On August 3, 2022, I paid off my mortgage and began a new era of my life. I wanted to throw a big mortgage-burning party and invite all my friends and neighbors to join in on the fun. But I quickly realized that it would take a little while to save up enough to do that. So I made it my goal to have enough saved up by the end of April 2023 to throw a proper party.

And then life happened.

Life Happens

They say that if you ever want to hear God laugh, just tell Him your plans. Well, so far this year I’ve needed to reroof my house, re-tire my van, repair my furnace, and replace my dryer. I am really tired of seeing so much money fly out the window.

I’m not living extravagantly, but (as I said in my Lightning McQueen article), I’ve had to spend quite a bit of money on things that I had to put off for a while to focus on more-pressing needs. As a result, I’ve been unable to replenish my savings to the point that I’d feel comfortable spending a bunch of money on a neighborhood party.

Hoping for Better Things

Being more financially independent than I’ve ever been before hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be so far. I’m not complaining, though. I trust that this is just a bump in the road. Things can only get better from here because I’ve been doing my best.

My wife, like she usually does, recently gave me sage advice. She encouraged me to cease stressing over money and focus on better things. After all, we have enough to meet our needs right now, and we’re on the path to greater security, especially now that we’ve been free of a mortgage payment for the past nine months.

I have hope that this period of leanness is helping me to be humble. Rather than wishing for something more, I have the opportunity to appreciate all that I do have. Water tastes so much sweeter after we suffer deep thirst. I have experienced numerous miracles so far in 2023. Too many to list them all here.

What If I Had Waited?

What if I had acted fearfully and not followed my wife’s advice last July? Would it have been wiser to hold onto my money and not pay off my mortgage back then? If so, I wouldn’t have experienced any money worries over all the expenses I’ve accrued this year. But then I also wouldn’t have seen all the miracles at work in my life to keep me afloat.

It’s a breathtaking experience to see your bank balance plunge to within a hundred dollars of an overdraft when you’re used to keeping it thousands of dollars above that line. And yet, I saw the hand of God at work in my life as He guided my ship through that turbulent time and then calmed the storm.

If I had waited to pay off my mortgage and acted on fear rather than faith, I have a feeling I would have kept on waiting. I still wouldn’t have done it by now since I could always come up with reasons to delay. In fact, I could easily have misread all of the problems I’ve been having as signs that I should wait.

But because I didn’t know what was coming and I was willing to take a leap of faith, I have been amazed to see God working in my life, rewarding my trust in Him.

Not What I Expected

I sort of expected life to get easier after I got out of debt. As though leaving that part of the financial world behind would simplify everything. Instead, I have found this new life full of challenges and obstacles, fraught with danger. And yet, none of it feels scary. I know I’ll make it through.

That party I’ve been planning will just have to wait a little longer, until the ultimate Planner is done teaching me an important lesson. I’m still in debt to Him. I owe everything to Him. Whatever riches I accumulate in this life, they don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. I’ll always have new struggles to overcome. New lessons to learn.

I’m not sure how much longer this one will go on, but I’ll know when it’s over. Because that’s when I’ll finally set a date for the mortgage-burning party.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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