Giving Yourself Grace

Let me just start by saying, “It feels so good to be back!” It’s been five long months away from my blog and while that time has felt like an eternity, it has also flown by! So let’s catch up, shall we?

During this time away my life has been a serious roller coaster ride and on the broader scale of things, the world was flipped upside down as well. There have been marches, and riots, and natural disasters (all of which deserve their own blog posts). And the world opened back up, although much differently than we remember it.

And on top of all of those large scale events, reshaping the world as we know it, we have our own little lives to live. With historical change happening right in front of our eyes we still have to get through each day at a time, checking off our To-do list. The kids still have school (although a bit differently now), we still have to work, dinner still needs to be made, boo boos still need to be kissed, bed time is still a hassle and who the hell is going to fold all this laundry?!

And that is why, we ALL need to give ourselves grace!

So what has been my personal roller coaster ride of a life these past five months you ask? Well buckle up and let me update you 🙃.

First things first, I’m pregnant! Five months pregnant to be exact, with baby number two! And we are having a baby girl! My husband and I are ecstatic. Him more so because he’s made his mind up that we are officially done having kids and me because I will no longer be outnumbered by men. (I was drowning in testosterone over here.) This was one of the biggest drops on the roller coaster ride because we were not planning it at all, but what a welcome surprise!

On a serious note, some much less welcome drops on this roller coaster ride over the past few months have been losing a loved one, totaling my car (resulting in a pretty serious concussion), tons of doctors appointments and therapies, ALL of the first trimester symptoms and being pregnant while raising a toddler.

And while I pride myself on always showing up and pushing through anything that life throws my way, I’ve found that on days when I’m just about at my breaking point, nothing beats GRACE.

Didn’t get the grocery shopping done today? Guess what? The grocery store is open tomorrow too, go then. The laundry still hasn’t been folded in three days? It’ll be right there waiting for you when you feel up to it. Lost your cool with your tantruming toddler and mom guilt is eating you alive? Apologize, give your baby all the cuddles, look at that sweet smiling chubby face and see first hand what grace and unconditional love look like. (I swear toddlers are the best teachers.)

To say that life is hard would be an understatement! It’s exhausting, infuriating, and frustrating at times. But it’s also beautiful, exhilarating and awe inspiring too! And just like how there’s almost no better feeling than walking outside to a cool, crisp, clean air day after a thunderstorm, sometimes you have to step back and wait out the storms in your life too. There’s no shame in doing what you need to do for yourself when you feel overwhelmed. Your crisp air day after the storm is just on the other side of that panic attack. So step back, let go and find peace in knowing that no one is 100% all the time.

My step back from my blog was my extended time of grace. But with that time away I feel refreshed and ready to give it my all once again. And you’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel when you step back from having so much on your plate too.

Welcome back to my little piece of the Internet. I’ve missed it here. ❤️