On Debt.

When I graduated from high school in 2008, I was already in debt. At that moment, I should have put my foot down and come back to Ohio and insisted we as a family pay off the debts I owed before going any further. It might have taken a year or two, but it would have been paid off. If I'd gone to CSU afterwards, I would have earned my bachelor's degree by now. Might be finishing up my graduate degree.

I write statements like these, but would the above scenario have been a good thing for me to do? What would I have lost in the process?

Right now, I'm at another crossroads in my life. For the first time since I was forced to move back to Cleveland in August 2011, I have a job that can pay me well enough to give me a chance to put a dent in all the debt that I owe. My plan is to pay my debt back regularly for 2 years, then cut a deal. If my Mom helps out, I'll have paid enough by then.

My future will suddenly take on a new sheen. What was once seen as impossible will become suddenly possible again. The end or reduction of debt for me means being allowed to participate in my world again, being able to work for something other than surviving and paying off debts.

So, on this day, which happens to be Thanksgiving Day, I praise God for his presence and love, for his handiwork in all of creation, and for the promise of freedom from all debt. May it be realized in my life. Amen.