Photo by Shawna Sherrell of Shawna Sherrell Photography.

3 years and 1 days ago, I married my best friend.

Over that time, I was surprised by the following events:
2 Coast to Coast road trips
A job loss at the WORST possible time
Finally going full-time into photography
That BRET would be my second shooter and business partner (not as well known fact, he has only been my second shooter for 2 1/2 years)
That I would want to be a public speaker and write a book
That BRET would want to be a public speaker, write books AND go into business for himself (more on that in a few months)

If you had told me on that day that in three years we would have gone through all that, I probably would have done a happy dance (Jumping up and down and all over the place) about the full-time photography…but most of the other things, especially the public speaking, I would have been like, um, wait, what?

But, here we are, 3 years later.

I could get upset about Bret’s job loss, but not even a week later, he found a listing for a job helping out with the Rebel Race. An experience that will prove invaluable as he starts to write his books (on all things working out). It allowed us to have the income we needed when we needed it.

But, isn’t that always the way with God? He doesn’t always give us what we want, but He is VERY good at giving us what we need….even if we don’t think it’s what we need. For example, Bret never would have had the idea for his book(s) and had the entrepreneur spark lit inside him if he hadn’t lost his job and gotten the opportunity to help with the race.

It’s easy to get caught up in the “oh my gosh, where are we going to get money, how are we going to survive?” mindset when there is a job loss and the money is tight or non-existent. But, we need to look past it and realize that God loves us, he will take care of us. What we need to get over is HOW he will show his love during that time.

So how do I move on? How do I trust that no matter the situation (job loss, lack of cash flow, etc) God puts us through? Honestly, it comes from experience. From God showing his overwhelming grace again and again. From experiencing a deficit in the finances so large that there is NO way we’ll come up with the money….and God surprises. I think God reaches us best by striping away everything that hinders us from trusting him and then when we’re at our complete lowest, he gives us that thing that we need.

I want to say very emphatically, this is not easy. This lifestyle includes lots of tears, lots of frustration and lots of prayer. It’s not easy because we are still sinful creatures. Christ has cleansed us from our sins and when God looks at us, he sees Christ, BUT we are still living in a fallen world. We are not in the environment we were created for. But this life is helping us to become more like Christ.

If you’ve made it this far, go you! I know Bret’s musings are a LOT shorter than mine…but this is on my heart today and I wanted to share it. Why? Because I’m walking through it RIGHT now. What could have been one of the darkest times in our marriage has become the best and brightest, all because of God’s grace and strength in our lives.