The past few weeks have been some of the hardest times we’ve had as a family and in our marriage.
Peace and joy have been elusive and thankfulness has been really hard to muster.
Things started looking up about two weeks ago when after a very low low we had a breakthrough.
This journey started about two years ago when we moved to Corpus. I don’t remember if I’ve said it before, but back in 2017 we sold our first home that we had fixed up, for a profit. We decided to invest in our own business and move to a new city that we had never even visited before.
In March of 2017 we found ourselves in a new city, with a new business, in the middle of shifting and finding our parenting style, spending a LOT more time together as a family, home educating our 3 boys, and with a very uncertain financial future.
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To say that 2017 was hard would be an understatement.
So much so that when we went to visit my parents in Mexico for Christmas, my body shut down. I guess having the boys looked after by my mother, and not being home with all my responsibilities, helped my body relax. All the built up tension hit me like a ton of bricks. I spent a good part of our vacation in bed or in pain. It was a wonderful time but also a good reminder of how tough the past months had really been. They hadn’t felt that hard at the time but I guess they were.
2018 has been easier in some ways, we’ve learned a lot about being business owners and we have learning to focus our energy in how we want our business to look like. We have adjusted to spending so much time together as a family, which we didn’t think would be a challenge. We love (most days) our unpredictable schedule and been able to go with the flow of our days.
However, it’s been harder in other ways. As a couple we have faced big challenges. I am thankful that we always find our way to each other but it’s definitely been trying. As parents we have evaluated and reevaluated how we want our relationship with the boys to look like – and I’ll be honest: this three boys (five and under!) business is about doing us in!
But, we are here, we persevere. We refuse to give up, well some days we absolutely do but we get up the next day and keep on trying to be better.
Today I can say that I am thankful for every day of the past two years: the good ones, because we’ve had some pretty great days, and the ones when we are just counting the hours till bed time…we’ve had a bunch of those too!
We have grown and matured more than we ever thought when we decided to make this move.
We are now more aware, more intentional, and especially more authentic.
We have found out and continue to find out what we, as individuals, truly believe in and how we can collaborate together to build the family life we want. It hasn’t been easy but it has been oh so worth it. For this I am thankful.
What about you are you thankful for the hard times you face?