Skype Hype

My wife Sharon is down in Guatemala for a couple of weeks at the Casa Bernabe orphanage where she led a team of 37 youth and youth leaders. She has been planning and organizing this trip for nearly a year and I am so proud of her accomplishment. I talked to her earlier today and she said that the group was already fully engaged in their efforts to help out. Today they painted. And painted, and painted…

Last time she went there I missed her terribly and was disconcerted by a little civil unrest that she got caught up in (see “The Adventures of Sharon”). This time I was better prepared and I equipped her laptop with a webcam and installed Skype. I gave her a short training session before she left and we set a time to talk following her arrival the next day. It was just plain awesome to hear that call come in and then to see her smiling face when I answered (see picture).

I remember when I was much younger and I dreamed of the day when we would have video phones. Now we have the technology but hardly anyone uses them, self included. I wonder why? Is it the extra gadgetry or the complication of setting it up? [Shrug]. In our case it was a lot easier than using the cell phone. We would have had to call Verizon and get it set up and then she would have had to do some kind of download on her phone. After that we would have had to go to the bank and take out a home equity loan to pay for the air time. Skype on-the-other-hand is $free-ninety-five.

During our video calls I’ve felt much more connected to what is going on. There were youth coming in and out of the room while we were talking and my friends Trevor and Kim even joined in for a bit so I got to see them too. I could even see what the place looked like instead of just imagining it. It was way cool.

I wish I could have video calls with my dad and Becky in Kwajalein but they don’t have broadband there for the masses yet. It’s been a year since I last saw them. The good news is that they will be flying in for a visit July 19th which is the same day that Sharon returns from Guatemala. Woohoo!

Two Steps Down the Road to Financial Freedom

Today marks a significant milestone in a journey my wife and I began just over a year ago. Today we and I jumped from Step 2 to Step 4 of Dave Ramsey’s “The 7 Baby Steps to Financial Peace”. I received my severance check from Micron and as soon as it cleared the bank I started paying off debts and putting money in savings. Here are the steps if you aren’t familiar with them and our status:

Put $1,000 in savings as an Emergency Fund

[Done - $2k – June 2007]

Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

[Done – July 2008]

Put 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings

[Done – Four months – July 2008]

Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

[I’ve been contributing for 15 years – Currently at 7%]

College funding for children

[Have a small fund and am contributing a small percentage]

Pay off home early

[Currently paying 120% of the normal payment]

Build wealth and give!

[Giving was first on our list so we’ve been doing that – Building wealth will come last if at all]

Technically, I’m breaking the rules a bit but rules are meant to be broken, right? For example, I’m contributing to a college fund for Brendon even though I haven’t completed Step 4. I figure that it won’t do him much good if I start the college fund 5 years from now.

I wish that I could claim that I had done this the hard way through the sweat of my brow and long years of denying myself (not really) but, in fact, I have to give thanks to the Lord, good old Micron, and the patience and generosity of my new employer. I took my boss out to lunch today and thanked him personally for making this possible. Had he not been willing to wait 4 months for me to start my employment I would not have been able to do this for another couple years.

I am elated to free from all non-mortgage debt. This is the freedom that I know God wants us to live in and I pray he gives us the wisdom and discipline to stay here. If you’re debt-free then congrats! If not, I’d encourage you to start now.