Still the Bridge Builder's Wife

 Hi friends!

I have been away for a while. It has been an adventure. Last time I wrote on this blog, I was up to my chin in the toddler years. Wandering around my house from one mess to another, embracing little baby cheeks and just trying to make it to bed time. 

The last 5 years, God has brought me on a journey. It has been full of joy and trials and like every journey, it has cost me something. I went from a stay-at-home mom, to a small-business owner, to managing multiple branches of that business and now working on the corporate end of that company. I even had a brief stint as an "influencer,"giving hours of my life to try-on's, affiliate links, and posts that I hoped would connect. 

It was a little bit of whip-lash to go from staying home to working 50-60 hours a week. It is amazing the way that my husband and I shifted into new roles. We had to grow quickly in our marriage and as people. Our life is completely different in one thousand ways than it was the last time I wrote here. 

I gave up my peace and in many ways gave up things I loved most to chase success. Many of my months the last 5 years were so busy and I stared at my husband through tears saying, "I can't do this, I can't live at this pace."But then I would go faster, trying to outrun all the things I thought were holding me back. 

The best part about it all is that I've found a way through it, and I am still me. God has been so kind to me and merciful to remind me over and over again the things that make a life. Friendships with vulnerability. My feet in the grass (they call it grounding!). The sun on my face. A good book in my lap. The weight of my children. 

God kept me close to my marriage and my children when every distraction pulled me away. He brought me back to Him when I tried to make a life that centered around myself. In His grace, He reminded me that the truest things are still true. 

This July, I received a great gift: a pause. A month off from my corporate job, which led to me taking a month off social media and giving a month to my family. A chance to heal a bit from some health things, rest my brain and body, and seek renewal in more ways than one.

So I am writing a little, laying in bed a lot. As an optimist, I started my sabbatical with a new puppy- how fun will that be! Beverly is eating a book as I write this and everyone is okay with that. Through lots of doctor appointments and IV treatments and lots of learning about my body, I am finding room for margin. It has been a joy to live and not rush, to lose the rush of my heart in my chest as I log in from one meeting to the next. To lose my phone and have my computers both dead. 

I will write a few more updates this month and can't wait to share how I have found light and my way home on a bumpy, sometimes dark road. Here I am, I can't wait to hear where you have been, too.