If you asked me last Spring what this school year would consist of, I’d have told you how excited I was that I’d have a few kid-free hours a week this year to devote to my Etsy business to really see what I could do with it given a little uninterrupted time. I’d also tell you that over the next two years, I’d be gearing up to become a (close to) full-time creator once all three kiddos are in school through my Etsy shop and also through writing and illustrating children’s books. And if that didn’t work out after a full year’s efforts, I was going to go back to teaching. At this point in my story, you can probably tell that I’m a planner. I like to have short term goals, long term goals and lists upon lists. However, life recently threw us a curveball and derailed all my carefully laid out plans when my oldest daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on April 30, 2019. So even though I have about a billion unfinished projects, the priorities for this year quickly became:
We’re six months in, and I think we’ve done amazingly well so far with the first three. Ada is healthier and surprisingly more carefree than she has been in years. She’s adjusting amazingly well, and the whole family has adjusted right along with her. I recently posted on facebook, “Struggles are a part of life, and these have been ours. It has made us stronger, it has made us more empathetic, and it has made our priorities closer to what God would have them be.” I totally and wholeheartedly stand behind this statement. As Aaron and I become accustomed to our “new normal” and our ability to keep our oldest happy and healthy, we are able to focus more of our time on the “everything else.” This blog naturally falls somewhere under that category.
I can’t say that I’ve ever dreamed of starting a blog; it wasn’t in my plans until quite recently. But I believe in walking through doors when God opens them. When Ada was diagnosed, I naturally started looking for information; I found tons, but also found some information to be lacking, information that I can now provide to others through personal experience. Realizing I had something to add to the conversations surrounding diabetes was what first planted the idea that perhaps I should start a blog. Before long, ideas for the title, logo and potential products would run through my head. My ideas didn’t feel terribly original, and I would have sworn they would already be out there, but they weren’t. God has laid out a path; what you’re reading now is my first step in obedience.
I have several topics I’m excited to write about and share over the coming weeks and months: ways to help other families with a new diagnosis, what God has shown me about anxiety through having a child with T1D, what we missed before diagnosis, and how I was able to forgive myself for my biggest failure as a mom. I have a post coming on a DIY gift for a diabetic child, and one on what “manageable” looks like with type 1 diabetes.
I’m not exactly sure where this blog will lead me. While I would love for my blog and shop to eventually lead to a small income, that would just be a bonus. The goal is to help others that are walking a similar path, the hope is that it is a legacy of love for my family, and the purpose is to honor God by walking through doors that he opened wide.
Awesome What a great ideal I hope this will be a great help to others who struggle Congratulations