We recently created a paper chain to help us better track our debt free journey and give the kids a role in the whole process.

If you know me, you know that I am a MASSIVE Dave Ramsey fan. Such a huge fan, in fact, that when I am listening to Apple Podcasts, nine times out of ten, I am listening to the Ramsey Show.

When I graduated college, it was no secret that I would soon have to pay on my student loan debt. When that time came, I realized I did not want to be paying on my loans for 10-20 years, but rather wanted it out of my life as soon as possible. I don’t really know how I found Dave Ramsey, but after a bit of research, I told my dad that for Christmas that year, I just wanted Financial Peace University.

I don’t exactly remember his reaction, but I know he didn’t hesitate to purchase it for me! I started right away and immediately began running through the baby steps.

Step 1: Save up a $1,000 emergency fund.

Fresh out of college, this was actually a more difficult step than I thought it would be. I was only making around $1,200 after taxes each month and at the time was only paid monthly. But I think I was able to accomplish this in one month and quickly moved on to the next step.

Step 2: Pay off all your debt except your mortgage.

Spoiler alert, I’ve yet to surpass this step.

Shortly following getting gazelle intense, I got engaged and started trying to cash flow the wedding. This put a huge damper on my debt free journey, but I am still proud to say that before my journey came to a premature halt, I had successfully paid off almost half of my student loan debt.

I confess, my progress has been nonexistent, maybe mediocre, since then. In fact, Zach and I took on more debt in the form of two cars, credit cards, and a mortgage.

I want to preface what I’m about to say with this: we are on this debt free journey, we are working up to gazelle intensity, and we ARE done with doing “diet Dave.” However…

As I was listening to the Ramsey Show this morning, I heard one of the hosts talk about sacrifice. This must’ve been the message the Lord was sharing with me today, because it has been on my mind ever since. Please humor me as I take a slight detour that will give you a little more insight into the situation.

Since becoming a wife and discussing having children, I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and homeschool my kids. Additionally, I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. In my mind, the two can actually go hand-in-hand if done correctly.

I actually thought I had a good chance at making it all a reality too! Zach was in school to become a physical therapist, so I was pretty sure I was marrying my sugar daddy. To quote my father, “If you wanna make God laugh, tell Him your plans!”

My husband DID NOT become a physical therapist. In fact, he went to school extra years, graduated as a physical therapy assistant, couldn’t find anything full-time, and started working part-time PRN. Our church was in need of a Student Minister and he had been approached by many of our church family telling him he would be really great at the job.

Flash forward a couple years and…Zach is a Student Minister full-time at our church, I’m technically the breadwinner of the family, and still working full-time for the State of Missouri. Life has certainly turned out a little differently than we had planned.

My heart has not stopped longing to be home with my babies and be a part of their education. In fact, with this pregnancy, it has been on my mind stronger than I can ever remember. In fact, I have prayed to God many times over the last month alone to help me find the ministry He’s created me for, especially if it includes my dream and passion of being a homeschooling mom-trepreneur.

So, as I listened to the Ramsey Show this morning and recieved the message about sacrifice, I realized that the hopelessness I was feeling about my situation might’ve been stemming from my unwillingness to compromise on what my life needs to look like in the next five to ten years.

To quote Dave Ramsey himself, “You have to live like no one else now, so later you can live AND GIVE like no one else.”

I started to think of the sacrifices I would be willing to make to reach my goal of staying home with my kids. I came up with a lot of things I was willing to sacrifice, and even started thinking of things I could sell tomorrow to help us move the needle on our debt free journey even faster.

This was truly a mindset shift.

But the revelations don’t stop there. God has put it on my heart that maybe, just maybe, I’ve been idolizing the idea of wealth. Can you believe it? My beloved, Dave Ramsey, turned into my golden calf without me even realizing it!

Does this change my debt free journey? NOPE. Absolutely not. The Bible is very clear about debt, in fact, Dave Ramsey has built his business upon that fact. (See verse at the beginning of this post.) Dave also uses this scripture a lot as a descriptor for how “easy” it is to go through a debt free journey. “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Well, if I’m not going to stop listening to the Ramsey Show or Dave’s advice, how do I intend to stop worshiping at the alter of wealth? THIS is part of the mindset shift.

My motivation for becoming debt free is no longer about being wealthy, having a comfortable retirement, or even having the big welcoming house I’ve always wanted. It’s about living out my purpose and ministry, following the path God is making for me, and creating a better life for my kids and my family’s future. I have to stop thinking of “debt free” as a gateway to a “better” life or an “easy” life.

I’m still figuring out how to realize and act on this truth, but I know I can be both content in the present and motivated to remove debt from our future.