I have been thinking a lot lately about so many things.
Kyler is so close to being 18. He in some ways is way past this, but in many others is just not there. I worry about him and how he is going to get through his life. He has had to deal with so much throughout his childhood and teenage years. Honestly, I think for the most part he has dealt well, but some times, on days like today, not so much. It's so hard to know what to do and how to do it so he understands instead of getting upset and fighting against everyone and everything. He can see graduation in his grasp, but it is almost alluding him as well. I keep hoping, for his sake, as well as ours that he will catch the vision again and do this so he can be proud of himself. He really is a great loving person and a peacemaker once you get past the tough guy facade.
Megan is struggling in some places as well. She just doesn't know where she fits and doesn't know how to handle it. We're hoping she catches a vision soon as well. She just wants peace as well but doesn't know how to bring it to her.
Aubree is doing MUCH better than the last few months, but now she's sick and miserable. Hope she feels better soon. Aubree is definitely one for peace, all you have to do is look at her room, clothes, or any accessory. They are all full of peace signs.
Jake is just trying to figure out how to deal with what feels like a war zone around his home. He is a peacemaker as well, but he's also the baby and gets pushed aside a lot. You know, big kids don't want their little brother hanging around them. He has a lot of friends and tries to spend time with them. Who wants to hang with their boring old mom and dad?
Dan and I are just doing our best to get through it all. We have recently rediscovered ways to spend time together when we can, even if it's just a few short minutes. Life has been very stressful on all of us for a long time and has come close to breaking us a few times. We are just simply hanging on to each other and hoping and working and doing our best to keep our home and family together and find some happiness. Dan works so hard and so much that it is very hard for him to simply go on sometimes. Schedules will hopefully be changing soon and it will put him back to a schedule that will hopefully not throw his system off so much. He's such a good person and I LOVE HIM so much. I'm sure it's hard on him to not only have all of the responsibilities of a husband and father, but then to have me and all of my issues and inabilities and 3 teenagers as well.
It has been very rough lately trying to figure out what to do in regards to church. I have not been to our ward here since the 18th of December and won't be going back. I really miss some people and some things there, but there has been such a warped message from so many and what I can only describe as betrayal from some, that it is just not something I, or any of the rest of my family, can get past at this point. We have started attending a ward on the other side of the city. My friend from way back is there and invited us. Megan, Aubree, Jake and I went last week and discovered several people we knew there. They all love it there. We were welcomed and treated so well and just felt like we belonged there. We will probably continue to attend there, at least most of the time. It's so hard sometimes to distinguish between the church and the people. Especially when some of those people are ones you love like family and have for a LONG time. This is why it hurts so bad to find out some things like we have in the past while. My heart feels as though it has been ripped out of my chest. I am painfully, and I really mean it, aware that Dan or I, nor our kids are not perfect and sometimes make mistakes. It's not fair for us to have to live up to a higher expectation and when we fall, we're told and treated and if we are hopeless and worthless.
This is what we, as a family, and me personally, have been trying to work through. It's very hard when there really isn't anyone or anywhere to turn to feel loved and cared about. To those who have reached out to us, we really do appreciate it, but we are also very cautious now. We have opened up to some we trusted and thought cared about us and found out that some of those are the very ones betraying our trust. We aren't trying to hide anything, all we want is just to be us and have that be good enough and not horrible people you keep your kids away from. We are the same people we have always been, we haven't changed. We're just trying to raise our kids and get through life like everyone else. Somehow though, we have taken what we have been told is a wrong turn and have no desire to get back on the "right" path. No one knows our desires, that's ours and ours alone. Maybe people thinking they need to be dragging others kicking and screaming down the "right" path isn't quite the way things should be handled. Our PRIORITIES are not as messed up as you think, they are just handled in a different way. Doesn't mean they are wrong.
You see how this battle goes in my head every minute. It's not easy trying to figure it all out and try to heal my heart as well. I know when I am teetering on an edge that's not good. I have had a gift my whole life that has saved me more times than I can count. I am at that point again and I AM AWARE OF IT! The way I know is because the gift is that some that I love who have passed away are near. They tend to visit me in my dreams and sometimes not in my dreams. The past few nights my grandparents and my dog have all been with me. I know that sounds crazy, but Buddy was and continues to be a great comfort to me and he still does it when I am to a point that I just need unconditional love and care. He spent all night with me last night. Just laying by me and hugging me. I know many think this is totally immature and ridiculous, but he was literally what held me together through some of the hardest times of my life. My grandparents always have advice to give me. They have been there with their arms around me directing me in many of the things I have done lately. My grandmother warned me that I was going to have a major crisis in my life and need to count on them and others, before I had all of these health problems. The things they do and say have never steered me wrong or failed me. You see, I really do have good reasons for doing what I do. The love and respect I have felt for and from all of them is something I hold dear and carry with me. I believe this is how my prayers are answered. One gives me direction and advice that I know comes from love, the other gives me unconditional love and comfort.
Thanks to all of you who still care enough to read this blog. We love our family and friends. Please continue to love us, we need it.
~Christy
