After I had our second baby, Bella, I was at home one day juggling the madness of taking care of a newborn while still managing to parent her older brother. I was exhausted and struggling to feel like I had what it takes to cut this two-kid mom thing.
I looked at other moms, and they looked like they were nailing it. Meanwhile, my house felt like pure chaos between feedings and meltdowns, unsuccessful attempts at naps, and a toddler who was not adjusting well to sharing the attention.
And while all of this was happening, a construction worker spent the entire day in our house finishing something that was left over from our house build. So basically, I had a built-in audience watching me while I felt like I was failing. At the end of the day, he packed up his supplies and took them out to his car. Then, to my surprise, he came back inside, shut the door, leaned his back against it, and started talking to me.
“I’ve watched you all day, and I want to tell you something I’ve never told anyone,” he said. “When my wife and I had our second kid, it was total chaos. It got to the point that I didn’t want to do it anymore.”
I couldn’t believe this man I barely knew was opening up so vulnerably to me.
He continued, “My wife didn’t know, but one day I packed my suitcase, put it in the trunk before I left for work, and planned to drive away from my family and never come home.”
Wow.
“By the end of that workday, I changed my mind and went home. That was 20 years ago, and I have to tell you how glad I am that I changed my mind.”
And then he encouraged me. He normalized the hard that this newborn season brings. He assured me that I, too, would get through it. And he told me that someday I would be so glad I had held on through the hard and given my family my all.
I have never forgotten that conversation.
And I’m popping on here today to share it with you because I want to encourage you with a couple of things:
You might be in a hard season, but this season will not last forever. Hold on. There may come a day when you look back and are so glad you did.
And…
Know that your story of making it through something hard has the power to help someone else make it through too.
Think about this guy. He didn’t have to come back inside my house. He could have packed up his stuff and gone home. But he followed that nudge.
You know that nudge. Don’t ignore it.
He came back in and opened up about one of the hardest moments of his life. And his sharing how he held on gave me hope to hold on too.
Now, I wasn’t planning to pack a suitcase. Don’t get me wrong.
But his story normalized mine. It made me feel less alone. It reminded me that some seasons are just plain hard. That struggling in them doesn’t mean you’re failing. And that sometimes what we need most when we’re in the thick of it is someone a few miles farther down the road turning around and saying:
Keep going. I made it through this part. You will too.
So today, if you’re in a hard season, know you are not alone. And if you’ve made it through one, tell somebody. Share how God met you there. Share what almost took you out. Share what helped you hold on. Share what you know now that you didn’t know then.
Because your story of how God got you through might very well be the story someone else needs to hear to believe they can get through too.
