Overcoming

Occasionally I battle the anxiety that naturally accompanies trauma.  I find myself feeling afraid for no specific reason, and sometimes I have difficulty sleeping.  Sometimes feelings of shame creep inside of me...making me feel unclean.  But there are quiet moments when light prevails, and I am given to know that everything is as it should be.  I am often reminded that faith and fear cannot co-exist.  Knowing this enables me to overcome.  

The hard stretches are becoming fewer and farther in between, but every time I experience a breakthrough, I try to avoid being discouraged and just look at it as another step forward in the right direction.      

I’ve been enjoying life and motherhood very much lately.  Through the ebb and flow of parenting challenges, it’s always encouraging to find myself in a phase with more energy than usual - doing simple personal habits and necessary tasks with full purpose of heart.  

February and March have felt like that for me.

Mom & Brad’s wedding was a joyful event.  It’s impossible for me to describe the mixture of feelings that I had on that day, but the veil was thin, and it was an occasion I shall never forget.

I found this sign on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I read it every day followed by a fist pump.    

Carlie enjoys getting dressed up and wearing heels on the days when music is the ’special’ at school.

Gabe started a Christian Pre-school last month.    

I had to post this picture of Jared & Cinderella dancing the night away.  This actually brought tears to my eyes watching them that night!  Priceless.

My brother and his wife in the middle of a neighboring subdivision...  

Me - chaperoning the 3rd grade field trip last week to the local planetarium.  OH - I forgot how silly & giggly 3rd graders are.

And speaking of overcoming…we overcame the Norovirus.  (It went through every single one of us over a 10-day period.  It was really hard seeing this little guy so sick.)    

But not without some help from A LOT of Outrageous Ginger Ale.  Truly, I am blessed with the best neighbors - one in particular who kept putting things like this (along with medical disinfectant wipes and Elderberry extract) on my doorstep every day that awful week.