Truly Abundantly Wealthy

Wealth is the second word in the title of my blog, and the meaning of the word has continued to evolve for me during the last few years. When I first started thinking about the blog and the word wealth, I wanted to share the methods we have used to manage our real food budget and our discretionary spending. Overall we have made some very positive changes, which I will share more in depth later, but during the last week I have realized how truly abundantly wealthy we are.



Sometimes our life focus gets so distorted that we put an emphasis on material goods, or being better than our peers (or as parents wanting our children to be better than their peers), and we end up working ourselves to death in order to ensure we accumulate the material goods and social status we are told by society are important. In the end wealth is about so much more than that, and the love and support Anthony and I have received before and during his transplant, and during the death of Anthony's father, is evidence of that.

Anthony's father, Jim, passed away suddenly in December of 2011 from a seizure. At the time I was on maternity leave after having our youngest daughter Maddie, and I was dreading my return to work because the environment was toxic and I was working long hours. While standing in line for Jim's showing I was struck by the number of people who came from all over the country and state to pay their respects to him. Person after person shared similar stories about Jim. He gave them a chance when no one else would, or he helped them with their horses, farms, houses, events, and more. There wasn't a single person who said they admired Jim's possessions, the long hours he worked, or his social status. Each person described how thankful he or she was for his service, genuine compassion, and for believing in him or her despite the cost or time for Jim. He shared his wealth unconditionally with them in whatever way he could.

Jim taught me a lot about what it means to be truly wealthy, which is a life surrounded by people who love, support and share their time and talents with you, and in return doing the same for them. Working long hours in a toxic environment so that my family could have more stuff and so I could increase my social status was not worth it anymore, and Jim's death taught me that.

Anthony and I both decided to reduce our professional responsibilities a year after that for a decrease in pay, but for an increase in our sanity and time together before the transplant. The results were also an increase in our real wealth. When Anthony entered the hospital for the first time a few weeks ago we started to receive an outpouring of love and support, and received acts of kindness from numerous people. Throughout the experience I have been strong, but happy tears have slipped out a few times due to the overwhelming gestures of kindness by our family, friends, and even strangers. We are truly abundantly wealthy.

The donor willing to allow someone else to live on, my dad sitting with me for hours before, during, and after the transplant, my mom and sister making sure Maddie had a great 3rd birthday and helping the girls feel comfortable and loved while we were gone, my brother texting Anthony Cardinals game updates and keeping us laughing with funny stories, Anthony's family holding prayer vigils from Missouri to New York, aunts, uncles, and cousins sending their love and prayers, a friend of Anthony's stopping to bring us a care package and to pray with me, a teaching friend holding a prayer circle for us, Anthony's school coordinating gift cards for meals when we leave the hospital, multiple friends of Anthony's and mine from high school, college, work, and across the world sending us messages and offering their time and resources, neighbors sneaking down to mow our yard, visiting me at the hospital, and leaving gift bags for the girls, a nurse hugging me after the transplant saying she texted another nurse during her day off to see if he received the transplant, and numerous other gestures of kindness.

Thank you to each and every person who has supported us and loved us during this experience and during our lives. We are truly abundantly wealthy, and I hope that we can use our wealth to help others feel value and worth in their lives. Imagine what our world and communities would be like if we stopped working ourselves to death, focused more on helping each other than outspending each other, more on building each other up rather than breaking each other down, and sharing our time and talents instead of our just our money. If everyone could feel the way I feel today, then we would be the wealthiest people on earth. Evaluate how you are spending your time and money, reach out to someone you know is lacking real wealth in their lives, and do something for them. Let's help each other on the road to Real Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Please keep the thoughts and prayers coming, our road is going to be long!