Five months ago, we discovered that we can do Hard Things.
Medium Hard Things. Tiny Hard Things. And Super-de-Duperty, Crazy-Making, Mind-Losing, Heart-Breaking Hard Things.
They are Hard Things that we didn't plan for. That we didn't anticipate. That we still struggle with daily to fully comprehend. They are Hard Things that have changed the landscape of our home, the design of our family, and certainly the emotional complacency of ourselves and our children. These Hard Things have stretched us. Have tried us. Have pained us. Have caused us to cry more tears and utter more heartfelt prayers in the last 20 weeks than perhaps in all the rest of the days of our marriage combined. They are Hard Things that have allowed us to celebrate our strengths and have made us painfully aware of our weaknesses. They are Hard Things that have tested our patience, tried our faith, and stretched us to the ultimate physical, spiritual, and emotional limits of what we feel capable of managing. They allow us to truly grasp the meaning of taking one day at a time. Of putting one foot in front of the other. Doing bit, by bit, by bit.
Ultimately, ironically perhaps, these very same Hard Things have blessed us in incredible and incomprehensible ways. They have enriched our lives. Helped us to see the good. Allowed us to find gratitude in the simple things that are so easy to take for granted. These Hard Things have strengthened our resolve. Increased our faith. Caused us to rely more heavily on each other. On the Lord. They have brought us closer. Magnified our capacity to serve and to love. Instilled greater patience within us. They have enriched our lives in ways that we could never have imagined. Daily, these Hard Things are making us into better parents. Better spouses. And hopefully, better humans. They are defining us. Shaping us into individuals with a slightly greater capacity for compassion and understanding. Forging us into people who are willing to admit their limitations and seek help from the heavens above.
In myriad ways, and for myriad reasons, these Hard Things are oh so, oh so hard.
And yet. They are the biggest blessings of our lives.
Your perspective and capacity to love and endure (not to mention your willingness to listen to me babble about my Not-So-Hard-in-Comparison Things) are a small part of why I thank my Father in Heaven for blessing me with the incomparable gift of your sister-ness. Every. Single. Day.
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