I know absolutely nothing about investments – at least the financial kind. But I work very, very hard on the relationship kind. I spent a fortune this weekend – but my return was about triple my investment, so I’m flying high right about now.
I invested in three types of relationships in the last 24 hours.
First, my husband and I drove about 3 hours, from Iowa to Illinois, so I could eat dinner with eight of my high school classmates. The distance wasn’t an issue – we were happy to do it. The girls in my Class of 1978 are amazing women – and for the last few years we’ve worked hard to find time to spend together. We’ve done Galena days, class reunions, and random dinner Girls’ Night Out. Not everyone can make every time, but we do what we can, making those relationships a priority. As I mentioned in a prior blog, one of our classmates is facing a long health battle and we wanted to make sure she knew she was not alone, we will stand with her and her husband as they fight the good fight. It was a night filled with the joy of life long friendships. We caught up on each others’ lives, grandchildren (or not), memory issues, and discussed what other classmates were doing. A few tears were shed too, as we talked about life and death, disappointments and joys. Not many of us have both our parents any more and those that do realize the privilege that is still theirs. We prayed for our friend, hugged over and over again, and laughed until our sides hurt. I think the people around us in the restaurant were amused. At least I hope so.
Don and I also invested in each other. He made the huge sacrifice of sitting for hours in our little car, driving through brown countryside, just so he could spend time with me. He worked in the hotel room while I met up with my girlfriends, but I was so happy, knowing he was waiting for me. We love our kids, but we are enjoying our empty nest and time devoted to each other. We don’t always fill the time with conversation – sometimes just quietly being together is enough.
And lastly, this afternoon, I spent a couple of hours investing in 11 middle and high school girls. They aren’t my own flesh and blood, but they are loved like my own. We took over three bowling lanes and had lots of laughs, gutter balls, strikes and spares, prizes and pizza. No one was the greatest bowler, but that wasn’t the purpose. Sometimes it’s just fun to get outside the church and do stuff together…see each other in a different environment. I wanted those around us to see kids who are healthy and kind, honestly enjoying each others’ company. I so appreciated the parents who stayed to help me “supervise.” I am blessed to have good new friends and good old friends.
Are you managing your investments well? Spending time with those people that matter most in your life? Investing and mentoring our youth? Providing a healthy, godly role model for those that desperately need to see adults who love and respect them? Do you still have parents or other elderly relatives that would dearly love your attention? How much time do you commit in maintaining your marriage and parental relationships? Just a few questions I keep asking myself as I try to manage my investments.
As a wife, mom, ministry leader, co-worker, I need to know about a lot of things. People count on me to keep track of details and schedules, managing minuscule bits of information for later retrieval. The problem is I think I need to know a lot about everything…things that are none of my business. I think about how I would solve a certain problem, and tell others my way. I think about how I would respond to someone’s issue, and then communicate it, even though it’s none of my concern. I poke my nose into other people’s problems and most are too nice to tell me to “butt out.”
I know I was raised in a different era. No cell phones, no Instagram, no social media outside of a party line. Don’t know what a party line is? Google it. Oh yes, no Google, either. Side note: Google would have saved so many arguments in my family. And IMDb – my dad and I “discussed” movies, actors, etc. ad nauseam. That little app would have come in so handy. I digress…
I set up my profile, selected which subjects I wanted to offer, picked my hourly fee, and sent it live to the WyzAnt website. They did the rest. It was one of the best spur of the moment decisions I have ever made.
Some of us think we’re too old (or too dumb) to learn new things, but I think that’s either a lie you’ve believed or a lazy way to live life. I’m sure you don’t still have a rotary dial telephone or a TV without a remote control. Along the line you’ve learned to use an electric stove and a gas washer and dryer. Maybe you’re really daring, using a smartphone with wifi, sharing iPhone photos of the grandkids on Facebook.
What new thing will you learn today?
Had a whole blog written about staycations. Got about three paragraphs in and realized it was so mundane and boring, that I wouldn’t even read it. Deleted the whole thing.
Ordinary Life Extraordinary Destiny 