I'll Take the Debt
A friend drew my attention to a wonderful post by Glennon over at Momastery. Glennon has incredibly insightful and inspiring things to say most of the time, and this time, it was no different. She posted about her kitchen, the one that shows up from time to time in her pictures, the one that many people, apparently, have asked her to consider renovating.
I have to admit I was drawn to the post simply by the title, Give me Gratitude or Give Me Debt. Such a descriptive title, really. You know where she's going to go, and if you know anything about her, you know she chose gratitude over debt. Her response to those who said she should renovate? Classic, Glennon, really.
Over the course of her post, Glennon pointed out what she loved about her kitchen and that everything in it suited her needs and the needs of her family. All of the appliances and the floor, the space as it is, is sufficient and functional. And for a moment, because of her post, I second guessed myself. Because, as many of you know, we underwent a kitchen renovation a little under a year ago. And many of you also know that we had to get a Home Equity Loan in order to do so. I guess what I'm saying is that I willingly took on debt. Her post today made me ask myself, were we right to do so? Should we have not taken on a loan? Should we have waited and simply been grateful for what we had?
I questioned myself for about one millisecond before I snapped back to my confident self. I realized that our decision to renovate suited us. For us, it was never a case of not being grateful and fixing what wasn't broken. Our kitchen was so completely broken that holding onto it any longer would have been a crime. What might be good for Glennon and her family didn't necessarily translate over to ours. And I'm guessing that she would most likely applaud our decison to do the research, weigh the costs and benefits, and not get caught up in what other people say. Because that's what she just did, right?
So I won't feel bad about a kitchen that came along with a Home Equity Loan in tow. Because I'm sitting next to a digital camera that is twelve years old. The table in our study is from the late nineties. Our coffee maker is the one we received as a gift at our wedding almost fourteen years ago. The same can be said of our bath towels. And I'm grateful for every last one of those items we have.
I have to admit I was drawn to the post simply by the title, Give me Gratitude or Give Me Debt. Such a descriptive title, really. You know where she's going to go, and if you know anything about her, you know she chose gratitude over debt. Her response to those who said she should renovate? Classic, Glennon, really.
Over the course of her post, Glennon pointed out what she loved about her kitchen and that everything in it suited her needs and the needs of her family. All of the appliances and the floor, the space as it is, is sufficient and functional. And for a moment, because of her post, I second guessed myself. Because, as many of you know, we underwent a kitchen renovation a little under a year ago. And many of you also know that we had to get a Home Equity Loan in order to do so. I guess what I'm saying is that I willingly took on debt. Her post today made me ask myself, were we right to do so? Should we have not taken on a loan? Should we have waited and simply been grateful for what we had?
I questioned myself for about one millisecond before I snapped back to my confident self. I realized that our decision to renovate suited us. For us, it was never a case of not being grateful and fixing what wasn't broken. Our kitchen was so completely broken that holding onto it any longer would have been a crime. What might be good for Glennon and her family didn't necessarily translate over to ours. And I'm guessing that she would most likely applaud our decison to do the research, weigh the costs and benefits, and not get caught up in what other people say. Because that's what she just did, right?
So I won't feel bad about a kitchen that came along with a Home Equity Loan in tow. Because I'm sitting next to a digital camera that is twelve years old. The table in our study is from the late nineties. Our coffee maker is the one we received as a gift at our wedding almost fourteen years ago. The same can be said of our bath towels. And I'm grateful for every last one of those items we have.
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