Thankfully.

When I think back to this time last year, we were entering a storm.  But, we thought we could fix it, figure out what needed to be done, and get back to normal.

Well, thankfully, that didn't happen.

I never thought I would say that.  If you would have told me one year ago that we would have a whole new life, be a whole new family, and be so much better because of the pain, I would never have listened.

In the end of the saga, before the hiatus, God opened a door for us to begin a new life.  It was unexpected and scary, but we felt strongly that God was asking us to trust Him.


Thankfully, we set off on a new path for our life and our family.  We had to leave behind our vision for our life and accept God's vision for our life.

Thankfully, we listened.

One year ago, I still had hope about where our old life would take us.  But today, I can see that the storm we entered made us stronger in character, in our marriage, in our family, in our conviction as parents, and as followers of Christ.


Thankfully, that storm came through our lives and raged like crazy to teach us so much.

Our life today is completely different...
thankfully. 

We have a life.  We can dream.
We have time for our growing family.
We have emotional capacity for each other.
We are supported.  We are loved. 


We discovered all of this because God had us on a journey, and it involved pain and hurt.  We take responsibility for our share of the conflict and we have found peace in forgiveness where needed.  We graciously - thankfully - accept our new life and know that there may be more storms ahead, but that we will weather them knowing that God will never stop teaching us.