My dad turns 80 this year. That means he lived through the Great Depression. He tells stories of soup lines and having nothing to eat but the beets his dad "borrowed" from the neighbor's garden. Did I mention Dad turns 80 this year? Dad and Mom both lived through those bleak years and continue to enjoy fruitful and fulfilling lives.
In 1985, Sally and I moved out of Riverton, WY, adding our house to the over 500 others that were on the market in sparsely populated Fremont County. As you may recall, mortgage interest rates then hovered around 15-18%. Hundreds of homeowners had no choice but to default on their home loans and simply walk away. Nearly 40% of the population of that county moved out because of the closing of the uranium mines and steel mill. Our realtor had not had a home sale in months and said we would need a miracle to sell our newly constructed home. By God's grace it sold within two months for cash. Here we are 24 years later alive and well. The situation looked dire, but we survived.
These days we are hearing that we are in the midst of the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression. Hundreds of thousands are losing jobs, bankruptcies are spiraling out of control and Washington can't print and spend money fast enough in its frenetic attempt to stop the bleeding. Each day brings new headlines of economic woe. Sure, it can be depressing to hear constant drumming of negative headlines. Anyone with a retirement account has watched it evaporate. It is hard not to worry.
But, whenever I catch myself giving in to fear and worry, I step back and recall. We've been through stuff like this before. We got through it then and we'll get through it now. Having survived withdrawal from our consumer addiction and the false security of our materialism, we'll likely be wiser, more thrifty and more God aware. That's a good thing.
Keep perspective. We're going to get through this just fine.
