If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.

Saturday I went to Dallas to hear Dave Ramsey speak at Reunion Arena. Some of you probably don't know who this is. Until after Saturday I didn't either. One of my moms told me I should go see this guy and that I would really learn a lot. My brother and sister-in-law also raved about how great this guy was. All they told me was that he helps people with their finances and uses the bible to explain a lot of his theories. I thought, why not? What have I got to lose? I'm already broke. The doors opened at 11:30 and the "show" started at 1:00. (My brother told me I should arrive two hours early. I was still oblivious to why you'd have to be so early but I did as suggested. Boy am I glad I listened!) We, my sister and her husband came also, arrived around 10:30. There was already a line forming! Who is this guy?!?! While standing, in the cold, Dave Ramsey came out at some point to talk to the people waiting. Everyone was so excited. I'm still clueless. What is so special about this guy? Well, we finally get in and get amazing seats. By noon I'm still thinking we got here way too early. You can hear the buzz of excitement in the arena. I thumb through the workbook they gave us at the door and think to myself, "There's homework?". I'm slowly realizing while waiting that this guy is a pretty big deal! They have a big stage with three screens behind it showing clips of a radio show he does and a t.v. show on Fox Business News. I pull out a book to read while we're waiting. At 1:00 the show begins and they are showing clips of Ramsey on lots of different news and talk shows. (ie. Larry King, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Oprah, etc.) Freakin' Oprah?!?! Who is this guy? And why am I just learning about him? As I look around me I then notice that the entire ground floor and the first upper floor of seats (where we were) were completely filled. The second floor of seats was also nearly full! Again, I'm so glad I listened to my brother!

Well, Dave Ramsey comes out on stage and the crowd goes nuts! You would have thought you were at a rock concert. He's obviously been doing this a while because he worked that crowd like a pro. And a wonderful sense of humor to boot! Well, he begins to go through his "Baby Steps" to becoming debt free and I'm in awe of how simple it all sounds. I can already hear some of you... "another get rich quick scheme", "he became a millionaire selling tickets to stupid people", "you will always have debt"... I said all those things too before going in there. After sitting there listening to his story of becoming a millionaire, going bankrupt, and then digging himself back out I was thinking to myself, "Come on man, how do I help myself? What are you going to show me today that I haven't already heard?" He showed me! He did it in a manner that didn't feel impossible. That feels very realistic. That uplifted me to have more faith in my God who won't abandon me because I've screwed up. I just need to call on Him to guide me through this change. I can't go into detail of all his steps. We were there five hours! How do you condense that into a blog? I can say that one of the easiest ones was to cut up all your credit cards. Thank goodness Michael and I were ahead of the game on that. He shows you how you can become completely debt free and not have to live off of any credit ever again. Sound unbelievable? Not when you look over his steps. They are so simple! One of many things I can say is I love the reality of his plan. He doesn't try to convince you your debt will disappear over night. He reminds you that it is going to take time, discipline and lots of prayer. You just have to remind yourself all things are possible with God. I highly suggest you look up Dave Ramsey. Get some books or catch his radio show where ever you are. He was absolutely amazing! He will open your eyes to new possibilities. I'm no longer afraid of our debt. I'm ready to tackle it head on!