Yesterday I officially became a family man. While it’s not as cool The Griswold’s station wagon, it does have a luggage roof rack! Yes…
We bought a minivan.
After the birth of our second child, it became very apparent to us that sooner or later we were going to need more than a Mazda Protege to haul our kids around. So after much saving and strategic planning, we found ourselves in the position to buy a minivan – with cash!
Dave Ramsey says that paying with cash as opposed to paying with credit or financing actually causes pain. He is totally right. When we drove away in our minivan, I literally felt pain. It was the most money I have ever spent at one time.
But the price we paid with all the purposeful planning that was put into it made what was “painful” to do, a rewarding thing as well. Why?
I could give you all the financial reasons why it’s better to buy with cash than with financing or credit. Not because I am a financial guru, but because my personal experience with credit proves that I am an expert on the negatives. I KNOW how NOT to manage your money.
Back to what I was saying…what we did and how we did it (purchasing a minivan) was extremely rewarding because I came to an epiphany on the way home. And what was that?
Maturity hurts.
Why? Because we are, by nature, beings that love familiarity. We love keeping things the way they are. We don’t like to have our boats rocked. Growing up means rocking the boat. It means confronting the lies which tell us we are ok and realizing that we need to grow.
In college, I was very EXTREMELY immature. (I know…my wife would banter back, “WAS?”) I honestly didn’t see it…or at least I was unwilling to recognize it and admit it. That was until one day, a professor of mine who I had built a good relationship with pulled me into their office. This professor was leaving and it was their last day at the university I was attending. So I could tell that what this person was pulling me into their office to tell me was important. So what happened?
My professor placed me in front of the mirror and said,
“Phillip. I want you to look at yourself and say, ‘I am immature.’ ”
At first, I was, “You’re crazy!” but I complied and said it. Then my professor again said with even more resolve, “No…I really want you to look at yourself and say ‘I am immature’ “.
I got it. And it hurt.
I wish I could say that I totally became the most mature person in the world – but I was far from that…still am. But I am grateful for all the people who cared about me and confronted me on my “areas of improvement” as well as the many life situations which have stretched me into becoming the man I am today. After all, no one I personally know and admire has become what they are by being a Toys-R-Us kid!
So bring on the pain!
(I just wished I could have gotten wood paneling!)
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
