Mi Hermana

I don't speak Spanish. I attempted for a while in high school and college, but fifteen years later, I have to admit very little stuck. But my baby sister is currently learning Spanish. In fact, she is in the sink or swim school of Spanish. She is serving a mission for our church for eighteen months in a Spanish speaking area. I get to write her on Sunday nights/Monday mornings and just finished up. It gets me thinking. So now you get to hear my rantings.

I am on a journey of discovery lately. Where we live there are a lot of people who make very little money. Yet, when I go to church every Sunday, I see true joy. They live hard lives on farms and with winters below zero. Or they work in the oil fields in below zero. But I watch them with their families and I see happiness. This is a stark contrast to me. I must admit that since graduating college, I had always been fiscally secure and responsible. I always had a savings account. I always had the money to get all of the things I needed and most of the things I wanted. So I apparently needed to learn some things about life.

My husband graduated from college in May of 2011. It took him a long time to graduate. He really isn't as young as that makes him sound. But he is super hot so that makes up for it! Anyway, we assumed he would get a teaching job immediately. I mean, a male in a female dominated field has to be in high demand, right? Wrong. Utah had some problems with an over abundance of teachers that year and he didn't get a teaching job. I was a stay at home mom at this point with our little boy and the pressure was put on our little family. My husband worked every job he could find. He delivered pizza's. He worked fast food. He substitute taught. All at the same time. I hardly ever saw him. I was miserable. He was miserable and tired. But we survived. It was a great learning experience, but we failed to learn the big life lesson. We decide how we feel.

We really were blessed at that time. We always had the money to meet our needs. Our kids never went hungry. It was what we needed to prepare us for now. I say that for the simple reason that now we are in a different place financially. My husband is only working one job as a public school teacher. We don't make a lot of money. We don't have a savings account any more. We don't go out to eat and we haven't been on a date in months. Yet, I am happy. I see people around me, finally. I see the family that makes half of what we make and yet, devote their lives to service. I get letters from my sister about the families she is serving. About how poor they are and yet, how they not only survive, but thrive.

Changing directions this year isn't about just changing our physical location. It's about changing our mental one too. I have decided that my attitude needs to be one of gratitude. My Heavenly Father has provided for us. We have all we need to meet our needs and we have family and friends who love us. I have two wonderful children. I have a husband who comes home every night and tells me how much he loves me. I could ask for more, I'm sure. But I need to be grateful for the blessing I have and not waste any time lamenting the few I don't. When we count our blessings, we will find that most of us have far more than we realized.