Earlier this year, I came across a saying that resonated with my innermost being. It stated, “When you’re in a dark place, you sometimes tend to think you’ve been buried…Perhaps you’ve been planted…Bloom.”

Wow.  What an amazing perspective.

This past year has been the darkest of my 43 years.  After the sudden loss of my father this past September, I found myself in an unfamiliar place, drowning with grief, weak and broken.  Struggling to find the strength that had always come so naturally to me.  Struggling to find the joy that my faith and my family had always given me.  Feeling lost without the man who was present in my life every. single. day.  Going through the motions of life, because I had three children and a husband who needed me, which meant carpools, school functions, practices, soccer games, baseball games, swim meets…but not wanting to…only wanting to hide until the pain subsided.  Walking around as an empty shell of my former self…

Until one day, when I decided to work through my sorrow by becoming the best version of myself physically, emotionally and spiritually.  To channel the pain and sorrow into something positive.  As I was coming up for air, I found myself re-evaluating how I spent my time and where I wanted to focus my energy.

I was starting to bloom.

Throughout my entire life, writing has been my outlet.  In the past, I never felt called to share any of my thoughts or feelings.  In fact, I am quite private. During the months I was engulfed by grief, I spent much time in the quiet. Listening.  Being still. Repeating, “Here I am, Lord.”

I now feel called to share my voice.  To share my experience having a daughter with Type 1 Diabetes.  To share the peaks and valleys I have witnessed raising a son with Down syndrome.  To share the “mom guilt” I feel worrying my middle daughter gets lost in the shuffle.  To share how I began to use real food to nourish and strengthen my body.  To share how my faith feeds my soul.

I would love to bring you along on my journey filled with laughter and tears.  A journey of faith and healing.  A Life of Grace in Threes.