#33: How to Handle Money (Since You’re Probably Still Broke)

Earlier in the week Ben wrote about what to do now that you have money. To be honest, that article probably should have won some kind of BS award.

Since leaving missions, money has been one of our biggest ongoing struggles. The unfortunate reality is that not everyone who leaves missions is automatically set for life financially. A number of you have told us that you struggle with money. We do too. But there are a few principles that we’ve discovered (mostly the hard way) that have been helpful for us. Here’s an outline of some of the more important ones.

#13: Comparison, and the Path We’ve Chosen

I remember well the excitement I felt when I first dashed off to be a missionary.  I had found my calling, and I ran toward it with no Plan B.  All of the events of the prior year had pointed me in that direction, and I was glad to follow where I knew God was leading me.  I knew that I would be leaving home and family, and that there would be a lot of things and people I would miss.  But I considered building the Kingdom to be worth all of those costs.

I still do.  I can honestly say that I have no regrets about choosing the path that I did.  But, to be candid, there were costs that I didn’t count.  And they have impacted my life in ways that can be difficult to grapple with now.