What You Don’t Know About LIFE Will Hurt You!

Raised on a farm, I am blessed to have parents who taught me the value of education and respecting an earned dollar through hard work.  I was always a serious student, and I learned how to get good grades, but what I enjoyed most were the leadership roles I had in student council, colorguard, and other organizations.  Learning how to inspire and serve others was exhilarating as we worked together toward our goals.  This is where I felt the most alive.  I had a strong desire to change the world, and I thought becoming a lawyer might be the answer.  
After a series of seemingly random events, I decided to go to Kansas State University to pursue a double major in Architecture and Architectural Engineering.  My advisor told me this seven-year dual-degree program was a combination of the most time-consuming degree and the second-most difficult degree.  Being choleric, I smugly accepted the challenge.  I made that decision at 17 years old, and I never looked back no matter how many people advised me otherwise over those seven years.  One of those people was my mom, who half-way through this program sent me a letter.  She added up all the years I had left until I had both licenses, and told me how old I would be.  She then asked me if I had considered how a marriage and family would fit into my plan.  I didn’t know.  I was so career-driven, that it hadn’t occurred to me the sacrifices I was blindly making in other areas of my life.  It would be several more years before I would realize this for myself.
The greatest blessing during college was meeting Ryan.  I immediately knew he was the one for me, though I didn’t think I deserved him.  He graduated before me, so we had a long-distance relationship for three years, and then the next year, I lived in Houston for a healthcare architecture fellowship.  The next year, we were married and decided to make St. Louis our home.  I got a great job at a well-known architecture firm and continued working in healthcare.  This was a very promising career track for me professionally, but it required a lot of travel and overtime. 
After a few years of this lifestyle, it finally began to occur to me that I wanted more than just a successful career, thanks to my husband’s leadership.  He saw more for us than what was defined by the lifestyle of two architects.  He began to dream about where and how we would live if we could choose.  I was reluctant to dream-build with him, because I didn’t know how we would put food on the table.  He said he didn’t know, but we would figure it out, and he started trying.  We explored options in real estate, inventions, and self-employed business ventures, to no avail.  We now know that the reason those weren’t successful, is because we were relying on information we already knew to make them work.  We didn’t know what we didn’t know, and it was hurting us.  
It wasn’t until we were reacquainted with my hometown friends, Brandon & Kristina Brazier, that we learned the answers lie in new information from people who have what we want in LIFE. Brandon showed Ryan the plan for the Team opportunity after he realized how dissatisfied we were in the rat race of corporate America.  Ryan tried to explain it to me, and I didn’t get it, but I trusted Brandon and Ryan’s judgment.  We went to a monthly seminar, and the rest is history.  We didn’t understand much about the business, but we knew that these were people who had what we wanted and they were willing to help us.  We saw how applicable this information could be in our personal and professional lives.  Being around the people in LIFE awoke in me the same exhilaration I had in high school leadership roles, mostly the love of learning how to truly make a difference.
Being career-driven, I had some things to learn from LIFE.  I didn’t know it was possible to earn my freedom and live my priorities instead of my obligations.  I didn’t know I could earn a living without having to separate how the Bible says I’m supposed to live my life.  I didn’t know the joy of making an eternal difference in other people’s lives by helping them with their marriage, parenting, faith, or finances.  I didn’t know how desperately this country needs freedom restored, and that I can help.  I didn’t know that retirement has nothing to do with age.  I didn’t know my purpose-the thrill of pursuing God’s definition of a woman of excellence.  I didn’t know how to be a wife of excellence.  I didn’t know the peace that comes from my husband being the spiritual leader of our home.  I didn’t know that being a mom is the most rewarding, challenging, fulfilling and significant career I could ever have, and thanks to our results in LIFE, I now have job security as a full-time mom!
My dream to change the world is coming true thanks to the LIFE business that Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward have designed and implemented.  We are grateful to the Braziers for introducing us to the Team’s systematic approach to a better LIFE, and for the coaching of Chris & Marcia Robinson and mentoring of Mark & Rita Haas in the areas of Faith, Family, Finances, Freedom, Following, Fitness, Fun and Friends.  Do yourself, your friends, and your family a favor and find out what you don’t know about LIFE!  Your legacy depends on it.
 What didn’t you know about LIFE that has impacted your legacy?  Please share and post to FB.