rich because (birthday edition)

Friends!! Have you caught examples of the “rich because” trend online lately? Of all the social media copycat invitations, I might love this one the most. Today is my birthday, wahoo! So to celebrate, I am sharing as many reasons I feel rich as the years I have been alive, or, as Dad would clarify, as many years as I have been born: Fifty-two!

I am rich because…

1. I was born in a place I very much want to stay, and I feel physically and emotionally connected to it. Oklahoma is beautiful to me, and I love her.
2. My parents chose to have me, consciously and against so many odds, and they gave me everything they possibly could. I grew up feeling intensely wanted and loved.
3. My parents are still married and alive, and they are healthier than ever! They are incredible grandparents, too. Not many of my friends still have these riches.
4. I come from a family that values togetherness. We are big and wild and energetic, and I can’t get enough of it.
5. I am married to the love of my life, the embodiment of what I always dreamed a husband could be. He is the magical combination of not just strength and safety but also romance and fun.
6. Also a rich blessing? We found each other in our twenties, so we kind of finished growing up together, and we have all these years of shared history and love.
7. I had two perfect, easy pregnancies and gave birth twice to perfect, healthy girls who have been the biggest joys of my adulthood. Incredible blessings I took for granted for a long time. I realize what a rarity this is for women.
8. My life has always been full of friends. In every season, as far back as I can remember, I have been surrounded by friends. From that little girl in Austin who lived next door and came over to play on my swingset, to the Neighbor Kids” on 41st street, school, work friends, dozens of treasured faces and life stories that have graced my own life story. New and old, silver and gold, they are all treasures.
9. I learned early in life that words were a gift to me, and I have found myriad ways to use them. I am still finding new ways to use words, and I am so thankful for what has yet to happen!
10. God has given me all the mentors I have ever needed. If I ever felt alone, it was only because I was not paying attention. Every single time I needed support, I asked for it and received it. I know in my bones this will always be the case.
11. I was given the rich gift of being a stay-at-home mom for the most precious years of my girls’ lives. Despite other things happening outside of our control, I will always be thankful for that season. Being home with them provided a cushion, an insulation, that we are still realizing was such a blessing.
12. We live on a farm that is literally the stuff of my childhood dreams, and somehow God made a way for it to also be located within half an hour of the city and pretty much anyone I want to visit. I still pinch myself some days when I look around here and realize I live here and am not just a weekend visitor.
13. My husband wants to be here with me when he could be in so many other places. What a lottery to be in a marriage that values togetherness. He is even exploring a way to work from the farm more, which is so exciting to both of us!
14. We have been spared so many tragedies. The older I get, the more I see what a mercy that is, what a treasure. We have had hard times and some sad endings, of course, but it bears mentioning that God has spared us far more often.
15. I am rich because I have a huge upstairs room full of books and hobbies, so much that I will never have time to read them all or finish them all, ha!
16. And I am rich because I have the means and the freedom to buy more books and more supplies, despite not needing them.
17. As if that’s not enough, I also have my own perfect greenhouse for retreating and decorating, for growing my own plants, running experiments, and making my little-girl farm dreams come to life.
18. I am rich because right here on this little farm I have more gardens available for my creativity than I ever dared dream of. I clearly remember the first tiny flower bed entrusted to me and how much I worried about it.
19. I am rich because I get to be “Aunt Marie” to so many precious nieces and nephews. I love my siblings so much and am so thankful that over the years they have trusted me with their kids. Rich with memories old and new.
20. I am rich because if I want to change something around the house, even if it’s a little weird, my husband barely flinches. And he helpsmake it happen!
21. I am rich because he loves to do little jobs for me, no matter how much I hesitate to ask.
22. I am rich because he also does the big jobs, the ones most people hire out. He is unafraid of learning a new skill, and he is so good and figuring things out. I feel so lucky to be married to a man like him.
23. And because I have a whole section of shelving he built for me, just to contain hostess supplies. This is Martha Swetwart-from-Oklahoma, on a farm, thrift store style richness, you guys!
