Beautiful Realities Part 6: Summer Catch Up

Oh June, July and August-  what can I say, I'm happy you've come and gone!

Boards were rough on us. I'm not going to lie, I feel like we just came out of a pressure cooker, and not just because we live in Phoenix in the summertime. In large part, I feel like we spent August recovering from June and July (and really, the first two years of medical school). I mention this not to gain pity or sympathy, but only because honesty is essential for the premise of beautiful realities. Realities are not always pleasant, but there IS always beauty that surrounds them.

So... to sum up this summer, I'm going to list three things that I am grateful for about our summer, and three things that we learned as a family. You'll notice the pictures are not all my most artistic during this time period. Sometimes it was a snapshot to make sure I had one for the day. In short, we were in survival mode this summer, and it often showed. Still, there IS beauty all around, and while some days we certainly did better than other days, we found ways of finding it. Hence... beautiful realities.

Three things we are grateful for about this summer:

1. Heavenly Father answered so many of our prayers. Not always in the ways we hoped for, but always in the ways that we needed. There are so many ways I have seen His hand in our lives, and my testimony has grown immensely in the last three months.

2. My family was healthy and protected from harm. Above all, I am grateful for that!

3. I finished my first book this summer! Brooke Neilson and I put together our own preschool curriculum, launching as of today, September 2nd. It was such a huge accomplishment, and something I am proud of!

Three things we learned from this summer:

1. Look for the helpers.

A quote that I love: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, (or, insert whatever challenge you might be facing) my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." - Fred Rogers. 
I have found in my life that whenever we are faced with challenges, we can look for the "helpers." I have never faced a challenge in my life where I didn't look back and see how many helpers Heavenly Father had sent to guide and comfort me along the way. Sometimes it's a listening ear, or someone who has just been through something similar that can offer sympathy or advice. Sometimes it is a friend who brings over a meal, or cookies without asking if we needed anything. Sometimes it was a parent who called at just the right time. Sometimes it was a friend blessed with inspiration to come and study with Otto and offer an outsiders perspective on a small change he could make to his studying. Sometimes it was just an inspired comment that helped point us in the right direction, or someone placed in our path to provide a resource that we didn't know we needed at the time. There are always helpers! And whenever we can, we should pray that we can be those helpers for others. 

Along those lines, the verse of this hymn stuck out to me several times this summer: 
"So amid the conflict whether great or small, 
Do not be discouraged, God is over all, 
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end." 

I have found that there ARE so many helper angels, both on earth and in heaven, that can help us along our paths. We all need them. I have learned that they are very real, and they are blessings from a loving Heavenly Father who always knows what we need, and when we need it. What a blessing so many helpers have been to us this year!

2. Time is your friend.

This is something my dad has said over and over to me throughout the years. Every passing year I find it to be more true. Time is often the solution. How quick we are to become impatient with ourselves and others, when the process is often the most important piece to solving any problem we have. Giving ourselves and others time to resolve problems increases our patience, and helps us gain perspective. Time helps us realize that most things are not quite as final as they seem at the time. Time helps us understand what possibilities lie ahead. Time helps us trust that there is a greater plan for our life. Time heals us, softens us, enlightens us, and perfects us. How ironic that we become so easily frustrated in the lack of immediate perfection, when time is the tool needed to perfect. Life is a process. Give it time.

3. Peace comes in learning to trust.

The more challenges Otto and I face together, the more sure we become that Heavenly Father knows us and has a plan for us. There have been plenty of times when we have felt confused by that plan, but we only have more evidence that He continues to open the paths before us. What a beautiful thing to know that there is a plan for our family, and that we can put our trust in it.

So here it is- 92 pictures of our "survival summer" with all of the beauties, the tired snapshots, the realities, and the joys, all tied up into one. Life IS beautiful!

And with that said, I have no problem shouting for joy and saying... here's to a NEW season of moving on and moving forward!!

HAPPY FALL!!!