You know that sweet spot with cars... where they are all payed for and running well? Well, we have enjoyed several years of a mostly sweet spot with our cars. They are all ancient as far as car years go, and have served us well over the last many years. But the sweet spot is over, folks. In April, Reid's 1989 Honda Civic decided to stop running. Fortunately, Reid is quite the handy man and can fix most anything car related.... if he has time. And there's the rub. "Gold Bug", as we affectionately call that car, needs an engine rebuild. Something Reid can totally do, but with all the other things going on during this year, he has been unable to work on it. And so, poor Gold Bug has been in our driveway on blocks, without a hood, waiting for his little engine to be rebuilt. Yep, 9 months. (Thanks to Christmas break, and Reid having some time to work on car stuff, he is now finally nearing completion!) Now, we are blessed enough to have 2 other cars, so being one down, while inconvenient, isn't the end of the world for us. Just a first world problem that feels like a pain in the neck. The real struggle comes when one of the other cars has problems while we only have two cars running. And that has happened several times while Gold Bug has been patiently waiting to be up and running again. Bear, as I not so affectionately dubbed our Excursion (because he lumbers, is clumsy, and is huge like a bear), has had some struggles this year. He had trouble on our Spring Break trip to Fresno, he died one day as I was driving Katie home from work this summer, and then again in Washington on our way home from Victoria. And he really died a week before Thanksgiving, and given time and circumstances, still sits in the driveway waiting for answers and to be fixed. Needless to say, that really becomes a stressful situation - costing plenty of money, having to borrow or rent cars, working around schedules to be able to drive places, costing lots of time, and conflict in our marriage (keepin' it real, here), etc... we're not sure what the final outcome of all this will be, but I think it may look something like replacing Bear and getting Gold Bug running, to last as long as possible before we need to replace him. Hopefully these things will take place in the not so distant future. In the meantime, we will continue to be thankful that Fletch, our 1993 Toyota Camry is still running strong (knock on wood) for now, and be thankful that in all these car dying incidents, we have always been kept safe, experienced much generosity from friends in the form of borrowed cars, and have found solutions.
Challenge number two came in the form of a blessing. Reid received a promotion at work! He is now the Vice President of Student Development and also Chief Information and Effectiveness Officer. I am so proud of him! This promotion is an awesome thing, but as would be expected, it comes with more responsibility. And as he restructures things, there have been times he has had to take on other positions to help ease work loads until new employees come in. This has been a big time commitment, adding to the hours Reid spends working evenings and weekends at home, and has also involved extra travel as Reid attends seminars and conferences to better understand all the positions he has had to fill in for. In fact, during the months of October, November and December, due to this and some other factors I will write about, Reid was gone from home 1/3 of the time.
There are some challenges we face that cannot be given too much attention in order to protect the privacy of our children, but suffice it to say that a some of our children have faced some significant challenges over the last several months, and that wears on our hearts and minds. We are thankful that God is always with them in the midst of their challenges,. He is working things for good in their lives, and we are seeing good changes and positive growth in their faith and character.
Our biggest "challenge" was the decline and passing of Reid's dad. During the Spring, Ed's prostate cancer began to take over after being staved off for many years. Again, I want to be real about this....along with the hard, sad, emotional and mental effects of this, there were some other challenges. For instance, while on some medication that caused Ed to be REALLY grumpy, he said some really hurtful things to Reid. And Ed didn't even recall saying those things. But we could tell that the things he said were real feelings, even if they were magnified by the medication. That was painful and hard to process. Extended family tensions and emotions ran high sometimes too, as is expected during times like this, and while Reid did his best, there were some hard things to deal with. Reid also spent as many weekends as he could in Klamath Falls, helping with a move, spending time with his parents, etc. We all made a trip or two at various times over the summer, to help out. They were good times. And important times. And they intertwined with all the other challenges we have faced this year, of time limitations, travel for Reid, money, car issues, etc. But we wouldn't trade the time we did get to spend with him before he passed away on November 29th. A memorial service was held December 29th, and it was a wonderful service. We were able to spend a couple of wonderful days with all of Reid's family - even his brother and family from Colorado! - and this is where we get to begin with the good things of 2018. Yay!
It's kinda funny. Our challenges often contribute to our blessings. Like getting to spend some good quality time with Reid's family while we all gathered for Ed's memorial service. And a promotion that comes with more time commitment. Because of all the traveling Reid does, our air miles and hotel points rack up quite nicely to provide us with some fun opportunities. Reid and I were able to go on two trips to California in the Spring to watch Katie play water polo and spend some time with her. We even surprised her on one of those trips, which was really fun! All those air miles also made it possible for us to fly Katie home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas - costing a whole $12 each time!
We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in June this year! To celebrate, in May we traveled to Victoria, BC for a four day weekend. It was so much fun! I love Victoria! We explored the Buchart Gardens, ate some really yummy food, walked through the Empress Hotel, went to a museum, watched a parade and wandered the streets and the harbor. Incidentally ;), the kids were there too! They had saved up money all year to go on a sibling trip, and thought Victoria would be a fun place to go, so we asked them if they wanted to go at the same time as us, and that's what they did. They drove their own car, stayed in their own hotel room, and spent one day wandering by themselves. That gave Reid and I time to ourselves for celebrating our anniversary and we got to spend the rest of the trip with the kids. The best of both worlds! And such a fun family trip!
We had kind of a strange summer, in that even though we went on several fun trips, we weren't able to go on any of those trips as a whole family (besides the Victoria trip in May). Weird for us. We had girls getaway with my SIL's, other mom Mary, and cousins while the guys went on man camp with the guys from the same family group, the trips to KFalls, and I went to California with the girls water polo team as a chaperone. The girls and I went camping with my parents, but Reid and Cameron were unable to join us. I hope next summer is filled with just as many adventures, but more together time. :)
Well, this post is getting overly long, so I'd better cut it off. The kids are all doing well... despite some of their challenges. Cameron is about to head into student teaching and finishing his senior year at Corban. I can't believe he'll be graduating from college this year!! Katie is a sophomore at FPU, enjoying being an R.A., all her friends and of course water polo. She switched majors and starting this semester will be majoring in psychology instead of math. Rosalie is a junior in high school, enjoying water polo and swimming. She learned to knit and made a really cool scarf this fall. :) Natalie is a sophomore in high school and is also enjoying water polo and swimming, spending time with friends, etc. They are all growing up fast, and their futures look bright! :)
This year has been an interesting one for sure. But I've learned and grown through it all. I am thankful for my Bible Study Fellowship ladies and the wonderful teaching of BSF, our family, our church, our water polo family, and all the friendships, love and support we have within those groups. Here's the deal. Life is/can be challenging. But the goodness of the Lord is found amidst the challenges. I see His goodness in the way He provides through friendships, financial blessings/gifts, the generosity and love of the people who surround us, and the growth we experience through challenges. I see His goodness in the lives of our children and how the grow and develop, and in the everyday joys, laughter and smiles all around me. And that's why in 2019, I want to focus on joy. I want to look for the good in each situation we face, whether it seems positive or not. I want to look for and enjoy the good in all of the people we encounter; friends, family, acquaintances and others. I want to look back at each day and find the positive, the good, the joy. Because I believe it's there. In every situation. In every person. In every day. In the challenges. In the fun. In the hard. In the good. So 2019, here's to positivity. Here's to enjoying the good. And here's to choosing joy! Cheers!
Psalm 27:13
"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
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