Woo-hoo!!! (or in other words, trials, tribulations, and great blessings)

In other news today, I got a great phone call from my brother, JJ. He graduated with a business degree 1 1/2 years ago, and shortly thereafter decided he wanted to go to law school for environmental law. He took the LSATs and got a solid score. However, after an unsuccessful round of law school apps last year, he took a job as a manager at a Walgreen's store. He felt disappointed, but decided to give it another go this year. And, he just found out he got accepted to the Vermont Law School, which has the #1 environmental law program in the country! We are so proud and excited for you!!!

This is a simple yet important reminder to me to enjoy the current situation, because in the end, it all works out. Specifically, I need this reminder in the housing arena. Without doubt my biggest trial right now is our inability to sell our house. I never dreamed we'd be in this townhome 6 years later with 3 kids. Friend after friend has come and gone and moved into 2 or 3 houses in that time (and I am truly happy for each and every one of you!), and here we sit. I will fully admit I struggle with having a positive attitude about it.

However, for every trial I've gone through, when it's said and done, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. For example, the couple of years shortly after I graduated from college were very interesting. I was making some big changes in my life, and most of my college friends had gotten married or moved on. It was a very lonely, transitioning time in my life. I spent most of my time working, serving in my singles ward, and volunteering (at one time I had 4 volunteer projects: at Minneapolis Children's Hospital, at the Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House, at Former MN Viking and current MN supreme court justice Alan Page's Education Foundation, and as a literacy tutor working with a 32-year-old, father of four, man who had a third-grade reading level). And when I wasn't working, serving or volunteering, I was running. I never had time to feel down, even though I did feel alone a lot.

And in the end, I would.not.trade.those.years.for.anything. Period. They were extremely formative years and I am grateful for them.

So, when I look back on experiences like this, I really need to try to remember to make the most of where we are and what we have, because in the end, I am sure I will remember good things from our time here in this house, and I KNOW I will be all the more grateful for a house. Seriously, a yard??? That would be the greatest blessing I can imagine right now, and I like to think I would NEVER take it for granted. I don't know when it's coming, but I've got to believe when it does come, then it will be the right time. And that, my friends, is where faith comes into play.

I'm sort of rambling, but I'm having a thinking night. I'd like to think someday I will have a new house, and I want to look back and remember being on this end of things and wondering when this most sought-after blessing will come. I guess it all comes down to "this too shall pass," and whenever a trial is over, it seems like I come out on the other end saying, "that really wasn't so bad."