The Thanksgiving Post (You knew it was coming...)

So, today is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for... So, here are my 10 things for this year...

1) The Pretty One.... She is amazing.

2) Kid #1, Kid #2, And Kid #3... They are so smart, and funny, and bring such joy to my life.

3) Family that lives close. Both mine and The Pretty One's... It is good to know that we have someone close that we can share an evening with or leave the kids with on short notice if we need to.

4) My job... Teaching is such an AWESOME experience... There are so many students that have touched my life and brought great joy to me... Some have moved on to do great things and some are still with me learning how to bring AWESOMENESS to the world.... They are all AWESOME sauce....

5) All of my AWESOME Friends... I have so many that I couldn't possibly name you all separately.... You have let me into your lives and your families. You have given me great advice, good times, and AWESOME experiences... You have helped shape and mold me into what I need to be.

6) My Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ...

7) My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church brings so much peace and direction to my life that I wouldn't be who I am without its teachings.

8) My calling in the Church. I get to work closely with wonderfully spiritual men and women. They give me the chance to serve and teach me many great truths as we sit in council together each Sunday. I also get to serve each member of the ward and I hope that they know that I love each of them as my brothers and sisters.

9) The chance to live and learn each day... I know that I am NOT perfect, but I also know that this life is the place where we learn to become like our Heavenly Father. There is still so much that I still need to learn and I am grateful for the opportunity each day.

10) The little joys of life... A kiss from the wife, a hug from the kids, a smile from the world...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone... Have an AWESOME sauce kind of day...

 

"Are you ready for this?"

So...  It has been a while since I last posted anything.  Sorry to all those avid followers of my AWESOME life.  It has been pretty busy and I haven't really felt inspired to do any writing.

For the last couple of weeks I have been (with the help of a good friend) installing a wood-burning stove in my house.  This has been an AWESOME learning experience for me.  I got to learn how to lay tile, we cut a hole in my roof for the chimney, we cut a hole in the floor for an air vent because I live in a manufactured home.  It has been fun.  My friend kept asking me, "Are you ready for this?" whenever we had to do something that there was no turning back from.  (Like cutting holes in my floor and ceiling...).  It was really funny.  He would tell me what we were going to do, look at me kind of sideways, and then ask me that question.  As soon as I would say "Yes", he would begin the process.  Now I wasn't ALWAYS ready when I said yes, but sometimes you have to take a little risk to get a big reward.  It has been a good time and we are almost done.  Here is what we have so far...

Hopefully, we will have it done today.  We just need one more part to put the pipe onto the stove...

You know...  The funny thing is that I really didn't know what I was going to talk about today, but recounting this experience has gotten me thinking.

How often do we wait until we are really ready before we do something?

How often do we wait until someone asks us, "Are you ready for this?"

I don't know how many people I know give me the excuse that they are waiting until they are "ready" to...

• get married
• go to college
• buy a home
• have children
• (insert big life event here)

Whatever it is....  You are NEVER going to be completely ready for those decisions.  You just aren't.  But does that mean that you will NEVER get to do them....  Nope.  Sometimes you just jump in with both feet and either be sink or swim....  It is a matter of faith, or trust, or whatever you personally believe.  Sometimes you just do it and see what happens.

The Pretty One is an expert at jumping in with both feet.  Years ago she said to me that we needed to buy a house.  I looked at our finances at the time and wondered how we would ever afford that.  She persisted and, though I wasn't completely convinced, we went for it.  We started looking and saw a LOT of really weird places that scared both of us.  When we finally found our first home, we just knew that it was the place for us.  The AWESOME thing was that it fit into our budget.  Coincidence???  I think not.  We were just supposed to be there at that time of our life.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago.  The Pretty One wanted to become a photographer...  I was like...  Okay...  In my mind I went back to our wedding day when the man who sealed us together for time and eternity in the Los Angeles Temple gave me this advice.  This is not an exact quote...  Your wife has many hidden talents and you need to let her develop those talents.

So I bought her a Nikon D5000 to start with...  She is really good...  An I am NOT just saying that.

Fast Forward to this year...  She says that she needs to open a Photography studio.  I am thinking to myself...  She's crazy....  But then I think back to that blessed day 12 years ago and say OK.  It has been a long road, but she should be opening soon.

I really don't know HOW we have survived financially through this whole process, but we have made it...  Barely...  LOL!!!

My point is... If we had waited until we were READY, we would never have had these wonderful, faith building experiences.  We would never be living our dreams like we are.

If somebody asks us, "Are you ready for this?", we say yes, even if the answer is really no...  We just do it because we know that if we wait, whatever we feel we need to do would never ACTUALLY happen.

Has it been hard?  Yes...   Is it worth the debt, the worry, the tears, the craziness?  Absolutely...  Have there been a lot of struggles along the way?  Most definitely....  But nothing worth having is ever easy to get.

The Lord doesn't require us to be "ready"...  He only asks us to be willing...  If we are willing to do what the Lord would have us do, and have the faith necessary to accomplish His will, HE will take care of the rest and our life will be AWESOME.

So... Go for your dreams...  Don't wait until you are "ready"...  If someone asks' "Are you ready for this?", say YES...  Then do it and see what happens...  If the Lord wills it, then it will be AWESOME Sauce...