Hey guys! It’s been a little while since I’ve written anything on here and for that, I apologize.  Life has been a little wild and crazy (as usual) and while I’ve still been writing it’s just been more pen and paper style….kickin’ it old school.  If I’m being honest, I’m a little nerdy that way… I absolutely LOVE a fresh notebook and favorite pen, alone with my thoughts.  If you haven’t tried it I want to encourage you to do so as it is very therapeutic for the soul ♥

As a family, we’ve been scaling some challenging mountain tops this year (and really, since we’re on the Truth Train together, a fair bit of last year too).  Truth be told, if you ask my husband, our life together has been one BIG challenge after another.  Make no mistake, my husband is the more positive force between the two of us and he doesn’t intend that view to be a negative one, but rather just a fact in our story.

To be completely honest, I have been feeling a bit hopeless for the past few months.  We are facing losing our nursing help with our sweet Chloe.  This would be catastrophic for us as a family and me as an individual (as well as Chloe).  To add fuel to this rapidly spreading wild fire I have been going through some tough health issues myself.  To say the branch is bending under all of this stress and pressure is probably an understatement.  In fact, I think the branch broke a long time ago, thus becoming kindling for the wildfire.

The good news is that all of these life challenges have built character, perseverance, strengthened our faith and our ability to continue to rise in the midst of total chaos, and drastically changed our perspective and priorities.  While things have never gone as we planned, I do believe our life has gone as planned by our great Creator and I have to believe that His plan is far better than anything I could have arranged for myself even when it doesn’t make sense or seem fair, otherwise my faith is useless.

In the midst of all these life storms I have been trying to focus on changing my perspective (focus on the positives, the blessings and the good rather than the challenges, negatives and the bad).  We are constantly learning to fly again, although sometimes it feels a bit like flying in a half circle with a broken wing. We are forever learning and believe it or not, we are still flying.  Sometimes this learning curve is painful but if you pay careful attention it can be joy-filled, but you must pay attention or you’ll miss it.

Precious moments like these happen daily but if you are focused on the wrong thing you will miss it (I can’t stress this ‘miss it’ part enough).  Unfortunately, I have spent a large chunk of my life missing the moments that matter the most.

I have a sign in my reading nook that captures the essence of learning to dance in spite of your circumstance.  My husband bought it for me (a few years ago) as a reminder of where to set my focus when we are going through the worst of the worst.  I’ve included a picture of this sign below, however it reads this: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  That is exactly what I did this week.  I danced in the summer rain with Chloe.  It was a priceless moment in time.  One I will never forget. While I have danced in the rain before I have never done it with so much joy and laughter.  She has never been caught in a downpour before this week and she was squealing and giggling with so much delight I couldn’t help but join in the fun. Chloe has a way with teaching you to appreciate the little things in life….like how a butterfly landing on her leg and flaunting it’s beautiful wing patterns while it rests on her leaves her in absolute awe and wonderment; how she loves to grab at my eyelashes and giggle with pure pleasure while attempting to catch them in her fingertips; how going to a summer barbecue with family and friends and eating chocolate cake with her eyes closed, savoring every bite (I don’t love cake or chocolate, don’t judge me, I just don’t but Chloe takes so much pleasure in these activities that you can’t help but want to join in the fun).  I have to remember to do life how Chloe does life.  She truly stops to appreciate the beauty all around her.  It’s so easy to get caught up in beauty as it is defined by the world but seriously stop.  A life well lived and full of beauty as defined by the world’s standards will leave you feeling hollow and hopeless, void of joy and happiness.  I urge you to learn to stop and appreciate the little moments in your every day because they bring true love and joy; they define what is truly beautiful and give you a life worth living.  They set your soul on fire and remind you to allow yourself to feel.

People often say to us, “I feel sorry for Chloe, I feel bad for you and Kev or Jake.” Don’t. Chloe is living her best life and teaching us to live our best life!

I certainly hope this post encourages you to start living your best life (if you aren’t already doing so).  Find joy in the little moments and don’t let them pass you by unrecognized.  Life is too short to focus on the hard things. Trust me, when you change your perspective you change your life. I say all of this as a reminder to myself as much as to you.

Live your best life!

Leave me a comment telling me how you are living your best life or something positive that happened to you this week!  I love sharing my life with you and look forward to you sharing yours with me ♥