The struggle is real, but so is God.

Well, as unbelievable as it may be, I AM still alive. 🙌🏻 Just not so much socially since I was here last. Life has been on high demand and when school started this year, I vowed to myself to be more present, especially in my kids lives; not to mention, multi-tasking is not my forte, so, of course, why not try to expand my business smack dab in the middle of that commitment, right? Why do we do this to ourselves? As the people closest to me know, my intentions are always good but the execution doesn’t always reflect the goal, should I say. My aim, however, really is to be present where I feel needed, and we all know social media is not lacking advice columns or "personal" narratives; despite that, I do have the desire to continue designing and sharing when I can, but honestly, I just pray to be a pick me up or at least relatable to someone out there through the process, if nothing more...  

So, I’d love to say that the New Year started out nothing short of sunshine and rainbows but it was anything but.  

That dreaded stomach virus came uninvited and started out with it’s first victim, my sweet little Roscoe at about 1 in the morning. I’m going to try to spare too many visuals but let’s just say this is the kid that in the past seemed to avoid the toilet or trash can at all cost, because for him, well, that was just in the way I guess? I’m proud to say, however, that we’ve turned a new leaf and this kid did everything he could to be the most helpful he could given the circumstances; in addition to constantly apologizing to me for something that was out of his control. The next culprit was hit in the middle of the following night around 3:30 am....and can someone please tell me why on God’s green earth those things always seem to creep up when you are just barely.able.to.function? Never fails...but my Avery girl also handled it with as much grace as possible, not wanting to wake me up because she knew I had been deprived from sleep from the night before. And you’ve probably guessed it by now, right on cue, the following night my husband was struck with it. While this was all less than ideal, and not at all how I foresaw our New Year playing out, I also started seeing how God was so present and really showing grace through the process. 

I think it’s fair to say the odds were against me and I myself was in total shock that after all the cleaning unsanitary"ness", cuddling with the carriers, and simply breathing the same air, I was still not sick with it. I began to consider how much worse it could’ve been too if everyone had it at once? With them "taking turns", it allowed me to give them my undivided care and attention, in addition to staying on top of the things that always demand immediate action so the next one had what they needed. 

I also thanked God because He simply made me strong when my family needed me, and may I just say, there’s no amount of hand washing in the world that could’ve kept me well other than the good Lord above! Seriously, such good grace.

Finally, God reminded me in this time the importance of rest. We have been so blessed to be a part of an incredible, fun, fast-paced season with our daughter’s favorite thing in life right now, basketball, but it’s also very time consuming and doesn’t allow for much downtime. With that and the holidays having just faded away, the McCain crew was running on fumes and I fully believe God had to make us come to a halt. Enough was enough. 

Whether it was God or just a bug, the fact is we needed rest, and unfortunately, we got it in a way that left much to be desired!

My takeaway though from our start to the New Year that I really wanted to share (and have been reminded of) is that while we want and wish abundant blessings for our loved ones for the New Year, the reality is this life is a struggle sometimes, some much bigger than this and some much smaller....still, the struggle is real but so is God, and if we are intentional to listen for His voice and see His hand in our lives, we are bound to see His grace in the thick of it. Instead of waiting on blessings to come this year, may we see the blessings more than the burdens and gain some renewed peace in the process. #mynewyeargoal #lookingforrainbows #lookingforstars

when it rains look for rainbows, when it’s dark look for stars.