Both Things Can Be True

What you see here: Smiling kids & a family that loves each other, a group of people who laugh & smile & enjoy time together.

What you don’t see: Panic attacks & explosive behaviors & trauma triggers & absolute-misery-no-fun-at-all.

And you know what? BOTH OF THOSE THINGS CAN BE TRUE.

We can be a truly happy family who has fun and loves each other. And we can be a family with deep struggles that is messy and chaotic.

I need to hold both things as a mom—the hard doesn’t negate the wonderful, and the wonderful doesn’t gloss right over the hard. It helps me to be grateful when I acknowledge “we’re having a hard time” without spiraling to “we have a miserable life.”

But also, you need to remember—about me, about every face you follow on these squares—we are whole people with lives full of every range of human things.

It’s not sugarcoating to post smiling faces. I’m just as “real” when I show you the happy as when I show you the hard. Because both are very, very real.

This life is full of so much beauty, and a lot of brokenness. There is so much joy, and a lot of tears. We’ve gained so much, and we’ve sacrificed a lot, too.

So l’ll keep posting beautiful pictures of my beautiful kids, and I’ll keep reminding you that they are only snapshots of a life that is full of beauty...and every other sort of hard and human thing. 🤍