referring to circumstances surrounding my work. I've taken a new position recently and there have also been significant cuts of personnel and benefits due to the economy. At nearly every turn, I'm able to utter those words again and again.

(SIDE NOTE: I hope you know that those words were spoken by Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ when she was whisked from the cornfields of Kansas into the wonderfully mysterious and colorful land of OZ. Recently, I spoke to a teenager from Kansas who didn't recognize the phrase, hadn't seen the movie and didn't know anything ABOUT the movie. What is this world coming to?)

It occurs to me that having taken the leap into Financial Peace University there is a monumental chance that line can be appropriate once again. It could even be providential that we are "working the baby steps" right now, when we are. I've historically inserted the quote when things have changed - and now that I think of it, I always envisioned that change to be negative. I don't know if Dorothy was looking around, thinking that where she got dropped was a negative or positive, or just different. A little scary and uncertain, to be sure. The creators of the movie I think would imply that going from a "black and white" life to a full-blown Koda-Chrome colorful world was a significant and wonderful change. Even if she didn't recognize it right away.

To be sure, this change in our lives is going to be significant. I don't know if I sound like an Am-way salesman, but this endeavor we are embarking on comes up often in casual discussion, and I sell the concept like it was my job. The catch-phrases are also thrown in: "Gazelle-like-intensity", "Live today like no one else, so someday we can live and give like no one else", etc. We are actually plotting with our resources to be frugal just because it is fun to do so. We hope that we are not FORCED to do it in the future, but it is reassuring to know that we CAN if we HAVE to.

Thank you , Nate and Jon, for bringing these concepts to our attention. You have demonstrated to us the re-introduction of the word "NO". Paul said it in 1 Cor 6 - "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial." My translation goes, "Just because I can, doesn't mean I should." Spending money (cash) now gives me cause for pause that I used to not have when simply swiping the plastic. And what a blessing when there is actually money left over at the end of the budget period. We used to look for ways to spend a little left-over if there was some. Not any more. What a concept.

If I have piqued your interest about these matters, look up http://www.daveramsey.com/ . If you have questions about where we are in the process, shoot me an e-mail. Blessings "Cash is king - Debt is dumb!!!"