Parting The Sea of Red

 I'm currently training for my third marathon. To be honest, I don't enjoy the long training runs, especially in the summer heat.  But, I'm looking forward to the moment when I finally cross that finish line in October. And, I've had to sort through a lot of bad information along the way..."Run the full 26.2 miles regularly in the days coming up to the actual race." (No, bad.  Bad idea.)  "Just drink water, not sports drinks."  (Ever hear of electrolytes?). "This training plan worked for me, so it should work for you- never mind that I'm a guy/collegiate athlete/a sprinter..." It's been a lot like my debt-free journey. It's easy for me to remember the day that I realized how much debt I was in: July 11, 2015.  I was in my hotel room getting dressed for my brother's wedding when I saw the notification from Mint on my phone, saying my net-worth was NEGATIVE 75,000.  I knew when I finished graduate school that I had a lot of de...

 Getting into trouble is the fun part.   Living off junk food, staying up all night playing games, sleeping all day instead of getting work done (unless you work the night shift!), skipping class, and reckless spending are all fun.   Getting out of trouble sucks.  There's no way around it. Trying to reclaim your health after months of living off junk and being sedentary is brutal.   Trying to power through the day after spending all night on your phone is miserable.  And, as a teacher, I see the kids frantically trying to catch up after slacking all semester (and it usually doesn't get them very far!).   Digging your way out of debt is brutal.  There's no way to make it easy. I love a creative challenge.  I had fun going to the dollar store and picking out my glass containers and marbles.  I've had fun tracking my journey on social media and sharing what has worked and what hasn't.  I love teaching Financial Peac...

 Okay, right off the bat, maybe that title is misleading: it took a lot more than a teacher's salary to pay of 75 thousand in debt plus interest, or at least, to do it in five years.  It took a lot of side hustling, getting creative, and finding what resources were available to me.   Right off the bat, about three years into this journey, my parents paid off about $30,000.  I honestly had a hard time accepting their generosity as it felt like letting someone carry me partway through a marathon race course.  But, they told me that they had put lots of prayer into it and felt that this was what God was leading them to do, and they would sleep better at night knowing I was so much closer to being out of debt.  One of my pastors also pointed out to me that, sometimes when God sees us busting our tails to pursue a goal He has given us, He will bless our efforts in unexpected ways.  Knowing that such a gift was God's and my parents' way of saying, "We s...