2024 Reflections

This summer, our family traded our home for a few long, temporary Airbnb stays by the beach. The girls had two years’ worth of sun and sand in three months while I was busy planning and organizing the logistics of where to stay and for how long. That was the fun part. But the reason we got an Airbnb was because of water damage in our home. It started with a musty smell in my bedroom. The cause was high humidity in our walls from roof leaks extending throughout several rooms, including the kitchen. The initial schedule had the project finished in a month. It ended up being three. So, we had to pack half the house, put it in storage, and find a place to stay for the summer. As far as the water damage is concerned, my first impression was that maybe drywall replaced and then paint. Not so. The drywall, a few loose and rotten studs, and insulation were replaced entirely in every room except the dining room and my office. Due to the corrosion from the humidity, the furnace, the A/C, and the entire ducting system were replaced as well. My wife wasted no opportunity to make a few upgrades to the kitchen. This was the only portion paid out-of-pocket. The rest, thankfully, was covered by the insurance.

This experience taught me a greater deal about people, specifically myself. It solidified presumptions about dealing with personalities, good and bad, merely on first impressions. One of the biggest lessons this year is that some people are in the world only to further their agenda. In this case, despite being in a profession that requires putting a customer's needs above theirs, the folks who worked on our home treated us as means to an end. It is not surprising if you have been an adult long enough to realize this. Everyone, including ME, falls extremely short of the possibility of being our best daily, more so if the cost of sacrificing for being our best threatens our ego and pride. There were instances where I lost my patience, pridefully and knowingly becoming an obstacle more so than a vessel of peace amidst chaos. From a biblical perspective, it is not wrong to “love yourself,” but loving yourself at the expense of others is not ideal. It is why the verse preempts it with “love others as you do yourself.”

In the end, our home was restored, and we are blessed to have it back, even better than before. Yet, the true value of this experience lies not in the repairs or in the difficult personalities I had to deal with but in the perspective gained. The things we possess will inevitably face wear and tear but the lessons we draw from loss, along with people we disagree with can shape us in lasting ways. Going into 2025, I am reminded that our values—not our possessions—define us. Are yours aligned with what truly matters?