Parting The Sea of Red

Those who know me personally will know that I write not only from the perspective of a recent graduate and new teacher, but from that of a committed follower of Jesus Christ and a believer of the Bible.  I think a common mis-perception of Christianity is that we believe money is evil and refuse to mix finances with our faith.  One of the most misquoted Bible verses I hear is I Timothy 6:10 "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager, for money, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (NIV).  Notice what it says: " The love of money."  Not, "Money itself is the root of all kinds of evil," but, the LOVE of money.  Greed, relentless pursuit of material wealth, refusal to be satisfied- these are the kinds of things that lead to "piercing ourselves with many griefs".   The Bible never gives any implication that money or wealth in and of itself is a bad thing; the Bible is full of v...

I think it was on New Year's eve just before the start of 2012 that I said I wasn't going to drink soda for a year.  I made it to March and then found myself working from 5:30am to 8:30pm straight most weekdays, and fell back into my caffeine addiction. After I returned to the States after living in Spain for seven months, I found that I didn't even LIKE American soda anymore.  In Spain, it was made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup, which, in my opinion, tastes waaaaaay better and is easier on your body (not that it's particularly healthy either way).  Even so, I don't know if it's possible to get through the grad program I just completed without self-medicating on caffeine.  Chances were, in any given class that we sat through, everyone was sipping a soda or coffee.  A few weeks ago, a few of my classmates and I agreed that we were all a mess physically from living on so much caffeine and so little sleep this past year. Well, besides kil...

Last Monday I walked out of the high school where I am volunteering for my final project...and my car was NOT in the spot where I had left it.  I had a moment (or, rather, a good ten minutes) of panic thinking that it had been stolen.  Thankfully, it turned out that it had just been towed- the street sweepers had run through the area that day and apparently there were signs out that said "No Parking 4/28" (although they certainly weren't visible when I parked there that morning)! So, my beloved car wasn't in a chop shop being sold piece by piece, but it WAS in an impound lot, and I was going to have to pay the towing fee to get it back, plus the cost of a traffic ticket and a cab to get there (it was pouring rain and storming; otherwise I might have tried to bike or take public transportation, but, while there's a lot of crazy things that I'll do to get out of debt, getting struck by lightning isn't one of them!).  Once I got to the impound lot I explain...

If you know me personally, you know I love to write and blog.  I welcome any excuse to set up a new blog and share my thoughts with the rest of the world.  However, this is the scariest blog I have ever set up.  Scary because I feel like people see me as the girl who has it together- I have served on the mission field, I have been a professional model and a pageant title-holder, and I am days away from realizing my dream of becoming a teacher.  Will people's perceptions of me change when they see my financial status? This blog is scary for me because I feel like I'm never going to succeed- the amount of debt I have, the amount I can expect to make as a teacher, and the cost of living just don't add up.  I feel like this blog could turn into years of me writing about my latest excuses for why I can never get out of debt. This blog is scary for me because I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way, and readers who have more financial wisdom than I do will read ...