Be Thankful

by Jonathan Longnecker

I’ve been trying to come up with something to write about for a couple of days now and just realized that there’s nothing wrong. If you think about it, we usually write when we’re upset about something or when there’s a problem we’re trying to fix. Maybe we like to vent or rant all the time, but I thought it might be nice to take some time and tell you what’s good in my life. Not that my life is better than yours! I’m just finding the good in what I’ve got. I hope you’ll try to do the same.

My Family

my familyI have the coolest family. My wife is totally awesome, and we’re expecting our 3rd child in October. She cooks seriously amazing food all the time, does the books for the business, takes care of the kids and manages to find time to clean the house. I could not do that!

My little girl, Adali will be 4 the end of this year and she’s so smart, articulate and beautiful that I’m going to be fighting off the boys with a baseball bat in a few years. I love that she still likes hanging out with me smile.

My son Jett is all boy. Grunts and yells and runs at you like a football player, but has the sweetest nature underneath. Makes my day when I see him laugh for real. I don’t know where he got his intensity, but it adds an interesting dynamic to our otherwise laid back family.

On top of all this, all my immediate family gets along on both sides. I actually enjoy being around all of them. Pretty sweet.

My Job

FortySeven Media is doing great. We’re busy and we’re making money. We’re working on exciting projects and I love getting up each day to make new stuff. We have several secret projects in the works that are going to be awesome.

I have the freedom to start work early or late, take a long lunch or the afternoon off if I need to. That in itself will spoil you! And since I’m here with my family all the time I can take a few minutes to relax and play with the kids whenever I want. Such a huge blessing!

My Future

You probably saw Nate writing about goals the other day, but I’m going to reiterate. You can’t get somewhere you’re not going. We’ve been pretty guilty of making enough money to pay the bills, but not having a real plan for the future of 47m. Well that’s all changing. We’re reading a book called “The Richest Man Who Ever Lived,” based on Solomon and the book of Proverbs. Whether you believe in God or not doesn’t really matter. The wise, practical advice in this book is challenging me to no end and I love it. Make goals you’re excited about. Then figure out how to get there. Write it down. Check it off. Ta-da!

Everything else

I have a place to live, cars that run and food in the refrigerator. I get to use a Mac everyday and I love my iPhone. Sure there are some things I’d like to change, but the point is most of us have it so very very good. Take a minute and be thankful. You’ll be glad you did.

July 10, 2009

Business, Personal

Comments

  1. 1

    Brian - Jul 10, 2009

    Great post. You don’t really know how blessed you are until you take make a minute to stop and count them. wink

  2. 2

    Mark Slater - Jul 13, 2009

    wow, complete family, mine too, its true pal, sometimes we miss our foremost things to share, and worry about silly things, just think up, if the person who is sharing the boring story of his life problems, how boring would it be for other’s to read, lol, i m sure they will come to this wonderfull site and learn some precious values of life

    Thanks

  3. 3

    Sonia Coleman - Jul 13, 2009

    My husband forwarded me the link to your blog post, with the message, “Good read.” I have to agree! It is nice to take a moment to be thankful. We have a similar life to yours in that we both work at home, doing web, graphic design, and writing. We get to use our Macs and iPhones, but we don’t have any kids yet. I’ll have to check out the book on Solomon. Thanks for sharing!

  4. 4

    Ashley Longnecker - Jul 14, 2009

    Wow, I love you babe! You’re so thoughtful! I am so proud of you and who you’ve become grin

  5. 5

    Amy rich - Jul 17, 2009

    grin  What a profound thought! Its true sometimes we get so absorbed in what we dont have that we forget about what we have actually and we never thank God for it.Or just be thankful for it.When we feel grateful a feeling of contentment comes which gives amazing satisfaction grin You have a wonderful family and your kids are just awesome.What more one could ask for !!!

  6. 6

    Dan Denney - Jul 17, 2009

    Thank you for sharing this, it was a wonderful break from the usual blog posts. I’ve had my fill of 27 “things to do this” for the day. I am very glad that things have been going well for you and that you recognize that this is a time to keep pushing and growing. Many would just enjoy the ride.

    I have been looking forward to meeting you based on the amazing work that you and Nate do. I was primarily focused on the work that you do, but this post makes me look forward to meeting you even more. (To actually meet Jonathan, not just the guy who makes kick awesome stuff at FortySevenMedia)

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    Jonathan Longnecker - Jul 18, 2009

    Thanks for the kind words everyone! Keep on being’ thankful!

  8. 8

    Scott Schuster - Jul 20, 2009

    First of all, great post. Secondly, beautiful kids and congrats on the 3rd! One question though… how in the world did the two of you have two blond haired kids? Perhaps my monitor’s colors are all out of whack or I’m loosing my sense of color, but it appears to me from that photo that you and your wife are both red heads… I just don’t get it smile Anyway, congrats on having a great family and an awesome job!

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    Jonathan Longnecker - Jul 20, 2009

    Hey man my wife and are actually both blond as well. Mine’s darkened a bit and Ashley colored hers a while back. The kids didnR#8217;t really have a choice smile

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