It's All Gone

Every dollar we had. Gone.

I heard the panic in her voice before I even understood what she was saying. Even the dogs were circling her. They knew something was wrong before I did.

She said, "It's all gone."

"What's all gone?"

"The money. It's gone."

My heart sank.

Let me back up

If you've followed my stories, you might remember the one about proposing to my wife with an engagement ring hidden inside a beer bottle.

Back in 2009, I was flat broke in Kansas. I was working for $8 an hour, living with my grandparents, and eventually had to surrender my car to the bank because I simply couldn't afford it.

I thought that chapter of my life was behind me.

Fast-forward six years. It was the summer of 2015. For the first time in a long time, we actually had some money saved. We could breathe. We finally felt safe.

Turns out "safe" is a feeling. It's not a fact.

Because that old debt came back and took every dollar in our bank account.

That same summer, other money I'd earned and was counting on fell through. And my grandmother was dying back home in Kansas with a sudden and aggressive form of late-stage brain cancer.

It felt like everything was happening at once.

What we did

So what did we do? What we've always done.

My wife was already working two jobs. I picked up the phone and started cold calling like a madman.

And here's something I'm incredibly proud of. Through that entire year, and every year since, we have never once fallen 30 days behind on a bill.

Not once.

Sometimes we made it by the skin of our teeth. But we made it.

Why I share these

I don't share these stories because I want sympathy. I share them because I know somebody reading this is going through their own version of that morning.

Maybe your savings is gone. Maybe the bills are piling up. Maybe you or a loved one is dealing with challenging health issues. Maybe you're lying awake at night wondering how you're going to make it through another month.

And maybe you think you're the only one.

You're not.

Sometimes life knocks you down right when you think you've finally found your footing. Keep getting up. Keep going. Keep chasing and attracting your dreams. Keep doing the work.

The floor doesn't have to be the end of your story.

If somebody you love is going through a season like this, send this to them privately. And if that somebody is you, my messages are open. I'm not trying to sell you anything. I've just been there.