We just celebrated Thanksgiving and social media was filled with sentiments of what everyone was thankful for.
As I sat that morning and thought about all the wonderful things in my life that I was thankful for, one stood out amongst them all:
I am most thankful for a year filled with a lot of personal lows and struggles.
2021 was a year full of tremendous blessing as well. We bought a home, my husband made a career switch that has been incredible for him and our family, I finally created a habit of working out (currently I have worked out every single day this year) and I took over our online business 100%.
I also started writing at the beginning of the year and began to have ideas and conversations flow out of me onto paper. Well...digital paper that is.
Yet, I was stuck.
I was filled with so much hope and doubt all at the same time. I'm not sure how that works, but that's how it felt.
I had hope that I could run a business and homeschool and do both well. I was also filled with self-doubt. I often felt that I didn't have what it took.
I was so frustrated with my distraction, self-sabotage and negative self-talk.
After a frustrating day, many times I would cry, talking to Clint. I knew the problem was me. Why was I so messed up? What was wrong with me?
In August I started to go to EMDR therapy, which is a special type of counseling.
I didn't feel I had trauma to work through, so I had no idea what to expect but I was hopeful it could help these struggles I was going through. I was shocked and surprised when I began to identify and overcome some MAJOR mental blocks that I didn't realize I even held onto.
You can read about it here in a different article I wrote.
I started to flourish and felt so empowered.
And then fell again.
And rose up, just to fall again.
One morning sitting on my couch, watching the sun rise, praying, crying and praying some more, I knew that God wanted me to fully trust Him with all of my life β to not question His timing and plan.
And here's what I have learned this year:
Be thankful for the lows, for that's where we grow into the person God meant for us to be.
We cannot carry the weight of our calling without the struggles and lows in life.
What you and I go through individually in our lives is meant for a purpose far greater than any we can think up.
Take a moment and look back on your struggles this past year. How did you grow? What did you learn?
That will be a far greater reward than any material blessing we can obtain.
So cheers to the struggles, they make us grow and become more like Christ...if we let them!
Thatβs it for now!
Have a blessed Sunday,