So, what did I do today? Let me tell you, while it may not seem much to many, it was a really good day. My beautiful and brilliant wife helped me to understand that there is so much happiness in my life I do not share here, and that I should.
Today, I enjoyed the benefits of a wonderful career with a stable company. I do not worry about my employment future, because as long as I continue to work hard and provide value, I am confident I have nothing to worry about. That doesn't mean it won't change, that upheaval might not happen, but I don't worry about lay-offs, market downturns and those other forces that deprive millions from contentment and happiness.
I am never negligent in thanking God for what He has provided me professionally since I was 17 years old. He directed me to a calling that I excelled at, and then to a profession following that I absolutely love doing. I am well rewarded, personally and financially for it, and it energizes me to continue to drive to do better and be better. I don't do this alone, the team around me and that supports me is better than any I have ever been associated with.
I don't say it often enough, but the collection of people and talents we have assembled in my team are absolutely the most professionally advanced group I have ever had the privilege to work with. I had very talented teams in the Navy. We had spirit and patriotism and bravery to spare. But, the team I lead today is hands down the best engineering and maintenance group that I have seen or worked with. And, we are a team, we are not constantly happy and bubbly, but we mesh and interact and respond so very well together.
But, today, we bopped around the house doing the little bit of what we did, looking forward to a Christmas party we will attend later. We have our financial needs met and the ability to respond to God generously. I will get up Monday and take care of family business of the worst kind, and know that my team will cover what happens, without worries or fears. And Tuesday, we will get back at it together and continue climbing the mountain. That is a privilege and non-stress that many do not experience and I am categorically grateful for that blessing, that I take for granted way too often.
I have a fur baby. I honestly have avoided blogging about my Tuff, because you will all get tired of hearing about him quick enough. But, I will risk it occasionally. We had a long night last night, neither of us slept well, kind of up and down. It happens. Tuff alternated between comforting Trina and laying on me, as he usually does.
I believe that we are in his pack. He is the alpha dog in the hierarchy, in his mind. In his mind, he is 9 pounds of royalty within the confines of our home. He does not tolerate other animals in his zone. He does not tolerate either Trina or I paying attention to other animals in his zone. He somewhat accepts people, because he does not worry about them eventually leaving. We should probably have socialized him better as a pup, but he is not a sharing personality. Then, neither am I.
So, I have a companion. We play every day, when I come in the door. Even when I don't feel well, that little white tip of his tail flying at 60 hertz gets me motivated. We like most to play tug with whatever stuffing-less stuffy he has not destroyed yet. We call them his girlfriends, because he is an adolescent male, and you know what that means. I also enjoy playing fetch. He never gets tired of the game, but is not interested if we are outside.
When I am not feeling well, he lays on my shoulder, when I am in the recliner, across my chest. He sleeps curled up in between my legs every night, in the recliner, until I wind down and it is time for bed. We have a companion to our life here in the house that has been amazing for both of us. Trina says that he is the best medicine she has ever had, and I would say that is true for me as well. He is our stress relief, and our little partner in crime. His part in making our lives rich is huge, and I don't always remember to be as thankful for the blessing as I should be. It take it for granted too often.
We have four children, who are all committed to significant others, so we really have 8 children. I find it easiest to just approach it that way. I pray for them all with the same passion, I worry about them all with the same urgency, I would sacrifice whatever, for any of them. They are ours, and they belong to each other. They all have their own homes, their own paths, and their own lives.
We have been blessed to be able to help in some ways. I mean, we have helped financially at times, we have been able to help physically at times, we have helped emotionally at times. We have helped understand the world. We have provided advice and guidance, sometimes when it probably was not necessarily desired. We try to not push, but we do love them all very deeply.
We have eight wonderful people deeply entwined in our lives. They all relate to us separately and differently, but in love and respect. We feel it from them, and are confident that they provide us love and support, always. What they don't always know is how blessed we are to do other things for them that are not so apparent. We remember them daily in our prayers together. We hold them up before the Lord for strength and health. We pray diligently for their happiness. We want them to be healthy, safe and happy. However we can assist in that, is what we feel is our calling.
Those eight amazing people enrich and broaden our lives in so many ways. It is easy to focus on struggles and issues and the multitudes of ways that life can be complex and challenging. We don't focus enough, as a family, on the love and the fulfillment that we give each other. I am grateful to God above, every single day, all day, for those eight people I have been given to love and support in a special way. I do not ever take my responsibility for granted, but I think I take the benefits from it for granted more than I should, and I don't thank them enough for what they give me.
And, I am blessed beyond measure, and without reserve, by my wife. I am not a fully formed human being on my own. With Trina, I do have a full life, and a full being. I think that we all have that second piece that we need to find that just fits. I don't know how we were ever meant to find each other, or how we were being prepared to make it right, or how we were supposed to respond along the way. I only know that somehow, due to the grace of God, we made it to here, both of us.
Today, we just spent the day together. We walked for a while, we watched football for a while, we talked for a while. It was a great day, and all of our days are great. I do not appreciate the blessing of my life enough, because the quality and breadth of that blessing is literally beyond my description. I have the joy of being a husband, father and son of God, because of all these amazing things and people in my life.
And, it comes from God. I am confident that there are many more blessings to come, and that I am not near the end of my list. I have so many that I can't catalog them or list them. I just try to live in the joy provided by them, and give the thanks and praise where it belongs.
So, if you are reading this and wondering is it worth it, is it worth the struggle to support your family, to build the career and the resume? It is, and the blessings that come with doing it in accordance with God's command are beyond description.
If you are wondering is it worth it, dealing with pets? It is, and the blessings the God bestows on us and them are instrumental in our lives and our happiness.
If you are wondering if your children will thrive, can your survive the worry and stress? They can and will. It is beyond worth it, to see them standing on their own, being their own people, their own selves. You will love them more than you thought possible, even as you held them as babies, and it will fulfill you in ways you cannot imagine.
If you are wondering if relationships are worth the work and struggle? In every way, they are worth all we put into it. Even when they don't work, we learn about ourselves and our own issues. When we dig in, and make them work, make them sustain, give of ourselves in every way that we can, we receive a blessing from God that cannot be valued. It is incomprehensible in worth. And, in my life I call that blessing Katrina.
It is good, this thing called life. And I am doing a good job of living it. Just wanted to let everyone know, that it does happen, and it is so way worth it.
GLYASDI
No comments:
Post a Comment