The past five years have been a rollercoaster of emotion, full of loss and gain. My Grandmother passed away just days after we finalized the adoption of our youngest son. I tore my ACL. Our dog Liberty Belle died. We've had neighborhood friends move away, and we've fallen in love with the new ones who moved in. Our next-door neighbors slowly withdrew, and then suddenly became aggressively hateful and hostile. Words cannot express how difficult it is to share a fence with people who treat your family so badly.
The strain of these difficult transitions cost me two important friendships: one that was my fault and one that wasn't. We've met some amazing people and built new relationships during this time as well. I guess that's the ebb and flow of life.
We've taken some wonderful vacations, with and without our children. Though marriage isn't easy, that's the one area of my life that hasn't waivered. These five years have been middle school years, full of highs and lows in parenting. But every step with children is an experience that will teach them and mold them into the people God created them to be.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." - Psalm 147:3
These haven't been golden years in the way that one might initially think, but rather that I feel as though I've been put through the fire.
Gold is refined through a process involving high heat and caustic chemicals; separating the impurities and imperfections for the good of improvement. Temporary destruction for the promise of the beauty that remains.
I've been wrecked and rebuilt in these years, over and over. Melted and mended. I've experienced frustration, pain, and heartbreak, and every bit of it has helped shape me into something better.
xo,
C
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