24. I am rich because I understand my roles and have all the means and freedoms to indulge in them, dive deeply in as many ways as I want to. I see women at war with themselves or struggling in one role or the other, but because of how my husband and I have navigated life for almost twenty-five years, I don’t suffer from that. I feel so thankful, so rich, because I am doing exactly what I want to do.
25. Rich because we have a piano, and if I want to, I can play it. And rich because I took enough piano lessons as a little girl to understand the basics.
26. Rich because the room where we drink coffee together every morning faces the east, and we can usually see daybreak over the front field.
27. Rich because my memory is jam-packed with more laughter than tears. Truly, what a blessing!
28. Rich because every single animal that has ever lived here was deeply loved, and we have a catalog of memories with them all. What a life!
29. Rich because I have so many running shoes!! Oh my gosh, you guys, it’s ridiculous. And plenty of time to run to feel good, even if I never train for another event.
30. Also rich because of the races I have run! Especially the marathon in DC with my brother. I’ll never forget that trip.
31. Rich because my Dad was the first good man in my life, and I am very aware of measuring all men against him.
32. Rich because I’m so close with Jessica that we feel like friends as well as mother and daughter. To walk with her through this precious chapter of her life is something for which I say thank you every single day. It is also the fruit of the many prayers we prayed during two separate life chapters, when we were terrified for the future. God has been faithful and generous!
33. Rich with incredible memories of visiting Jocelyn in Colorado. Seeing that gorgeous part of creation through her eyes is a treasure I could never have predicted receiving.
34. And my heart and memory are overflowing with memories from all her eighteen years before Colorado.
35. A true richness in my life is feeling truly to Alex, our son-in-law. I thought for a long time about what being a “mother-in-law” would be like, and I try hard to be a good one, ha! Alex makes it easy and fun, and he goes out of his way to stay connected to us. I love and treasure him.
36. Rich because I always feel ready for guests, and our home can welcome people easily.
37. Rich because my husband enjoys hosting as much as I do.
38. I am a rich woman because I actually like my siblings, on top of loving them, ha! Every single one of them is delightful. They make me laugh, they inspire me, and they make me so proud to be their “big sister.”
39. Same with our nieces and nephews!! I LOVE and LIKE every single person in our family ferociously.
40. Rich because I know how to grow a garden, kind of intuitively. But also because I was raised by gardeners. That kind of conditioning is irreplaceable.
41. Rich because my Mom is the original DIY gardener, home recycler, and ingredients cook. I learned so much from her that I use every single day, wisdom I did not get from the internet.
42. And rich because I was able to attend Master Gardener classes at a young age, so I have lots of years to learn from my expert friends.
43. Rich because I get to work with ten of the sweetest, smartest third graders in town at the school garden in OKC. And rich because of the teamwork I enjoy with their teacher and our volunteers. I adore this little part of my life!!
44. Rich because if I want to, I can get my husband to drive seventeen minutes to eat the best grilled fish tacos with warm pepper sauce and limes in the world.
45. If it is true that health is wealth, then I have lots to feel rich about. I feel truly fortunate to be “at this age” and fit enough to really enjoy my life and not suffer from any chronic illness.
46. Equally rich because almost overnight, Handsome has reclaimed his health. Leaving the Commission has proved to be a blessing beyond measure!
47. I got to see Italy at a young age, and Mexico and New Orleans in my twenties and thirties. Some people travel lots more than this, and I love that. But for me, this short list of experiences broadened my thinking enough to alter the way I live, still. I feel enriched by those places all these years later.
48. Rich because I understand the value of living according to the senses.
49. Rich because my husband is fluent in all the Love Languages.
50. Rich, because we are starting a brand new chapter together, a precursor to retirement. I am so excited!
51. Not feeling torn or insecure or unstable is a wealth of peace, a treasure of the spirit. In a thousand private ways, I have cultivated this exact moment in time, and I am obsessed with it.
52. Rich because I have to check the date for my age, and I am surprised by it, ha! That old cliche is true: Age is just a number. I love it, and I am so thankful for the gift of time. More of it. All of it before this moment, and every day that is yet to come.

Thank you for reading, friends! This list is incomplete. I should have included you! I am so thankful for the technology and time that allow me to share life in this way. I am thankful to connect with both close friends “in real life” and friends I might never meet. I am thankful for the added depth writing about life provides.

Cheers to another year of living well!
XOXOXO
~Marie