Ups and Downs

Three days after I got my promotion, I received a medical bill from a recent appendectomy.  Thirty-five hundred dollars (and that's with insurance)!  The optimists would say that God blessed me with a promotion to pay the bill.  Optimism doesn’t come so easy for me.

         

Throughout my life, every step upward financially has been met with some new challenge.  Throughout my life, I’ve always thought, “Man, if I could make a little more money, I could get ahead and live comfortably.”  If only it worked that way.

         

It makes me wonder sometimes if I’m predetermined never to have the comfortable life I so desire…if I’m never going to give my family the life they deserve.  I worry about that all the time.  But looking at where I was and where I am, I have no doubt that the fight is worth fighting.

         

I’ll end with a few lines from my book:

“But if this is the life that God’s willed for me, I’ll climb from it out of spite.  Send me mountains and I’ll climb them.  Send me rivers and I’ll swim them.  Send me deserts and I’ll walk them.  Put up a wall, and I’ll pound on that wall for the rest of my life, if it means one day I can reach my bloody hand through the hole to feel the warmth of the sun on the other side.”

Promotion

After 3 1/2 years with Lowe's, I received my first promotion this week.  I am now the Lead Merchandising Specialist for the Lumber division of the company.  I will continue to work directly with Outdoor Storage and will share a second category (Plywood) with another MS.  I'm very excited at the opportunity and hope that it will lead to other opportunities in the near future.

Just as exciting, one of my Circle leaders got a promotion at his new job.  It took him three weeks to get a promotion, and it took me three years, so maybe I need to take advice from him.  I'm so excited for him and his family.  He's such a hard worker and is extremely devoted to his family, so I'm very happy for him.  The company he works for is also going to pay for him to go back to school to get his welding certification. 

Three weeks ago, he and his family were going through a really rough time, and he was talking about giving up on the Circles program.  He stuck with it and kept his faith, and now things are going great!  We all know the road out of poverty is a bumpy one, and he and his family will still see good times and bad times, but as long as they keep their eyes on the prize, the good times will come more often and last much longer.

On another note, if you haven't seen the website for my novel, check it out.  Here's the link:  http://www.theweedsarealwaysgreener.com/

Circles--Fighting the Fight

For the last three or four months, I have been a part of the local Cirles chapter of the Move the Mountain foundation.  This wonderful organization is designed to support underpriviledged families and individuals who are striving to make a better life for themselves.  The organization has a very lofty goal--to end poverty.  Some might call it an impossible goal, but after seeing the impact on the families in our local chapter, anything's possible.

Anything's possible, but when you're poor, nothing comes easy.  I've discovered this over and over throughout my life, and now that I'm part of the Circles group, I see it in the lives of those in the program.  It seems almost unfair for someone who is trying to better their lives to go through so many challenges and setbacks.  And, honestly, I can see why so many people give up the fight and settle for a life of poverty.

I was raised on welfare and spent the first eighteen years of my life in extreme poverty.  Growing up, I worked in tobacco, collected cans on the side of the road, and mowed the church cemetary to support my family.  I got my first real job when I turned 16, bagging groceries at Houchen's Market.  Since then, I've always had a job, sometimes working two 40-hour jobs at the same time, and working two jobs throughout college.

All along the way, every time I tried to save money or get ahead, something would happen to pull the rug from beneath my feet.  Now I'm 33 years old with an amazing wife, two beautiful children, and a job I love.  I'm still a long way from where I want to be (financially), and I still have really tough days, but I've gotten to where I am because I never gave up.

I don't think those who have never experienced true financial hardship can understand how hard it is to escape poverty.  It's like constantly walking up an escalator that's going down, or climbing a mountain with someone at the top rolling boulders down the side. 

But, here's my blunt advice for those who are fighting the fight.  I can promise you the good life will never come easy, and I can promise you there will be always be times that you just want to give up.  I can promise you that no one else can (or will) give you the life you deserve, and I can promise you that money will never solve all your problems.  But, with that being said, I can promise you that (as the saying goes) the juice IS worth the squeeze.  I can promise you that you are only willed what you're willing to accept, and if you never back down, you will always move forward.  I can promise you that you deserve better and if you never forget that and you never let anyone convince you otherwise, you will get better.

I'll end with a line from my book, The Weeds Are Always Greener.  "Send me mountains and I'll climb them.  Send me rivers and I'll swim them.  Send me deserts and I'll walk them.  Put up a wall, and I'll pound on that wall for the rest of my life, if it means one day I can reach my bloody hand through the hole to feel the warmth of the sun on the other side."