The Hiatus

We had a lovely hiatus at the end of March.  We spent two weeks unplugged from the world.  We focused on being the family we have never been, on loving like we have never loved, on listening to God in the quiet.  It was amazing...it was totally necessary.

We went through something hard.

It was painful and sad.


The last 6 months have been our most challenging ever.  But through it all we became stronger and learned about ourselves.  We feel blessed because our kids are healthy, we are healthy, and we all love each other more than ever.  We love Jesus and have a deeper understanding of His love for us.

I took on a lot of the pain and didn't talk about it.  I had many days when I didn't want to get out of bed.  I had days I didn't get out of my pajamas.  There were tears - lots of them.  Tears when I woke up, tears at preschool pickup, tears when I was grocery shopping, tears all the time.  I withdrew from many activities, not able to "put on a happy face" when I was so sad.

Why did this happen?

What did we do wrong?

Will we ever heal?

Getting past the pain will take some time.  My heart will have to heal, forgive, and accept my own shortcomings.  I want to move on, I want to forget, but I need to allow myself some time to grieve.  At the same time, we have been gracefully given a new beginning, and I want to be able to move on and live in the excitement.

We have a fresh start.

Life is better now than it has been in many years.

One change and we have new life.

The hiatus was the break between my hubby's old and new jobs.  It was so needed.  We were able to do some of the healing, processing, and grieving in private.  Finally, some quiet and peace to let our hearts feel what they needed to feel.

Something amazing also happened.

We became the family we always wanted to be.

We have God in the center of our marriage and so much love for each other - making this time of trial bring us closer and make us stronger.  But on this hiatus, I saw my hubby get to know and love our children like he has never been able to before.  The understanding and respect built between he and the kids made the six long months of pain worth just this two week vacation.

We finally put our family first.

We finally accepted that we are called to be a family, to be parents, as much as we are called to ministry.

What a relief.

Now today our new life begins.  Its the calm after the storm.  Its the cake after dinner.  Its the support, the love, the encouragement we've known we need.

And here it is.

Given to us by God.

Amazing.

Hello, New Hubby.  Hello, New Us.  Hello, New Me.

Hello to The Life We're Truly Meant To Live.