One night in 2017, while driving home from dinner with my wife, it dawned on me just how good our life was.
Our baby boy was amazing. We’d built an incredible house that felt like home. The business I was leading was growing explosively. Our work had purpose and made a difference in people’s lives. Our parents were healthy. Our relationships were active, fulfilling, and strong.
I reflected as we drove home and could not think of even one genuine painful problem in our lives. It was surreal. I was happy and proud.
But I was also aware.
“It won’t be like this forever,” I told my wife. “In fact, it won’t be like this for much longer. Life doesn’t work that way. We are in a season of pure joy right now. Let’s appreciate every day we have like this. Because our storms are coming. When things in our life change and it’s not like this anymore, we can’t be surprised or unprepared. Life is amazing right now. But this season will pass. We need to remember that we have many rough seasons of life ahead of us, too.”
That was 2017.
By 2020, my grandma had died — Jean Kight, my dad’s mom, the most wonderful woman I’ve ever known. I left the company and team I’d spent 15 years building with my dad. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer with no cure. The world plunged into a global pandemic and the course of history changed.
If you had asked me in 2017 to describe what my life would look like in 2020, I would have failed miserably. But I was not entirely unprepared. I didn’t need to know what would happen to be prepared. I stayed prepared by remembering during my best times that many difficult times were ahead.
If you are in a season of comfort, joy, and ease, appreciate it. And strengthen yourself for the storms ahead.
If you are in a season of stress, struggle, and exhaustion, keep faith and keep moving forward. Seasons of joy are ahead.
Event + Response = Outcome. Do the work.
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