Debt be gone!

Scratched off!  Zero.  Line through the entries in red.  FREE.

Our tax refund came.  Thanks to the revised adoption tax credits, (click HERE if you are a new adoptive family, or just looking into adoption and need help figuring out how to finance it) we got a very large sum back.  I marched down to the bank this week and paid off our unsecured adoption loan that we'd been paying interest on for 2 years!!  Yippeee, that felt sooooo good.  I also paid off the balance on our credit card.  We are totally out of debt, except our mortgage.  We don't plan on getting into debt ever again.  And, let's be frank, we've had some challenges over the past 2 years:  trip to Korea, trip to Haiti, 2 sets of new tires, Hudson's 4 porcelain caps on his teeth, 2 children's hospitalizations and abulance rides, and Mike's S. Africa trip.  Whew!
It is and will be worth it--I know it will be.  And before you think we are super disciplined or something--we aren't.  We are very fortunate to have steady good jobs that haven't been affected by the recession.  Also, the old saying is so true--Where God Guides God Provides.  We are living testimonies to His grace and provision.

Funny story:  My minivan is a 2003 with 167,000 miles on it(runs great and been paid off a while).  Well, apparently, Abby isn't too thrilled with its aesthetic qualities.  I offered to drive on the 4th grade field trip.  She asked me "Could you please wash and vacuum the van first?"  HAHA, cracked me up!

On a totally unrelated note:  I'm ready for an Outward Focused Life event--whose with me??