I Want a Burning Party!

"I can speak turkey, Mom." 

"That's great!  How do you know?"

"Well, I went up to one of them and said this 'Gobble, gobble, gobble,' and it answered me!"

"That's so funny!"

"Yeah, so now I speak dog, mourning dove and turkey!"

This was an actual conversation I had with my 5 year old recently.  He's discovered he can "speak" to all of our animals or birds on the property and they "speak" back to him.  He's quite serious about his abilities.  Very cute.

What a beautiful week of weather we've had!  It was in the high teens or low 20s all week.  My kids were in shorts and t-shirts every day.  We would get our school done in the morning and by 1:30 we were at a trail or a hike somewhere nearby each afternoon.  How could we not?!  It was too gorgeous to miss.  I found myself in absolute awe that the first week of November would give us this kind of weather and was counting my blessings as I wore my flip flops outside.

This week in the news, a man made headlines for paying off his mortgage at 30 years old.  This was no small mortgage.  He had bought a $425,00 home in Toronto somewhere and had $255,000 remaining, which is quite something in itself.  Somewhere around age 27, he decided to get serious and serious he got!  Last week he had a "Mortgage Papers Burning Party" where he invited all his friends to his ceremony and they helped him celebrate as he literally lit the papers on fire.  His words after were that "it was such a burden lifted".

So how did he do it?!  It seems like it was an impossible task!  Wasn't it?!  It was not one thing, but a series of things he did and here's the worst word in the whole deal that would sum it all up..... sacrifices.... yuck.  He made lots of them.

These are the things he did: 

He started by moving into the basement where he had a small apartment and he rented out the upstairs.  Great idea, but not a lot of fun living in a basement for that long. 

He got two extra jobs, so he was working 3 jobs during the 3 year period.  A regular full-time job, then a writing job that he did in the evenings from home and then a part-time job at a grocery store in the meat department (which is funny because he's a vegetarian.....)

He rode his bike to work.

He brought a bag lunch to work.

He never ate out.

He didn't go on vacations or travel.

He said when all his friends were out partying on the weekends he would be at his house writing for his other job.

He lived very frugally and said his best friend was Kraft dinner during the 3 years.

Those were just a few of the things that were mentioned in the article.  Each thing mentioned definitely indicates a sacrifice. Now there are a few key differences if I start getting blue and comparing myself to him.  He wasn't married.  I am!  He had no kids.  I have 8!  He was able to work 3 jobs.  Well, in a way, my husband already is, between farming, his engineering business, the controls business and raising a family, he's pretty busy!  Now, we could always push ourselves more, but then, we could miss out on our family along the way and I don't want to do that, so it's always keeping a fine balance between killing debt and raising a family.  He didn't have to weigh those things in a balance. 

So, after reading that, I was super inspired, a little discouraged, but mostly reminded crazy things like getting rid of a mortgage can be done!

On a different, but slightly related, note....This weekend begins the month of giving my seminar on Manager of Your Chores.  I hope to end up in at least 3 different locations within a 2 hour radius and that will help contribute to our income in a small way.  I still love giving these seminars and perhaps I will get more opportunities out of this.  You never know.

Back to the guy I mentioned who paid off his mortgage.  When asked what he was going to do now since he had no mortgage to pay anymore, he said, "Cut back a little on my hours, do a little more spending time with friends and perhaps travel."  Yet, even so he was relaxing a little, he was still maintaining a frugal lifestyle, living in a basement (until there was a wife, he said), etc.  I guess once you get the frugal bug, you can't shake it.

The position we find ourselves in keeps us on our knees for sure.  We had a small test this week - would we trust God?  I had written that RM had gotten a request for a quote almost guaranteeing him work.  That same day I wrote that, soon after RM had given the quote, he got an email from the client who was very upset at his pricing.  RM couldn't understand as he'd been giving him the same pricing for years.  There had been one small adjustment in what the client wanted and he assumed the quote would be waaaay cheaper.  After receiving that email it appeared we wouldn't be getting the work after all!  Our hopes were dashed to the ground, just like that and we struggled on and off for a few days, not knowing what to do or think.

But then yesterday morning, we discussed it again and said, "This is a test."  Were we will willing to trust God, like Abraham, who first gives him a son and then threatens to take him a way as a sacrifice?  We decided if we weren't supposed to get that work, there must be a reason and God would provide another way, just like the ram in the thicket.  So we gave up worrying about it.  That afternoon, there was another email in RM's inbox, "Sorry about the miscommunication.  Go ahead with your quote for just a few less items."  We were back in business!  Was it because we chose to trust God?  I'm sure it was.  I think we passed the test.

Once again, back to the paid-off mortgage guy.... did he have ups and downs like us?  I'm sure he did.  The article didn't take the time to go into those details nor was there any mention of God, though he may have been a Christian, who knows.  For us, learning the lessons we are learning are as much a part of the process as trying to pay off the mortgage.  It's going to be a huge part of our story one day - the life lessons. 

One final interesting thing was that they interviewed a couple of friends who were at the burning party and each one said, "Great for him.  I could never do what he did."  No one was willing to make the sacrifices or do what it took to pay off that large sum of money.  They figured it was too hard and he was a little over-the-top.  Perhaps he was, but now look who's got a paid off house and no debt...... I'd rather be the over-the-top guy......