Let me take you back to 2017. Back when I had an infant who was very sick, where surgeries and hospital stays were plenty and I also had a toddler with a disability who at the time was very sickly as well.

This is when I learned about the tool – &

I remember feeding my infant in my grandmother’s hand me down recliner. It was late in the afternoon. I had been to a doctor appointment for both of my sons that day. I had tears in my eyes because I was so exhausted.

That’s when I read a post by an author who was grieving her daughter, but was happy that her nephew was born healthy. Her therapist gently corrected her. “&- you’re happy he’s healthy. You don’t have to choose.”

More tears sprung into my eyes because I didn’t have to choose. You see, my infant son could have been way worse off. In fact, we were in the NICU with a family who had a child with the same diagnosis and a much worse prognosis.

I was grateful for where Preston was at. &- where he was at, was still very hard. He had a nephrostomy tube, clubbed feet, injuries from his casts at one point that were horrific, and more. All while parenting a toddler with a disability and associated illnesses that can sometimes come with it.

I was spent & I was grateful.

I didn’t have to choose. You don’t either.

Your losses are real. Your hard things are real. Even your smaller things- like your overstuffed calendar is real, too.  &- we get a choice. We can choose to only see our difficulties and drown. Or, we can choose to also keep our eyes open for the beauty playing out alongside them… And live.

In Overwhelmed & Grateful- The Key to Finding God’s Goodness in All Life’s Ups and Downs – We learn to be alive to it all. We can be more honest & we can be more grateful. We can be grateful because goodness is somehow, some way at work, because God is always at work.

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