365 + 1

A year ago today--
I remember exactly where we were and what we were doing.
This past year has been full for changes, obstacles, and trials.
A year ago I was stressed, worried, tired, and a bit scared of the future.

366 days ago, this was our situation:
We were homeless. We bounced from friends homes, to family houses, to hotels.
We were living in an extended stay "hotel."
We spent Labor Day weekend with family so we would not have to pay for said hotel room for 3 nights.
We lived out of our cars. Things we needed were in bags, baskets, and suitcases.
Everything else was in a storage unit.
I was "promoted" taught different classes to higher levels of kids
P just started a temp job. He went to a few farms, literally knocked on their doors, and told them he knew how to drive a tractor.
P rushed up to his parents house in the middle of the night because his dad had an "episode" and was taken by ambulance to the e.r.
As we lay there at night in the "hotel" we could here people above us having "relations" every 2:30 a.m.--on the dot.

There were 3 things that got me through that time
-The Lord, My husband, and hope
I relied so heavily on the Lord during those times, and he never let me down. It was hard- but he never promised to take me out of it--He just promised to join me in it.

My husband- P was a rock. I am someone who needs stability and order, and our life was lacking greatly in those areas. He was so understanding and patient with me. I think he gave me about 30 hugs a day, just to reassure me that everything was going to be all right.

Hope. I hope and prayed things would change, that they would get better. They did- just slowly.

I know there are others who have suffered so much more that I have. My trials and problems are minuscule compared to what is going on in the world, I know that.

I knew then, just as I know now, I am blessed beyond all imagination. I am loved by God, my family, and my friends.

Through all of that, through this crazy year we have lived in 5 different locations, moved hundreds of miles away from our friends and community, lived apart for 6 months, and now we both have very different jobs than we had before.
Through it all I have learned something--I am stronger than I thought, both physically and mentally. P and I are stronger than I thought. It has been a year of change, or chaos, and of trials, and I am glad to be on the other side of it.