steppingintoday.com

This article will be a little unlike my other articles.  You see, my family and I have been through quite an ordeal lately, and while it may have nothing to do with being a stepfamily, when you take the average intact family and put them up against hardship it hurts, now add an extra few children to that and it thickens the struggle for everyone. 

Coming from a childhood that was financially challenged, I learned early on how important hard work was.  I have been a career minded business woman for thirty years now, and always managed to blend that well into being a mom, a wife, and a stepmom.  Three years ago I left a company that I had ownership in to pursue an offer in management of a new location for a local firm.  I was able to design my office and bring any agents I deemed acceptable. 

In a down economy our office was doing remarkably well.  My team of agents were some of the greatest out there, as human beings, as well as successful business minds.  It was my second family, and one that I spent a tremendous amount of time with - coaching, assisting and motivating, to be the best that we could be.  Unfortunately, as good as we were, the other offices not doing so well caused one to close and then, to my surprise shortly after, my salary deemed unneccesary.  In September I was told my pay would be cut in half and by November, to my dismay, I was let go.  This was an all time low for me, as I had never before been "fired" and didn't know the first thing about unemployment or where to start.  Not only did this come at one of the hardest points in my life, as I had a dad fighting cancer and a mom with other serious health issues, but I had just bought a house to take my mom with me so that I could care for her. 

My husband and I have 7 children between us and their needs grow by the day.  Here I was with a new home and no job, a sick dad and an ill mom, and the holidays were right around the corner.  I was facing so many struggles that I felt like a ton of bricks were placed on my back.  I wasn't sure that I could breathe at times and lay awake at night with panic attacks and crying bouts trying to figure how I would work this all out.  Here I was this superwoman, or so I always thought, not feeling like myself at all.  I was dealing with not only a financial burden, but health issues and a sense of mourning for my agents that I grew so close to.  My husband was experiencing chest pain that only I knew from his actions, because he never spoke those words.  Infact, he was my tower of strength.  I'm sure many are thinking I'm the woman, so my job must be secondary and just helps things move along, but when you  live in stepfamily there are others things that come into play, like the fact that my husband has child support obligations that take a good amount of his salary, even though the children are with us much of the time, and so my income was largely counted on for us to get by. 

I allowed myself some time to heal, but the healing wasn't coming as fast as I had hoped.  It was a force to get myself up and dressed.  Infact, I had worked for so long that I barely owned any clothes not meant for work.  I had one pair of jeans and a few sweaters that could suffice for my sad unemployed self, and surely there was no money for an unemployment wardrobe. 

Thanksgiving Day was our turn without our children because it was their other parents turn, and that had me sinking lower.  The next day was Black Friday, and even the best of sales couldn't have pulled me out of the house, no money equals no shopping.  So I decided to get out of my slump and try to decorate for Christmas.  I went to the basement for the stockings and realized they had been damaged in the move.  I went to the couch and sat to sob one more time and feel sorry for myself when suddenly there was a loud knock at the door.

 My husband and son went to the door but saw someone run.  He turned the light on and opened the door to see who it may have been and there sat a round gift box.  The gift box read "Bless Our Home" and a little note attached said "To Laura from Santa's Elf".  My husband brought the box inside, as my son had tried but he couldn't lift it.  He called me in saying that I wouldn't believe my eyes..and that surely got me up off the couch.  I lifted the cover and inside there was a note that read "I hope this helps a little to make Christmas better for the children" Love, Santas Elf.  As I uncovered the tissue paper you could see the box was full, to the very top, with coins.  Someone had saved every quarter, dime, nickel and penny for a very, very long time.

Suddenly, this overwhelming feeling came over me.  Ofcourse, once again, I cried..but these tears were different.  They were tears of love, of hope, of promise.  I don't know how much is in there yet, as I haven't been able to bring myself to do anything but look at it.  It was more than just coins in that box, it was the ability to see clearly that angels are around us, that people truly do care, and that there are some who have it so much worse.  It was my inspiration to crawl out of my sorrow and get back in the game.  I took my license and joined a new firm, Meg Smith and Associates, the one with the nicest office and a true heart for the community.  I was a power Broker, and I will be again.  I'm also a great mom, a good wife, and a loyal and true person, and somewhere along the way those qualities are still held in high regard.  It gave my family the realization that doing for others is sometimes better than anything you can ever do for yourself.  It wasn't just coins, it was closure.  It was as if someone far greater than I came and held my hand and pulled me up to where I needed to be.  We have decided as a family that we are going to put that money towards our Christmas Tree and holiday family dinner, and with some of it we will pay it forward and give a gift to someone when they least expect it.  And even if I never find out who my elf is, I know this person knows that I am good, infact better than ever, and it is because of them.  Thank you for my "Pennies from Heaven".