MILESTONE // Ebenezer

I was going to wait until my birthday on Saturday, but my paycheck came yesterday and I absolutely could not wait.

Today, I paid off all my credit cards.  So now:
Car - check
Credit Cards- check and check
Student loans- keep moving!

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow!!  I was looking back through some blog posts from months past today and I realized how great a blessing this outlet has been to me.  So, in 2011 fashion, this is my virtual Ebenezer.   "Thus far, the LORD has helped [me]."

 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us."  -1 Samuel 7:12

buyer's remorse...

So, my car is totally paid for.  Although it's still in my Dad's name, and will be until the bank sends the Title, it's 100% paid for.  Next month, I'll pay off my credit card completely!!!  Thank you, Jesus!!!  It was a little less than 3 years ago when I graduated college and realized that debt is dumb [thanks, Dave Ramsey].  I set out on a path to pay it off [Including my car, credit cards, and student loans, it was about 30 grand].    However, starting a job that pays a salary of less than $25 grand is not optimal for doing that.   However, it was optimal for learning how to live on less..."rice and beans, beans and rice," some might say.   Miss Erin Leigh was a huge help in this area of my life.  We started holding each other accountable for our spending/saving/paying down debt each month.  What a huge blessing.  So that's a little back story for ya.

I experience buyer's remorse every time I make a purchase.  There are two reasons for this: The poor are continually on my mind.  I'm thinking about how a single mom with 3 kids might use the $30 I just spent on signing up for a race or a night at Turner field.   Also, I am so close to paying off my consumer debt, I struggled to say no to buying $200 of new clothes a couple of months back.  I felt good about the decision afterwards, but even after paying down my debt, I don't know if there'll be release from the guilt.  Is this an "inner pharisee," eager to condemn, or is this just plain old frugality? 

I tell myself that the purpose for paying down my debt is so that more money can be given.  However, with the impending improved cash flow, I am eying the iphone4. I feel guilty for even thinking about it or wanting one.  My birthday is next month, so it could be a great thing to ask for from my parents, but at the same time, that means $30 every month for the data plan.    Humph.  

In another moment of vulnerability, I ask you, my readers, for your opinion on buyer's remorse, the iphone4, etc.  Is it worth it?  Does anyone else experience this buyer's remorse?

I've always said regarding money, "It's not what you have, but how you hold it."   My hope is that I will hold what I have- my material possessions and money- with an open hand, freely receiving and giving where there is need.  That is all.

exciting stops up ahead...

March 6- I'll be going to Georgia Tech's last basketball game EVER at Alexander Memorial Colessium (i.e. thriller dome...although I'm not sure how thrilling this team really is)

March 13- Sham Rock'nRoll 10k Peachtree qualifier with Jonathan!

March 20- Georgia Half Marathon! Sub 2:15 or bust!  (ok, can anyone tell me what 'or bust' really means or where it came from?)

March 28- My DAD starts driving HOME to Atlanta from Seattle!!
(I found out he was moving back 2 weeks ago today when I was babysitting.  The younger of the two boys, Joey, was telling me something when my phone rang.   I looked and saw that it was my dad, I tried my best to politely hush Joey so I could answer the phone- as I was expecting the news- but failed, and the call went to voicemail.  The voicemail went something like "I want you to be the first person that I tell that I just officially accepted a position in Atlanta!")

April 2- One of my best friends, Sarah, is getting married!  I'll be traveling to Tulsa for this.    After she gets married, she'll live in 'Lou-uh-vuhl,' which is only a 5 hour drive from Atlanta!  A 5 hour drive feels like nothing after spending so many hours in a car on my roadtrip last year.

April 8- Braves home opening game!

And in May, I'll be paying off my car! Praise Jesus!  I've been thinking about 'good things' lately.  I've been trying to remember that  God is the author of all good things.  This essay by CS Lewis illustrates this beautifully.   For example, yesterday on my run, I made an effort to recognize the good things. One of the most prominent to my status quo was the weather.  It's been beautiful outside lately and the temperature held at about 65 degrees for the entirety of my run.  

Also, thanks be to God!  I am finally moving forward with training at work!  I've been waiting almost 2 years for this and I'm so thankful that it's finally here.  This is coming after a minor scare involving a possible move to a regional lab in Augusta or Cleveland, GA.  The threat dissolved this week, thankfully.

I don't talk a lot about work on here, mostly because I don't feel at liberty to give too many details due to the nature of what I do.  I greatly enjoy my job and I enjoy my coworkers.  I've found in the past 2 1/2 years as a working woman that personally, I don't find a lot of identity in my job.  It's just what I do 40 hours a week.  It does not define me.  However, I understand that a LOT of people feel differently about what they do...that their whole identity is wrapped up in their profession.  I'll hold back on being critical of that particular way of thinking because I realize that the place where I naturally draw definition and stability is mostly in my relationships - with my roommates, my family, my friends, my coworkers.

   However, the truth is that I am in Christ, a new creation (2Cor.five:17).  That is the only place where I should draw my identity.

That is all.