This was not exactly the way I pictured the “joys of being a parent” looking…I was exhausted, struggling to hold everything together, and when the spit hit the floor, I just didn’t care anymore. It wasn’t at the top of my list to have clean floors (or clean clothes for that matter). But do you know what I do remember from that season Every night at the end of an exhausting day at work, I held and rocked our baby to sleep and sang “You are my Sunshine”. Every night I laid him down to sleep and prayed over him. Every night I took 10-15 minutes to simply be with him. It wasn’t what we had originally planned or pictured…both of us working full-time to help make ends meet for our little family but being present with our child & spending time with him at the end of the day became our biggest priority....

Tears slipped from my eyes as I turned from side to side to study my reflection in the mirror after jumping out of the shower that morning. My head bowed low in shame, I couldn’t even bring myself to look up and give myself the normal pep talk. “You’ve had three kids. You should be thankful that you are healthy. It’s what’s on the inside that counts…..”