Better Than I Deserve!

The caller asks, "How are you today, Dave?"
Dave replies, "Better than I deserve!"

You may be asking, "Who's Dave?" "And why is he better than he deserves?"

Dave is Dave Ramsey, radio and television talk show host, and creator of Financial Peace University which Nathan and I just graduated from. Hey - we had a graduation ceremony and everything! (Well, if by "ceremony", you mean Nathan walking around our discussion circle and passing out certificates to each couple.)

Financial Peace University (FPU) is a 13-week, life-changing program that empowers and teaches you how to make the right money decisions to achieve your financial goals and experience a total money makeover. Through the DVD lessons and the following discussion time with your group, it teaches you basic principles to become debt free and get on the right track with your finances.

As a result of going through the class, our family is now living on a real BUDGET. (Yes, the dreaded "B" word!) But, instead of feeling limiting and restricting, living on a budget feels extremely freeing for us. We know exactly how much money we have and how much we can spend each month. And there are few surprises because you've already thought about everything the month before when preparing your budget. We're working on baby step #1 which is having $1000 in an emergency fund. Once you have that in place, you can begin working on baby step #2 which is your "debt snowball" - paying off your smallest debt first, then working from there (no matter what the interest rates are). There are seven baby steps in all.

In a nutshell, it was FABULOUS! If you've never gone through FPU, talk to your church about offering it. Some businesses even offer it! You can look up Dave's website to find out all about him (he has quite a story) and all about the programs he offers at http://www.daveramsey.com/.

Oh yeah, why is Dave "better than he deserves?" Well, aren't we all? We deserve the wrath of God because of our sinfulness, but God does not treat us according to our sin. Jesus paid it all for us and Christ's atoning blood is sufficient for us all the time. He freely gives us His incredible love and mercy! His mercies are new every morning! Amen, and amen!

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,

because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

- Lamentations 3:22-23