Semper Reformanda

...some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help.

[Wednesday, June 10, 2009]

Pay-check to pay-check

I found Francis Chan's video blog yesterday... I don't think he updates it anymore, but what I've watched so far, its still pretty applicable.

This movie was one I just randomly watched, and it makes a lot of sense for where I'm currently at.



My world has changed quite a bit over the last year or so... I bought a house last year knowing I'd be staying in St. Louis for a long while. I have a steady job that I mostly enjoy and I'm involved in a wonderful church where I'm being invested in and I get to invest in people as well. Things seemed to be shaping up rather well. Then, I decided to start seminary and everything changed. Almost immediately I started feeling the pull towards full-time ministry and the corporate world was losing it's grip on me. But I knew if I were going to make this happen I'd have to offload my house and live pretty simply since working in the "religious sector" isn't really known for their high salaries.

Some people think I'm stupid to sell my house about a year after I bought it (almost spent a year looking as well); heck I think my realtor thinks I'm a bit crazy, but he understands why I'm doing this. It is scary and a little nerve-racking to be going through all of this real estate stuff again (especially with the economy now), but I feel like this is where I should be going to put myself in the best position possible.

The debate between equity in a house versus throwing money away in rent did make me think a bit... but to me, it goes like this:

With the money I'm not spending on my mortgage (probably 2-3 times what I'll pay in rent), I'll be able to start paying off my student loans, get a decent vehicle, and maybe even eat better (I might just swear off ramen, but I'll have to pray about that). Heck, it even allows me to start saving for another house, when hopefully I'm married and actually need one.

But honestly, I think I want the mobility not having a house offers. Recently I went to a Wycliffe Associates meeting where we got to hear from missionaries doing Bible translation work in Africa and India. I'm not gonna lie, I want to sell my house so doing something like that becomes one step easier.

I'm not really interested in a high-paying job, as long as my family is provided for and I enjoy what I do. And although I do *enjoy* my current job, I know that I don't really want to be in IT or the corporate world forever.

1 comments:

ZealousEcho | June 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM

ok, first, your little comic strip is funny :) Second, I'm a fan of your stack of books. I'm in the middle of Crazy Love right now... and I get so mad when I have to put it down (because I usually get interrupted after like 10 pages...). Third, I've been working on a post... it's taking me awhile... its already really long... and after reading this, I know you know how I feel when I'm saying some of this stuff! Except you say it in a lot less words than I do :)

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