Most of my recent posts are me drowning and needing help. I wanted to share some wins and maybe encourage some of you ladies!

My mom is going through chemo. 3 weeks ago I stopped at her apartment and she was just wiped out. She hadn’t showered or changed in 3 days. She was basically getting up to use the bathroom and fill her water bottle. I texted my husband that I wasn’t sure what to do and I didn’t want to leave her in that condition. I did eventually have to leave, but my sister was in from out of town and she stayed with my mom for the week.

I get home that evening and my husband sits me down to hear the details about my mom. He says, “okay I’ll handle it. She will stay with us or your sister (my sister and I married brothers so he was going to figure things out with his brother)”. He handled almost everything. My mom isn’t permanently staying with my sister - just the 3-4 days during her chemo cycle that has her feeling the lowest. During the entire time my husband took care of everything - laundry, cooking, etc.

My second “win” is I was hoping for Saturday off. I didn’t have to work, the younger kids didn’t need anything, I thought my mom wouldn’t need anything. I was looking forward to Saturday for 2 weeks. Well - it didn’t turn out that way. I ended up running around for a good portion of the day. Lying in bed that night I just said to my husband, “oh I can’t wait for a day off to do nothing”.

After church he says, “drive the oldest to work and then go home. I’m taking care of the kids the rest of the day”. I told him what I planned to do (catch up on laundry, dishes, etc). He said “nope, this is the day off you needed. I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to do”.

It’s been wonderful to see the fruit of submitting, receiving, gratitude, and everything I’ve learned here (and Laura Doyle of course!). I know it has allowed my husband to let his guard down and trust me more and be willing to be more open with me. I hope to spread some love and encouragement today :)