Good Morning Rev Jack here Sharing A Happy Mile Stone And Praise Report: Everyone has seasons of ups and downs throughout their lives. Im no different. This is my story and testimonies of how my overall faith in God help me through it and sustained me even with or at times when it was stressful on my flesh and mind. But we made it and things are getting better every day. Four years ago my wife and I moved from Everett Navy Station located in WA State where I spent 15 years of my total to date 34 years of DOD Federal employment. We moved back to CA where I started my Military & Civilian Federal Employee Career and also where the majority of both our families lived and we were raised. We both took transfers from our jobs and moved because I was offered a better paying and position doing more of the work I have been trained and educated to do while continuing my Engineering career. My wife had worked for her company for 18 years and getting her transfer was also easy because of her good standing with the company she works for. We needed to make this move because we had taken a really bad hit when the economy went under and lost a huge amount of our investments and retirement savings. Before the economy went south we had also took out loans on our home and borrowed from our retirement to help put our daughter through College and also to upgrade and improve our home both inside and out thinking we would not only have a great looking home but increase the value of it a well. It turned out that this was a not the best time to do all that when the market crashed. We lost so much and ended up with a huge debt that over the next year after it happened was becoming almost impossible to keep up with making payments and such. So started inquiring about a higher paying position to try and make a come back when soon after my job offered me the position in CA near our home town. We decided to jump on it for a fresh start. We put the house up for sale and had 30 days to report to CA to start my new position. The same went for her. She had to take a down grade from her supervisor position in WA to a lower position in CA but retained her pay grade and level thank God. For me this new position gave me the ability to make more money and hopefully be able to build back up our savings faster then I could ever do up there in WA. It was a gamble in many ways but we took it. Things were going south for us in WA real fast and it just didnt look good. Worst then that when we got to CA we still owned the WA home and it was not selling because it had lost market value and what we were asking from buyers was more then what became a much lower market value due to the housing market crash. We were upside down. It ended up taking us almost one year of struggling to Carrie the mortgage on that home and also pay for the house we have here in CA at the same time. The house later sold on a short sale and we lost well over 200k plus all the money we put into refurbishing the house. This made it very hard to do what we thought we were going to be able to do and get our financials back in order so we could both retire as we had planed before reaching our 60s. It was looking kind of dark but we didnt give up or stop trusting God. Yes we had some worry-some days now and then but our faith help put us back on track. It is now four years later and progress has been slow but steady. We make good money from our careers and are not hurting for our needs but most of it gos to paying off creditors and back taxes and 401k loans etc. With all that we are blessed to still be able to live in a nice home and enjoy a vacation now and then as long as we save for it and plan it out well. No more high rolling life style and quick non thought out decisions like I use to do thinking I would always have enough money to do what I wanted. keeping focused and paying down our debts before anything else is job number one these days. Retirement and buying our final downsized easy maintenance house we will retire in is the goal. Although I dont think we will be able to retire before I reach 60. Thats life and even with that things have started looking much better and I can just about make out a light at the end of the tunnel to reach my goals and milestones I set for the first time in a long time. The good news it as of this coming Friday I will make the very last payment on the last of my 3 cars and be 100% owners of our cars with a last payment of only 100.00 that I owe left over from our regular much larger monthly payment we were making that I will be so happy to send them. Back when things were going well for us I was spoiled and silly and deserving because I worked hard and always brought two new cars every two years for my wife and I. Other than our very first car my wife and I brought when we were just starting out we have never out right owned any of our cars because of trading them every two years for new ones tacking on what was owed onto the new payments. Kind of stupid when I look back at that practice I was doing but like I said I never considered that bad days were ahead. But I was a car freak and had to have the newest style of what ever car or truck or SUV that caught my eyes. Well I broke that old habit right before we moved here when my Range Rover broke down on me and cost me so much money to fix. Its a class D vehicle and parts and repair are really expensive. And when you are already in the hole with other things like your home you notice those cost big time. That car and the super high insurance it was costing me and started killing and stressing me out. I ended up sending it back to the bank and till this day it hurt my credit a bit but it was the best thing and lesson that happened to old Rev Jack. Since then I have been dedicated to paying off every bill I have so when I do retire I will be totally debt free other than utility and things like phone bills you cant get away from. Friday I will for the first time in 34 years of our almost 37 years of marriage own all 3 of our cars. The second car was also just recently paid off a few months ago. This is such a great feeling. What I have learned is There is hope of total recovery from a bad time that not just us but many Americans have been through and that God is truly great and my faith in Him shutting one door and sending us to a new place opening up a new door for what has turned out to be a better life now and ahead. I may have to work a few more years then I planned but my life today is so much better and far less stressful. My new position also far less stressful and easier because also for the first time in my 34 year career I am doing everything I was trained to do instead of other stuff I was not trained for and had to learn about so I could handle that job proficiently. Friday I will own my cars and life is good. Thank You Dear Lord for bringing me out from that mess in WA and into a better life that also put us near our family and old friends. Life is good! I pray your lives are blessed as well. Amen
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 08:31:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015