Investing in Success

A couple of months ago, I was so excited to share how our family was finally recovering from the recession. We had made it through losing a home, a business and living with my parents for a year to recover. The whole year was an amazing journey and beautiful story of how things finally started going right. Wayne had landed a job that quickly promoted him. We went through some music classes that ultimately led to him doing some sound stuff for concerts in Bend. We found a rental home that was perfect to start over in. My gardening took on a whole new level of success with hydroponics and worms.  In November, we were all going to go on Wayne’s health insurance through his work. It felt like we were finally back on track with our lives.  It felt like we could live and dream again.

Wayne and I used to joke that we started out in a full run at life together: got married on the fly, had a kid per year and moved three times.  Our family and our life developed so quickly, we didn’t have the time to build solid roots. It was in the resting and rebuilding time, living with my parents, that I felt we were able to establish those roots after establishing a family. During that journey, we had some of the best family and friends surrounding us, supporting us and cheering us on. They cried with us, they laughed with us and we even lived with some of them.  I felt like we came out of it even stronger than before.

In October of this year, Wayne came home early one day and told me he lost his job. It was so disappointing. However, after a whirlwind year of goodness, I knew the ability to dream and hope was still alive in me.  What I didn’t realize was that we were presented with the chance to walk out one of the most important times of our lives. The joy from the momentum of the beginning of the year would be meaningless if we didn’t continue to carry it through the rough spots.  This has been one of the most significant lessons of my life.

In the past, I preferred to hide from the issues.  I spent the days wishing the problems or situations away instead of dealing with them head on. I didn’t want to share with others or participate in their joy, because I felt so deprived of mine. It felt like we were failing in life. I would retreat into our house, turning off the phone, turning off the computer and not answering the door. For the sake of our pride we would put on a wary façade of making it when we did go out.

However, this time, it is different. I am surrounded by so many fresh reminders every day of how great our life is. We live in a wonderful home that I have fallen in love with every morning that we wake up in it. We live in a neighborhood that has become more than just houses, but alive with people that we love and share lives with. We have a family that is filled with people that are related by blood and others that are just as precious because of the things we’ve faced together. We have a love and a passion for life reflected by the vibrancy that we approach each day with.  I have enjoyed our children, our home and the time we get to spend together so much more this past year.

My husband has inspired me every day with his persistence. He works hard every day that he can, taking each job offered, to make things work. He hasn’t ever complained about any of the jobs handed to him. It would be easy to feel over-qualified and under-appreciated based on his previous experience, but instead, he comes home happy that he is still providing for our family. On the days that he is home, we’ve been able to enjoy and appreciate each other’s company.  He is such a good husband, a wonderful father and a faithful friend. He continues to build my admiration in him through his dedication to doing excellent work no matter what the task.

I feel like when we started appreciating the process of growth, instead of just waiting for the outcome or arrival, we truly began to value the most important pieces of our lives. Every friendship, every trial, every day, is just one more line in the story of who we are and were created to be. The time we invest in the people around us contributes to the success of that story. We’ve been so blessed by all of the people that have been willing to invest in us from past to present. Those seeds of faith we place in others through our daily contact, our friendships and our words, are so important.

It’s the time of year to be thankful and reflect on all of the blessings we’ve received. This year it is so special to me and it is my joy to appreciate every moment of it. Our family has grown through so many challenging seasons. As I look around, I see how beautiful our life is through each of them.  We haven’t really ever been rich according to what other people judge by, but we continue to grow rich in love and relationships.