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hat is the ideal form of life for me and my family? What am I striving for to accomplish? There are certainly competing interests even within myself -- what compromises will I have to make in order to play them out?
For example: I very much like the idea of gravitating toward semi-self-sufficient homesteading. I want to be at home with my family, I want to be learning and practicing hard, practical skills, I want to be engagin closely with God's creation. To that end, I would be willing to consider somewhat radical "cuts" to my lifestyle, if it meant I had to work less, and could focus more on the home. However, my wife's family all live in Guatemala, and I want my son, and other potential children, to have a strong link to that country. That means fairly frequent trips South, which means plane tickets for a growing number of people, perhaps yearly, and that means money. Furthermore -- I am fortunate that my own family live in the same state as me, but they are all at least an hour distant from my house. Having a reliable car is not optional.
So right off the bat, I need to be able to a) leave my home and work for at least a week out of the year, b) be able to afford at least three round trip tickets to Guatemala per year, and c) be able to afford insurance payments on a good car. I also have a mortgage, home insurance, and property taxes to pay. Any future dreams of mine basically must include at sufficient income for at least those expenses. Even I grow all my own food, drop completely off the grid, get rid of my cell phone and the internet, and use only thrifted clothes, those aforementioned monetary expenses (and a few others besides) are close to non-negotiable.
This is not necessarily a problem. What is the total sum of money we're talking about here? It's not huge, but it's not nothing either. This is how you have to go about your dreams. What are your givens? What parts of your desires are compatible, and what needs compromise? What are you willing to sacrifice for what you believe in?