Stepping out in faith.

Change is one of the hardest and often scariest things that we must do as human beings. It takes an incredible amount of courage to break away whether it be from old friends, loved ones or habits. When I think about change in whatever aspect of my life I often hear the following messages: every journey begins with one step, it is the start that stops you, doing the same thing everyday and expecting different results is just downright silly. I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. We all have good intentions to change things in our life and in our world but very few summon the courage from the depths of their soul to take that chance.

If you are at the point of filing bankruptcy you about ready to turn your financial, spiritual and possibly physical life upside down. I sit in my office everyday and listen to one heart breaking story after another. Most people filing bankruptcy today are not filing today because they have lived large on their credit cards buying big screen tv's, traveling all the world or wearing expensive clothes. These people are in my office because they cannot afford to put food on the table or gas in their tank. These are people who were taught that in order to be successful and happy that they had to have everything and everything right now. It does not matter if they came from a private school education, public school or whether or not they belong to a church or if they agnostic. The media teaches us that unless we have the fastest car, the platinum card in our wallet and the biggest house on the block we are a complete failure.

No matter what I say to you or Dave Ramsey or even President Bush with his words of how stable the economy is, the fact of the matter is you must concur the words on the tape player (I pod for the younger generation) of your mind. What do you tell yourself everyday? Is that if you work another job you can pay off that $30,000 in credit card debt that continues to climb everyday? Is that you really need that brand new car because you just know that your current car is falling apart? Is that you need to drop $150 on a pair of shoes for your 12 year old so he won't be picked on, even though he will only be able to wear them for 3 months? Your mind is the biggest battlefield when it comes to taking control of your financial life or really any aspect of life.

How do I know this? Because I hear the excuses everyday of why people are in debt. Excuses is a rather harsh description but sometimes you really have to sit down and have a heart to heart discussion with yourself. I too hear the same excuses in my head every time I get behind the wheel of my little Ford Focus. I love my car, I love it as much as my Yugo. Yes, I did say Yugo. I got rid of my Yugo because you could not get parts for the vehicle anymore in the US. However, I make excuses about getting rid of the Focus because it is old, it is not cool, it is not posh, I can't haul anything with it. There are many other discussions that I have had with myself about the vehicle. The bottom line is that the vehicle is almost paid off, it gets 32 mpg and I have a trailer hitch now to haul whatever I need. So really do I need a new car? NO! But do I want a new car? Very much so, I wish a had a nice BMW or Acura Legend but reality is I need to be debt free before I even contemplated owning a luxury good.

Anyone who is successful or who appears to be successful always has the same conversations in their head that you are having on a daily basis. The saying that you do not know another person unless you walk a mile in their shoes is very true. Looks can be very deceiving when looking at other's alleged financial success. One thing that I have learned in this practice is that money and success ARE NOT one in the same. Everyone is different and this means that your individual needs and wants are unique to you. It is because of this uniqueness that you must step out in faith to make a financial change.

Stepping out in faith means that you must take a deep breath and muster courage from the deepest part of your soul and take that first step of change. Even the slightest change will bring far reaching effects. Think about something small that you may be able to change. Such as instead of buying that soda everyday at the vending machine you placed that into a savings account. That $.75 a day times five days a week times 52 weeks a year leads to $195 savings. Your response is that oh gee I am excited, whoopee! You are being sarcastic of course but one of the biggest excuses I hear for credit card debt is that, "I have no money to buy Christmas presents." Now take that $195 and multiply it by two because you and your spouse are doing to this and now you have $390 to buy Christmas presents guilt free and credit card free. But remember that change does exist in a vacuum. The benefit of not drinking that soda everyday is that you are saving calories and with this small change you also may lose a few pounds free of charge. How cool would that be?


Stepping out in faith may mean that you could lose some friends or some of your "cool status". Meaning that when you step out in faith to make a change you may lose some of your friends because their fast or lavish lifestyle is placing you in the poor house unless you stop. If your friends stop being your friends because you can't afford their lifestyle were they your friends to begin with? The same holds true for your family members. It takes an incredible amount of courage to stand up to a family member to say I cannot afford to do certain things at this time because I need to take care of myself and my family. There is no easy solution to dealing with family members who do not understand your need to cut back. My best advice is that you need to keep your faith and pray that one day your family will understand. You should not have to go into debt to earn your family's love and respect. For my father and my mother have forsaken me,But the LORD will take me up. Psalm 27:10

Stepping out in faith means that you understand that there will be set backs as you begin to change and travel along this new financial journey. I don't know about you but I need encouragement and someone to talk you when things get rough. I turn to God and others in my life. You too have to surround yourself with a network that can back you and help through this change in your life. Whether it be God, supportive friends and or family your are going to need a support system to guide you through this journey.

Bankruptcy can either be a temporary or permanent solution to your financial status. If you are not going to change your financial behaviors that led to bankruptcy then the filing will only temporarily provide your relief. However if you use bankruptcy for its intended purposed of being the starting block to a fresh start on your financial journey then you can step out in faith and make a change. I recommend that you attend a Financial Peace University Course with Dave Ramsey or getting some financial education at one of the local colleges that provide courses for fun and not credit. Another way to educate yourself is to read on the internet the wealth of information about taking charge of your financial life. But first and foremost I want you to sit down with yourself and have a long conversation with YOU and discover what you like about your life and what you don't like. Then I want to evaluate what is most important to you. When you have this all worked out I want you to write it down so you can remember what you are trying to achieve. Your likes will be your goals and the dislikes are the habits that you are going to change to reach those goals. Be realistic and be honest. If you are 30 years old and are 5'7" you are not going to grow to be 6' but you might be able to lose 20 pounds if you are over weight. You may never be able to financially afford to purchase a new BMW but wouldn't be nice to be able to pay cash for things and not have to worry about who is on the other line when the phone rings?

One of the most common messages that plays in our minds is that; one day, one day I am going to have enough money and time to enjoy my life. However when we spend everyday living this way we really have not lived at all and our precious time here on earth has passed. Don't wait until it is too late! Step out in faith today. Take that first step of change and start enjoying the splendors and this journey called life. Your life is all the reality television that you will ever need.