Some of you who are following my blog may not know the major health struggle(s) I’ve had for the last 3+ years. It all began hours after I delivered our second child, my sweet Sydney. Instead of starting from the beginning, which could take me several posts, I am going to work my way backward while sharing with you the abundant blessings that God has given me and my family during this struggle.

I have some good days and a lot of not so good days. I had a horrible time Friday night and I was up all night in agonizing pain. When I say all night, I mean I was up from 1:45 a.m. until 8:10 a.m., at which point my body finally started to accept the pain and my eyes could no longer be held open. I said good morning to our baby, Mason (child #3), handed him to my husband, and crawled into bed. I literally slept all day long!! It was after 2 p.m. when I woke and I jumped up thinking, “oh no my AJ has had the kids and had work to do.” I hadn’t been awoken by screams or chaos, and in this house both are very common at all times! AJ took care of it all – breakfast, a trip to Home Depot, lunch and nap time – all while keeping them quiet!!! That is serving and true love!!

I have had some really tough days lately and yet I can’t help, but focus on the fact that I sure have a lot to be thankful for!! I am struggling, but this struggle has brought me to my weakest point and I have literally been broken to a point where I have been rocked to my core. It has made me truly surrender my life to Christ and seek Him in all that I do. I believe it has made me a better person, because I now know what a relationship with Him looks like. My marriage is stronger, because of it. We are intentionally parenting in a way that will hopefully allow our kids to seek Him first and always. I have learned that some people are in our lives for a reason and others for a season, but at the core are a few true friends who God has placed in my life as forever friends and that is by no coincidence or mistake! I fail all the time!! I struggle all the time with all of the day to day chaos and my health, but my struggle wouldn’t be possible without Him.

So, this month you will see me posting more about the gratitude I have for all of the blessing I have been given. Tonight, I am so thankful that I have been accepted to participate in the Cleveland Clinic’s consultation process and will be traveling there in December to meet with a team of specialists over the course of 4 days to try and get to the bottom of what has made me so sick. I am blessed to be accepted into such a program, as it is a selective process. I pray that this will bring answers and a plan for healing.

This is the first of many posts about this journey, but this is what I refer to as my crazy beautiful life.