I graduated a couple months ago, and I'm starting my post-college life in the red.  Though I do not have as much debt as many of my peers, it is a little overwhelming as I look toward marriage and realize that there is very little chance that I can pay it off even using my entire paycheck, every pay period, by the end of the year.  Maybe I'm being a little ambitious, but the idea of paying interest on loans doesn't appeal to me.

Since I'm now receiving a steady income, I have taken a greater interest in finances.  I buy mostly generic brands now (except for ice cream...spending an extra $2 on Breyer's is worth it to me), and I've started thinking about saving money.

As you probably already know, I am a big Ron Paul fan.  During the time leading up to the primaries and throughout primary season, he talked a lot about the monetary policy of the United States and how it is robbing lower and middle class Americans through inflation.  I agreed with him then, but I didn't really notice it first hand.  In a meet-up group, one man in particular said Americans wouldn't wake up until they walked into the grocery store and milk was $20.  At the time, however, food prices seemed just imperceptibly higher, didn't they?  Or have I just become more conscientious about money?

Sometimes I wonder if people would have payed more attention to Ron Paul if our economy was what is now back in mid-2007 when debates were just starting.  Commentators and other candidates smirked and nearly laughed when Ron Paul was talking about paper money and its implications.  Would they still do that today, with the dollar declining so obviously now?

A cleaning lady at my office told me the other day about her three jobs and lamented that her wages stay the same while all the prices go up.  A few months ago, I had ten dollars in my pocket that bought two blocks of cheese with a couple dollars left over.  Now, I make the same amount of money, and one block of cheese is $6.50. 

Why is this theft ok?  Why did Christians turn a blind eye during primaries to inflation and the immorality of the Federal Reserve?  Even if Christians didn't like Ron Paul for other reasons, shouldn't they demand this be an issue for their politicians? 

In her book Stepping Up: A Journey through the Psalms of Ascent, Beth Moore describes her reaction to hearing of a South African prostitute converted during her study Breaking Free.

Cinderella?  Let's take a look at what Ephesians 2:1-3 says about us.

Before Christ, this passage makes clear that we have no beauty in ourselves.  Nowhere in this passage is there a fairy tale image of a rough-around-the-edges princess just waiting to be recognized.  She's dead, a daughter of disobedience, a child of wrath. 

The passage continues by giving us children of wrath hope.  Despite our sin and deadness, God "being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ" (v. 4-5). 

God loves us because of His mercy, not because of our beauty.  And this truth is what sets captives free, not a man-centered notion that we are somehow worthy of God's love apart from Christ.

I graduated from college on Friday and got engaged on Saturday!