Slaying Dragons

I spent all afternoon slaying dragons...okay, I didn't actually slay them...I really didn't even wound them, but I did at least face them.

Long ago in a place far too close to home, Amy and I realized we were a financial mess completely of our own making.

It was easy to see that soon it was going to become a major train wreck. I started to deal with it then, but not seriously enough. Amy's health was too much of a priority. Now I wonder how much her worries about money have contributed to her health problems.

I remembered again how God has shown me repeatedly that doing that which is the most uncomfortable is often the only way I seem grow. Amy didn't want to hear it, but I sat in her hospital room and told her I was taking over...today...now, effective immediately. The bills, the creditors, the worries are mine.

I then spent all afternoon rooting out bills, calling companies to find out what we owed them, and in some cases how far behind we were. I paid some, explained to others, negotiated a few, and bluntly told one or two folks who seemed especially nasty that they had now fallen to the bottom of the pile.

I also put all the medical bills into a huge box all their own. I want to examine those line by line....that fight may actually be fun, but I need to slay the smaller dragons first.

When the smoke cleared one or two small dragons were gone, perhaps not dead, but at least chased away.

I also inadvertently managed to put us on a very easy to follow budget. I used every dime so we have no money until I get paid. We'll be fine.

I will build an emergency fund soon enough, but for now we haven't got squat...except the beginnings of a plan, a great deal of discomfort, and each other.

If I were a dragon...I'd be very worried.