My wife is amazing.

One of the recurring joys of my life is falling in love with my wife all over.

Last night my wife told me a story that threw me head over heels again.  This story illustrates how beautiful she is as a human being, and I feel so lucky and privileged that I get to spend my life with this amazing woman.

Yesterday she lost $200.  Instead of kicking herself about it, and ruminating on the cash she lost, she created a story that exemplifies the christmas spirit.

The most likely place she lost it was the Children’s Exchange Store, a kids consignment clothing store over on Division.  It’s a wonderful little place, nestled in the heart of southeast.  It’s not a posh little baby boutique; its the kind of place where the working poor can try to find the cheapest used clothes they can for their growing babies.

Johanna imagined one such mother, tired and stressed, looking for the least expensive christmas dress she can find for her daughter, worried about how to get through the holidays when money is so tight, and she picks up a three dollar pair of shoes.  Underneath the shoes, she finds four neatly folded fifty dollar bills.

Suddenly, the entire day brights up.  She can buy that fancy dress for her little daughter.  She has enough money to buy a few more presents, and to pay the electric bill besides.  There’s even enough to get a big turkey that will feed her family for a week.

The gratitude that this lucky mother would feel, for finding this serendipitous bounty at the perfect time, this is the feeling my wife chose to feel instead.

Knowing that we become what we continually think about, she did not allow the emotions of scarcity, of lack, of disappointment to overtake her.  She fantasized about how her circumstances could have created such great joy in the world; and you know, by the Law of Attraction, I would not be surprised if this is how things turned out.  Somewhere in SE Portland, there is somebody who found $200 and is feeling really grateful for it.  Because of where it was lost, chances are good it was found by a young mother.  She feels really lucky.  She has good uses for that money.  There is a significant net increase in good in the world, because of this occurrence.

Johanna decided to see herself not as a victim, but instead as the agent of the divine.  I was with her when she took that extra hundred dollars from the ATM, ‘just in case’ money for presents.  I was with her when she went to the Children’s Exchange Store, all the way on the other side of town, a store we don’t frequent.  I watched our kids go puddle stomping, soaking their clothes, on a day when we inexplicably didn’t have a spare set of clothes in the car.  We needed fresh clothes, and we were in southeast, and Johanna had some extra money in her purse.

We were the functional application of someone’s prayers being answered.  Johanna recognized this as our situation right away.

She remains one of my greatest teachers.  I am forever grateful for her wisdom, her inner beauty, and the purity of her soul.  When I think of how lucky I am, that this incredible human being is not only an integral part of my life, but she’s also raising my children, I am overwhelmed with joy.