True Story
I'll be real here.... if you cry easily, grab yourself some tissues. 😬
Because: TRUE STORY.
When I was 15 weeks pregnant with this little girl, doctors looked me level in the eye & told me my husband had practically NO chance of making it to meet her.
His cancer had returned. It was advanced. And it would kill him.
They ended up being right. About all of it. It DID kill him. But THANK GOD it took a year longer than they thought.
He made it to her birth; nauseous & dizzy from chemo, dragging from neuropathy, sick with the reality of his impending departure from our little family, but FULL of FAITH.
He set an example of what it means to smile through HELL. It took me watching Nick suffer to understand the level of love that God has for His people. The suffering that He endured. & it took me being there for all that while nurturing a brand new baby to life to FIGURE out what the heck I actually believed in & what I thought about my late husband's unending faith. ❤️
It took me that long to figure out what in the world REALLY mattered.
I started out on a journey after all that to REALIGN my life to my priorities. It took design & some planning, lots of belief & a little destiny... BUT, eventually, I landed SQUARELY on EXACTLY the kind of life that ALLOWS me to live out the TRUTH & PURPOSE that I found.
This man right here, this is my SECOND husband. He's my Austyn Elizabeth's adoptive daddy. And he popped into the picture JUST as I was NARROWING in on my DESTINY.
While I might not have EVER anticipated or wanted the kinds of changes, tragedies & tortures that I had to endure.... I literally CANNOT complain.
Because from this vantage point, my friends... I can see ALL the MILLIONS of ways the Universe has had my back.
NOT because I have a husband & my baby has a daddy.
NOT because I have a house & a more fulfilling career than I could have ever imagined.
NOPE. 🙅🏼
But, because the SH*TSTORM I lived through taught me things that I don't think I would have ever stumbled across on my own.
It TAUGHT me that I really don't need a thing, aside from a REAL-AS-FIRE relationship with my God. Burning through me & BECOMING the oxygen I breathe.
It TAUGHT me more about where I came from. A family legacy that might have been lost for a little while in some dusty attic but is coming back around full-circle & living. STRONG WOMEN who don't give up just because we've been dealt a crappy hand.
It TAUGHT me that life was MADE for living. That I was MADE to do HARD things & that because I was MADE for BRAVE, I CAN decide to face challenges with hope & courage.
Can I tell you what being home with this guy every day feels like???
It feels like a DREAM. It feels like HEAVEN.
& though I'm so stoked to see Nick again in the real one. I know he is DAMN proud that we are working so hard down here to make this world a BETTER place, to love each other with ALL our MIGHT, & SOAK UP the blessings & rest that's finally come our way!! ✨
My priorities BEFORE Nick got sick? Based on where my mind was... MATERIALISTIC CRAP. A big house. A nice car. Lots of money. 😵
My priorities now?? This sweet hookup to my Creator. My family. And TREATING EVERY SINGLE DAY God's given me as the GIFT that it IS! 😍
I don't workout to have abs. I don't workout to look a certain way.
I take CARE of my body so that I can continue to LIVE every day to the fullest. I workout to be my ABSOLUTE BEST SELF.
Because, DANNNNG, do I know it:
LIFE is EXCRUCIATINGLY short.
This truth is BRANDED on my heart.
FOREVER.
It's not going away. So I'll be here. Going on my journey to being a better person: not just physically, but spiritually, mentally, emotionally. I'm going to be the BEST me as a mom, a wife & most importantly a WOMAN who has the power & energy to change the world when I'm taking care of me first. ✨
If any of y'all want to get going on your own journey to living out your own potential, reach out. Because, I'm here to take AS MANY people with me as want to come.
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! 🙋🏼
