A Little Family History

Is it easier or harder to be thankful in the leaner years?

In some ways, I think it is easy during the years of plenty because what I am thankful for just flows into my mind. But during years like this one, where we are struggling to even put food on the table, I have to think a little bit harder, ponder a little bit more. In the end, I think it makes my gratitude just a little bit stronger.

So today, in honor of remembering my blessings, I thought I'd share a story from another leaner year in my life. It was a season of adversity as well as miracles for our family, so it seems appropriate for this time of year.

Back in 2002, Terence was finishing up his degree in electronics engineering at ITT. When he had originally started the program, most of the grads of his program were getting hired straight out of school with salaries starting around $60,000. We were eagerly looking forward to this day because trying to get by on his $10/hour warehouse job + my part time consulting work was just not cutting it in San Diego. We lived in an ancient triplex that was mold-stricken and far too small for our little family. M's crib was in the living room, our queen-sized bed took up the entire bedroom, and our kitchen was too small for us to actually eat in it. We ate our meals sitting on our hand-me-down couch, which was wedged in between the crib and my desk. I would daydream about the day that we could live in a two bedroom apartment, but renting one of those in San Diego was far, far beyond our means.

However, when the dot-com bubble burst, it took its toll on the electronics industry. When Terence was starting his last quarter, we learned that no one was getting hired from his school anymore (and that many of the ones from the previous classes had actually gotten laid off.) I remember Terence and I sitting together and wondering what on earth we were going to do. What good was his education going to do us if he had to keep his same job, only now with student loans to pay? So I asked Terence what else he had always wanted to do, and he offhandedly replied that he had always wanted to be a fireman or a cop.

So I plunged headfirst into research and learned that becoming a firefighter would be difficult, if not impossible for Terence, given his health and asthma history. But being a police officer was not a bad option. Unfortunately, all the agencies I looked at in San Diego didn't seem to pay enough to make it worth it. (Apparently cops are not expected to live on one income.) But when I ventured over to the Arizona departments, everyone was hiring and they paid good salaries. Plus the cost of living was so much lower! I was elated to find that we could rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment in a decent area of town for less than $700.

It turned out at this time that my dad's company decided to relocate their headquarters to the Phoenix area, so my parents would be moving to Arizona also. More and more things started to fall in place, and when Terence and I prayed about it, we got a clear answer that moving to Arizona when he finished school was the right thing to do.

Still, when we told people they thought we were crazy. Not long before the anticipated move, my consulting work dried up, and we started living off my parents' food storage. (They hadn't wanted to move all that food to Arizona.) Then, I found out I was pregnant again. So when some of my friends learned that we were moving to Arizona without Terence even having a job, with a toddler and a baby on the way, they asked us if we were sure it was a wise decision. (We didn't even have the money for a moving truck at the time.)

Rationally, it didn't make sense. But I was full of confidence and faith that it would all work out. Of course, I didn't know how hard that road was going to be. If I had known, I might have been too scared to leave California!

(To Be Continued. . . .)