To be that kind of person

Has the thought ever crossed your mind, even if for a brief moment, what a difference the balance in your bank account would be if you were paid for all of the work you've done? Or, further, what sort of incentive would a person need to be more willing to give up a little bit more free time on behalf of someone in need of a favor. Large or small. And on that note, wouldn't it be incredible to be the kind of person, that, without a second thought is completely willing to give of themselves, freely?

Last Saturday, Jeremy and I (along with the majority of his family) cashed in on our commitment to help his Grandmother on her farm as her Christmas gift from the family. I hesitated to even come. How sad is that? But, I'm being honest. Our weekend was over committed and I was very tired. We spend little time together as husband and wife which means little time to work on our marriage and even less time to get anything done other than work/school related commitments. I realized how selfish I was being and poured myself in to the passenger seat. In our short 4 or 5 hours spent raking, weeding, pruning, weed whacking, sawing limbs, mowing, etc. I had a thought. Grandma and Grandpa Campbell built this farm. Most likely, their purchase was largely in part to serve their children in a way that they deemed appropriate. Grandpa past away about 3 years ago. He was a rock, backbone, father figure to his grand children, hard worker, Godly and hilarious. Grandma is now in charge of 32 acres and it is far too much for her to tackle on her own. Which made this gift of service almost as necessary as it was thoughtful. How incredible, if the lives of my amazing in-laws could be watched on a screen in fast forward, would it be to see the cycle of being raised on this farm to raising children on this farm and now helping to preserve the beauty that is this farm? As our day of work ended with a meal and a prayer, Grandma said with a tear in her eye "Grandpa would be so proud of you." And you know what? He would have been. He helped to raise an amazing group of people. Grandpa would be so proud of his wife, also. The person he loved most in this world.

I've experienced a lot in my short 25 years of life. Some things that I wish upon no one and others that I wish for everyone. I don't know everything about everything but I do know some things about some things and this I know for sure: when you have love that can move mountains, you create a wonderful world around you. Love conquers all. And in all of their flaws and mistakes, I do know that this family loves hard. And I am so blessed by it.