With a grateful heart

If you know me , you know I am a horrible, ugly crier and if there was a pill to keep me from  crying at every single thing happy or sad I would take it! Just last week I was telling my boss a story and the tears flowed and I was stuck there trying to swallow and recover
{ although he is so sweet his own eyes filled with tears }
But I'm also thankful that my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for so many things in my life. When you look at things with a heart of thankfulness it changes the way you live and you always feel like you have more than enough and way more than you ever deserve !

I was telling him about my sweet Chad.....
I didn't share too much about this situation but kept it close to my heart and we simply prayed our hearts out over it. Steve was asked to join a new company with a guy he worked with for years and they knew each other well. This man offered him a great job with less driving and Steve decided to take it. He gave his notice and was going to start the following week. But instead he got news that the job was postponed.
It could be as long as three months.  We felt sucker punched and kept wondering  " did we step out without knowing Gods will ?  He couldn't file for unemployment because he quit so there was zero money coming in. I was so ANGRY that someone would do this, to have him leave a good job if it wasn't 100% certain. Steve said the guy felt bad enough and he couldn't add any pressure to speed up the process  { he is a much better person than I am , I was beyond angry }

Well in the interim of job searching he took on a remodel of a home in Solana Beach. Mind you he has been a project manager and has not done physical labor in years. He didn't even have a truck. He drives a Chrysler 300 "pimp daddy" car.  So he needed to switch cars with Chad so he could get materials. So Chad came to the job site to let his dad use his truck

And Chad came to the job site every week after that !! 
He would just "show up" to help

Steve was overwhelmed with gratitude to have his help but more than anything he was blown away that after working a full week ,he would drive up on his days off to hang with his pop and help in any way he could
Steve told  Chad he would never forget that in one of the darkest times in his life Chad reached out that way. 
He made him laugh and kept him company  and worked his butt off ! When I asked Chad why he kept going he said he couldn't let him do it alone, that it broke his heart to see his dad working so dang hard 

This boy of ours has a heart of pure gold !!

So fast forward a month, Steve thankfully has a great new job, the remodel is done,he sold the Chrysler and found a nice  "used"   truck

But mostly he still wells up with pride when he talks about the incredible man his boy has become !  
We are truly successful with the things that matter
Our kids and Ashlyn make us proud every single day of our life
God is good and He often has lessons to teach us that cant be learned in the sunshine but He uses the storms to change us, to draw us close to him and to trust Him !!
And I am so proud of my husband for being such a great provider and being humble to do whatever is needed to provide for us !  Those "rainy days" your parents tell you to save for really do come, and thankfully one of us is a good saver and shares his umbrella

Wishing you all days of joy and enough days of challenge that you can only survive by clinging to your faith and each other.

I am so thankful we have each other to cling to and that they lovingly cling to us !!