I woke up to the fact that I was on a financial journey at 28, right after the birth of my son. I was a high school science teacher in Austin, Texas and up to this point money had always been an afterthought.
Everyone starts somewhere
My wife and I had just finished working for a Christian college ministry for the majority of our twenties and so we had next to no money to start the family phase of our life. We had just moved to Austin and so she had picked up a part time job at a yoga studio. Needless to say, our starting place to building wealth was far from ideal.
No value dwelling in the past
I struggled for years with my decision to work in ministry because of how it set us up financially for our transition into parenting. Did I think I heard God and just miss something? There were so many thoughts that ran through my head, but nothing in it was valuable. Others may deal with bigger challenges than me like debt or a failed business, but not matter how rough the situation, dwelling on it never helps.
Don’t Focus on how you compare to others
Feeling behind is a constant for most people. We have so much visibility to people who have made it big and so its easy to feel like you are stuck on the wrong track. For me it was made worse by being a young dad. I looked at other families with kids of similar age and I was typically looking at guys who were 7-10 years older than me. Regardless, it was so easy to compare and feel like a loser.
Finding Grace for the Season you are in
Grace is simply the experience of finding favor for yourself and your situation regardless of the circumstances. I personally looked to God for this, but the important thing is to find it however that works for you. It is about finding a calm place to say that “Where I’m at is okay,” and “I can always move forward.” This ends up being the foundation to keep moving forward.
Focus on Gaining Ground Each Week
In the tough years that we had with small kids, the one thing that kept me on track was to focus on the journey in terms of weeks and not years. The bigger the picture, the more overwhelming it felt. I could focus on weeks and keeping us on track. I could make sure I did everything at work to build my career which soon moved to pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Learning to Enjoy a Frugal Life
In Austin, we enjoyed a fun life even though money was super tight. We had our big dinners out at Central Market instead of a fancy restaurant. We were regulars at every park in South Austin and also did a lot of laps around the neighborhood with strollers. It was simple, but we also learned that it could still be a really full life.
Hit the Reset Button when needed
In our tight budget years, we had good weeks, but we also had crappy weeks where we just had to hit the reset button. That was the biggest way that we needed grace for the journey. The ability to reset when we went way over our budget or had unexpected expenses was the only way to fight back discouragement in the tough years.
The most important thing
Finding Grace for your financial journey isn’t important because of how difficult things can be at times. The reason its so important is that if we stay on track and continue doing the right things, the weeks turn into years and the results can surprise you.
Over time, the paychecks grow and businesses break through. After years of struggle, a few breaks can suddenly open things up.
Simply staying out of debt can transition to increasing investments and building wealth. That is why finding grace for the journey is so important.