For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; they are plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
My student loan debt is crippling. More than 44 million Americans know how I am feeling. My loans have caused me to put off some very important adulthood things. I have not purchased a home, I am not married, and I only have a couple pay checks worth of savings in my bank account. I do have a nice Wrangler with a healthy payment to match, but I can’t eat that thing and I damn sure don’t want to end up sleeping in it.
The one thing my debt didn’t stop me from doing is having children. I never wanted to be an “old” mom. I also didn’t expect to be a struggling single mother, but here I am (#statistic). I have no college fund for them. But, they enrich my life in a way that nothing and no one else can.
It is easy for me to feel like a failure daily. I read an article recently that said it takes $233,610 to raise a child from birth to 18. That total does NOT include the cost of college. That estimate left me more hopeless than ever. I’m a mom, I’m a bioscience professional, I have a BS, MBA, and I side hustle to keep my little family afloat. My kids are so happy and healthy that they would never know how many nights heart palpitations thrust me out my sleep. The stress and worry of not having this or that occasionally soaks a pillow until I remind myself that I am doing better than a whole lot of people.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a noteworthy verse of comfort and hope. How do we respond when we are not where we want to be? When the future is bleak and our surroundings seem negative, how do we react? It is easy to have a pity party. I can’t even pee without a hand protruding under the door, so there’s no time for that.
Make the best of your situation. The solution may not come right away, but chip at it brick by brick. I have itemized my student loans. My goal is to pay off the ones with the lowest balances aggressively. If my budget allows it for the month, I may double to quadruple a payment on certain loans. It makes me feel sooooooo good to see that principle amount decrease.
Tune out the negative voices in your head. What you think and feel, you become and attract. Think positive, speak positive, envision you and your family in that dream house. I see myself debt free. I see myself financially independent. I see that dream house. I see a happy and healthy all-American family. I see my kids leaving college with zero debt. Come through universe.
Seek God and seek center in all things, even beyond your own understanding. I am terrible at praying for myself, but now I devote the first part of my morning commute to speaking/praying/asking/thanking/needing. I ask God, the universe, and the angels to meet me where I am in my circumstances. Let’s get hopeful about the plans God has for us.
Thought: We can find perfect peace when we surrender our fears to God.
Reflection: Not my will, but yours God when my future is uncertain.
Song: You already know. . . Let Go by DeWayne Woods
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