Every mama needs a tribe, a village, an army to help them navigate this new journey of parenthood. No one expects to tap into that village for support with a devastating situation, let alone while you are in the trenches of mothering.
Four years ago I created a blog to share my raw, real journey fighting cancer. People came out of the woodworks to support me and my family.
Facing stage 3 cancer at 32 years old felt impossible, until God reminded me this was His battle not mine and He helped bring people together to help me.
Facing stage 4 cancer at 36 felt doable. My entire mindset had changed in the last four years thanks to my faith and trust in our creator AND due to my village.
When we decided to head toward Michigan this summer, I had had a few conversations about my desire to change our playroom into a homeschool room with a dear friend from high school. She helped me get organized and sparked a vision for this room. We left the conversation there as I was heading out of town, I figured when I returned her and I could pick up where we left off and she could help me figure out how to re-arrange this room to match my vision.
Three weeks after we left Texas, we were nearing our home. As we pulled into our driveway, I began to notice a few things… the landscaping to the right of our driveway, which has always been a total mess of weeds, was now landscaped and had mulch and actual plants in it.
I saw brightly colored pillows on our front porch church pew. “How nice,” I thought… someone came and spruced things up a bit. Only when I turned to look at my husband with tears streaming down his face did I begin to realize that this was more than I could ever imagine.
I got out of the car and walked up to the door, greeted by my BIL and his girlfriend. Little details started popping out, like a magnolia wreath on our door, a new welcome mat. My mind was just on the train tracks of, what is going on here.
I opened the door and my breath escaped me… the house was transformed, renovated… I could only see the foyer, but I noticed new paint, new rugs, new light fixtures.
Tears started to well up. I turned the corner to see a full on camera man capturing my reaction to a completely renovated living room… painted stone fireplace, massive, gorgeous photos of our family in the spot I’ve always wanted to decorate… then I turned into the playroom to see my dear friend, Kelti and her sister Britt, in my amazing homeschool room.
No detail left out. New desks, new paint, a giant chalkboard, a desk for me (!), our homeschool curriculum, books and books and more books. Tears were now streaming down my face, I was mind blown. I had NO clue this was all taking place.
Then they told me there was more. MORE?! I walked from room to room, tears falling, completely blown away by the love that was shown to my family.
Then living room started to fill up with all these amazing friends I went to high school with. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My bedroom was so gorgeous! New bathrooms!! The kitchen was updated!!! I felt undeserving of this amazing gesture of love, kindness and care.
Then another darling friend, Chalimar, reminded me that God is the vine and we are the branches. This was not just my village… this was my angel army that God provided.
When people talk of God providing, oftentimes He uses people in our lives to aid in his provision. At the end of the day, it wasn’t the new picture frames, new paint, new rugs that made me feel loved. It was the energy, the effort, the presence of these friends that chose to show up for my family. That is what blew me away.
The world may be a mess, but we can prove that humanity cares by showing up.
Who did you show up for today?