Fourteen Easter seasons ago Ryan and I were processing the information that had just been handed down to us from a perinatologist in Austin, Texas informing us that our son had spina bifida. Finding out that something is wrong with your child is completely overwhelming. I’ve said before in that moment, there was really no…

If we sit in America in our air conditioned homes and wonder what lot we've been given that if we cancel our favorite streaming subscription we may persecuted for being part of the cancel culture, then we are SADLY so far from the truth of the gospel that it's frightening.

That's all the hours in a week, if you didn't know. All of them. Every. Single. One of them. You hear me, introverts? ALL. All the ones when you want to walk around the house in your sweats and no bra. The ones when you and your husband get in a fight about which one of you said they would pick up some bread. The hours when your kids are off the chain and you're not sure if you should have them or yourself committed.

Learning what you have to let go of helps you realize what you want to hold on to.

I get so wrapped up in the day to day of doctor appointments and medical conversations that often times I forget to stop and actually think what these diagnoses might feel like to a "typical" person.

And so, I will adjust my posture from one of annoyance, to that of gratefulness.

The sting of watching my life as a mom not look the way I had always pictured it, doesn't ever go away. Some days are easier than others and the grief is so faint and so small in my heart that I nearly forget it's there. And other days, it's so big and painful I'm not sure how I will get through it. And that is ok. Grief is a part of this journey.

Our family does have fun, but it is work to master it all. Yet we do it. Because we want to enjoy life, no matter what it looks like. Life is a gift and we try and treasure each day we've been gifted and use it to the most of our ability. 

I’ve come to realize you have to be so deeply in love with Jesus that if all of these things in your life disappear and if all the people in your life fall away, that He will be your rock and your steady fortress.

Our family's story of meeting Aaron Watson and how his friendship meant so much to Hayden.