Val Rich

Good day, I am so glad you stopped by for a visit; and I would like you to have the opportunity to get to know me. I hope also to get to know you as time goes by. I was born in Long Beach, CA to a military family and have had the opportunity to travel across this great country of ours several times as well as through Central America, Viet Nam, London, and Israel. I can truly say that I enjoyed the traveling but it did offer some real challenges while I was growing up.  By the time I was 21, I had lived in 22 different places and the transferring from school to school definitely presented obstacles to overcome. I graduated from high school in the Canal Zone, Panama and left my family there to attend college in San Francisco, CA. From there I entered the US Army and served on three different posts here in the states before going to Viet Nam in 1968.  That was a real experience and space does not allow me to go into details of the life experiences I had during those three years of service.  Let it suffice to say, I learn a number of great lessons on the values of life and a true thankfulness for the freedoms we have in this country that really are not available anywhere else in the world. Upon my return from Viet Nam I was mustered out of the Army with an honorable discharge and no job nor time to look for one prior to discharge.  I had a family as my wife and I had married just five months prior to my leaving for Viet Nam.  Consequently, I needed to find employment right away.  I tried some construction work and even auto sales, but that did not satisfy my inner desire to help people. I was approached by an insurance person to convert my GI insurance and was fascinated by the thought of being able to assist people in the time of distress that comes with the loss of a loved one.  That fascination led to a 21 year period of time working with families in their times of need.  It was very satisfying to me to be the only one coming to a bereaved family with a check instead of a bill.  Over the years I build up an agency that included six offices throughout the state of California. During that time I also taught sixth grade at a Christian school and acted as a volunteer assistant pastor to a small church.  These two positions also provided a lot of satisfaction. Besides helping people, another desire in my life was a love for the outdoors.  In 1989 I received my license from the Coast Guard to operate charter sport- fishing boats.  I am thankful that even today I get the chance to be out on the ocean taking people out for a day of fishing.  I love working with people and showing them different fishing techniques, and I love seeing them being successful at catching fish even more than catching them myself. The time came when I felt that I was being called into full time Christian ministry.  I was called to a small church to serve as senior pastor.  That ministry came to an end after eight years and I was looking for something to do that would accomplish several ideals that I live by.  Those ideals include: 1. I wanted to do something that would be helping people. 2. I needed something that would produce an adequate income for my family. 3. I wanted an opportunity where I was free to minister to people in need without fear of being fired. I am very thankful that I have found that opportunity.  My wife and I have been married for 40 years and it has not all been easy.  It has taken a lot of work, and there are several lessons that we have learned that have been very helpful in the opportunity that we found ourselves launching.1. Anything worth while takes work.  We needed to be willing to work in our marriage and we needed to be willing to work at the opportunity. 2. Anything truly worth while will require you stretching your limits, or growing.  We needed to be willing to be stretched beyond our comfort zones to make our marriage work and the same is true for the opportunity. 3. Anything truly worth while will require learning new things.  After 40 years we are still learning new things about each other and we are learning new things with our opportunity.  From my 60 years of experience in life I have learned some very valuable lessons.  Life goes up and life goes down.  Circumstances go up and circumstances go down.  Everything is always changing.  Our ability to adjust to changes will determine if we will end the race the way we want to. We each have a choice to be a dreamer or a wisher.  A dreamer can see where he wants to be; will settle on a vehicle to get him there; and will find a way to get from where he is to where he wants to go.  He is determined, committed, and will not give up until his goal is reached. A wisher on the other hand will wish he was there, or wish he had that, but lacks the commitment and determination to make it happen.  We each control our own destiny and the choices we make good or bad will determine where we will be when the race of life is over. The Bible says:  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Christ is my strength and with Him anything is possible, both life eternal and a successful life here on earth. Thank you so much for your visit and I look forward to the opportunity of possibly meeting you in person someday.