From Great Loss Come Faith, Hope, and Love…2023 Here We Come!

From Great Loss Come

Faith, Hope, and Love…

2023 Here We Come!

As 2022 approached, I felt great about the potential this year held. All three of our boys were doing amazingly well in life. Despite Hurricane Ida and the damage that was done to our oldest son’s home, I relished he was back home to live with us while his house was under renovation and repair. We had just surprised our twin boys with cars on Christmas Day, something my husband Jamie and I never thought we’d be able to do for both at the same time.

After several tumultuous years of marriage, Jamie and I had grown so close to each other during the past couple of years of Covid lockdowns and our walk with our faith and God had become the center of our world with one another. We recommitted to each other in ways that were truly meaningful and special. I felt guilty about how great things were in our life.

This year was going to be filled with exciting plans to move our life to Alabama, where Jamie was being blessed with work and fulfilling his professional dreams. As all our children were paving their way in life without us, it was exciting to think about this next chapter for everyone. For Jamie and me as a couple with no babies to watch over any longer. For the kids, as they found jobs, school, and careers that they were beyond motivated to continue to build. I don’t know about you, but after Covid’s lockdowns and the uncertainty of life as we lived through it all, 2022 felt like it would finally be normal. That was a great feeling.

If only I would have known the loss that was about to take place in my life. But really, can you ever prepare for the losses that life throws your way?

I mean, Isn’t that the point, loss, and change create growth? That’s God’s plan and we are not in control. I needed to be reminded of this in more ways than one this year.

As the year progressed, things appeared to be going as planned. But then, unexpectedly, I lost both of my English Bulldogs within a week of each other. Sugah signified a 10-year period of my life that was riddled with the challenges of raising twins and one in his 20s, marriage woes, jobs, a company I built and sold, and just life. She was there for all of it: the tears, the happiness, the loneliness, the successes, and the failures. It was a loss that hit me hard because of what it represented for me and my journey in this life. The other one, Sean, had been in our life for just a short 4-year period as we rescued him at 6 years old, but he too was special in so many ways and brought so much laughter to our home in those 4 short years. It was a great loss all at once, a week, to the day, apart.

Following this, the boys all moved out and on with their lives. It was the first time in 30 years that I would be an official “Empty Nester”. And let me tell you, after having this bonus year with my older one, no mom should have to move a kid out twice. It was a lot. It was hitting me hard and fast that this big, empty house was my reality. Now Jamie and the boys had gone out and bought me a new puppy, so there was that. She would soon be one of the very things that would keep me going day to day.

A few weeks after all the boys moved out, Jamie, my husband of 24 years, came home to tell me he was no longer happy in the marriage, and he wanted out. In a matter of seconds, everything about what I thought my life was came crashing down around me. It changed instantaneously every dream about this next chapter of my life and I did not know why and there were no answers for me. My insecurity was at an all-time high. And it was all out of my control. I immediately turned to God with lots of cries for help, prayers, and pleadings to just put it all back together again. But that’s not how it works. It’s not how he works. He has his plan for your life.

My faith was being tested like at no other time in my life. I had to trust that all this pain and loss was serving some higher purpose for me that would only make sense in reverse. Some days in the beginning, I couldn’t function. I would sit in disbelief about what was happening. And I still have moments like that, and they take my breath away. I must make myself get up and continue to move forward. Continue to pray and learn to thank God for what he is doing in my life. Yes, thank him. I’m choosing to trust him. I choose to find the little moments of peace and strength that he provides for me and thank him for those because added up they equal big moments and that is pushing me forward. Thank him for this amazing future ahead that I know he will place at my feet when the time is right. I’m hyper-aware of my environment and the people that I’ve met over the past few months who needed to hear some or all of my story to help them feel better. But more than that, they needed to hear that God was also working all things for good in their lives, even if it didn’t seem that way. There have been signs that God has sent directly to me and I’m so grateful for those, because they too have kept me grounded and staying the course. While I am faithful and it has been painful to break the vow of my marriage even though I wasn’t given an option, I also know that God sometimes must move us out of the way so he can do his real work and for now I’m choosing to trust that he is in control and his desire is for me to move out of the way.

As I walk into 2023, I am hopeful about what this year will bring. I have plans to share more with everyone in ways that I have not done before. You will see and be hearing more from me, and I pray you will enjoy the journey and maybe even learn something new. With my focus on Nutritious Living, just know that in life not only should we feed our bodies with good food, but we also must feed our minds and souls to achieve that balance and create that positive approach that we so desperately need to keep moving forward. For when you can do this, it’s only then that you are armed with what you need to get through this ever-changing, ever-evolving life that God has so meticulously placed you in.

I look forward to this next chapter of my life story and hope to see you all there!

Happy New Year, make it your best year yet because that’s what I’m going to do!

Much Love and Blessings,

Kim