Writing has always been a passion for me, I love words in general.  I have felt for a long time that I have a story to share, I just didn’t know where.  I am not one who likes to complain or force my emotions on unsuspecting friends mindlessly scrolling through Facebook.  There is a high probability that if you passed me on the street and asked how I was doing (this could be the worlds MOST loaded question) I would smile and tell you I was doing great.  Where really is the right place to bear one’s burdened heart if not at the grocery store or Facebook?  Well I am hoping it will be here.  I am also hoping that others with a burdened heart will join me here to be encouraged.  That this would be a place that others whose hearts have an ache so deep that there are no words that could even articulate it could come and find understanding and maybe community.

The road our family has been walking for the last several years has been one I would not choose for anyone.  Watching someone you love in pain is hard.  There are not many people that I interact with on a daily basis who truly understand the exhaustion of daily walking with and caring for someone with a chronic illness.  For this I am profoundly grateful, but it makes the trek a lot more lonely and quiet for me.

A long time ago I felt that God was pressing on my heart that he is not glorified in the details.  For that reason, I will not often be sharing details about the ins and outs of our everyday struggle.  I will share the general circumstances around my daughter’s illness in a future post or place here in this blog.  However, her condition is not the real story.  The real story is the God who walks with us through every one of the struggles we have to face.  It is about the strength that shows up when ours is gone.  It is about the hands and feet he sends to care for us when we are really in a rough patch.  HE is the only story that is really worth telling.

I truly believe that God never wastes pain.  I fought hard with God when life started spinning out of control,  when the four walls of a hospital room became as familiar as the walls of our home.  When I finally surrendered to God’s plans I decided that if we had to walk this road that I wanted to do it to bring glory to God.  I wanted to use our experience to help others.  That is my prayer, God don’t waste this pain.  So, if you are willing,  I welcome you to journey with us; to laugh with us, worship with us and even sometimes cry with us.