Laine was one of my first mentors. I savored her letters and loved reading her wisdom. Her husband never made over $29,000 with six people in her home, yet she was able to pay off her Southern California home debt with many frugal practices and her motto, "Pray and pay, pray and pay." She stayed home full-time and depended upon her husband's income and God's provision. She knows that God doesn't speak highly of debt and did everything she could to get out of its bondage.
Her website called Laine's Letters is no longer online. I have no idea why and I was very sad to find this out. However, I printed out a lot of them and will be sharing some of my favorites with you. Today, I am going to begin sharing how her family was able to get out of debt on a relatively small income without her having to work outside the home. In her own writing ~
1 ~ Tithe the first of our income ~ as soon as it comes in. This is the foundation of our money (Proverbs 3:9,10). We had a hard time with this when we first began tithing, and it was hit or miss whether we tithed or gave. We definitely had a "purse with holes in it" as described in Malachi for those who do not put God first in their finances. We then got serious and gave regularly. God sewed up the holes in our purse. (She taught her children to tithe, too.)
"Bring all your tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine House, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the Windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).
2 ~ Give to the poor and those that are in need every month, as well as the spreading of the gospel. A generous man will be blessed, the Bible says. "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 7:38). "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given" (Proverbs 19:17).
3 ~ Pay back all our debts. We paid more on the principal every month to get the house loan paid off quicker. We also pay our taxes and have the money ready when it is required. "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes: if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another" (Romans 13:7, 8). So we paid back all of our debts. Many, many times at self-sacrifice.You can't imagine how joyful my husband is at having no debt against his name.
