an orchard lesson

The weekend was full and productive. My wonderful husband gets deep satisfaction from taking care of business. He feels a real strong need to teach me things he thinks I need to know right now. Because he loves me. Because he doesn't know if he will always be around to take care of me. Because his love for me has always translated into action.

I went to Home Depot this morning for bags of mulch for my flower garden. Gardening has been my latest hobby keeping me busy and active... quite therapeutic too. When I got the bags home we both realized they were too heavy for us to move without the risk of hurting our backs and really struggling. Edd suggested we go back to the store to purchase a wheelbarrow or dolly so we could easily transport heavy stuff now and in the future.  When we were leaving the store with our new dolly I commented to him how he has always strived to make my life easier. Always. He just always has.
We’ve had many conversations lately about how he is going to train me on all our finances, how to manage everything and be savvy in this area.  I have been doing a lot of work in the yard this summer planting flowers, buying dirt and stepping stones and mulch. His strong desire is that in the same way I manage my flower garden, I know how to manage my investments. I buy plants without having to ask him which ones to buy. I plant them and take care of them. He wants me to be able to be that way with all our finances.
He's been calling our investments my orchard. He wants me to be able to manage my own orchard and be confident.  When we are finished with all this "training" he wants me to feel real ownership of those investments like I do my garden. Today he showed me how to purchase stock and I bought some! We did some research to understand a little more how the market works. What is the NASDAQ Composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average, etc.?  I don't understand all that much, but I know a heck of a lot more than I did a couple days ago...which was nothing!

An orchard is long term. Trees don't grow overnight. You don't have to work it every day but the trees give security and protection for the future. His desire is for my future to be secure. It's important to him that I be empowered and knowledgeable ... so I will try to be a good student. It makes him happy and gives him peace. He is a natural manager and planner and he is forcing me in a gentle and loving way to be the same. Quite simply, I want him to be proud of me.
Words can’t even begin to describe how incredibly blessed I am to have him.