Six years ago my sweet Mother in Law fell out of the choir loft during the Christmas Cantata at her church.
She cracked her skull and had to be airlifted to our local head trauma hospital.
She lived.
In fact, she made a full recovery (except hearing loss in the ear on the side where she cracked her skull).
But three years later, she started experiencing memory loss and feelings of anxiousness.
Her brain was scarring and we were losing her.
She and my Father in law moved in with my Sister in Law in VA so that they could help Dad take care of her.
It was a long 2 years that ended on April 28th 2017, when she went home to meet Jesus.
Coupons Helped Us Thrive During the Tragedy
As a homeschool family, we were able to drastically change our lives over these past 2 years in order to travel every chance we could to go visit with her before she left this earth.
We wanted our children to spend time with and remember their Grandmother (our youngest is 11).
I think it's important to point out how more specifically, using coupons helped our family heal from this loss.
First, I wanted to ignore that the death happened, so I shopped.
I was laser focused on my coupons and my shopping list.
Being out in public and using coupons to get more for our money made me feel like Mom would've been proud of me (she always watched me on Fox each week and she even got 4 papers delivered to her house and would do the freebie deals just to stay connected to my passion).
Unfortunately, death impacts your thoughts and I messed up several deals and overpaid (I forgot some coupons in my purse)… but it really didn't matter, I got so many items for so little that I am definitely not complaining.
Secondly, when I started packing to leave to attend the funeral. I didn't need to go buy anything.
Need to pack a new toothbrush kids? Get it outta the toothbrush drawer.
Shampoo? Conditioner? Covered.
Hungry for crackers because your stomach is upset (our youngest was vomiting the night after we found out). NO WORRIES, we have a pantry full of those too. And probably 20 cans of soup to go with it.
And red eye remover… and Advil for headaches from crying… and tissues, thank goodness for that Ibotta tissue deal at Walmart.
Death is a tragedy that no matter how much you expect it to come, you cannot ever fully prepare for the finality of it.
Nor the moments that follow when you dearly miss them.
Oh No, There's More? No Way?!
In May we lost Mom, then in June we lost our precious family pet, Tiger.
For a while I wondered how much loss my children could really endure?!
But we have pulled together to experience the grief and grow in our love for Jesus and each other.
We certainly respect life differently now.
What the Future Holds
The following weekend after Mom's celebration funeral, we walked Annabelle across the stage to accept her Home School High School Diploma.
Two weeks prior I wasn't sure we would be able to celebrate her accomplishment with the tragedy of Mom's death happening.
But you know what? Death is not really the end.
Now that Jesus conquered the grave, death has lost its sting.
It might hurt temporarily (through sadness) but it is not going to stop my families mission to help others save money.
And it is not going to stop our children from attending college or finding themselves and living out their purpose, either.
You know what, though?
A wise English Proverb says, “The darkest hours are just before dawn.” And along those same lines, C.S. Lewis wrote that “hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.”
In other words, life doesn't always turn out the way we hope. Inevitably, we are going to face a time when life feels hard, or sad, or impossible to face.
A friend hurts our feelings, a family member lets us down, or we suffer a financial setback. We get sick, experience heartbreak or lose someone (or a pet) that is dear to us. We struggle financially or emotionally. We feel the pressure of our husband's performance at work that seems not to matter. We start to feel lonely, frustrated, stressed, confused, discouraged, lost and, of course, overwhelmed.
While set backs, pressure, and hardships are definitely never fun, they do serve a purpose. They make us stronger. They give us perspective and empathy. They remind us to be grateful for the little things. They show us what we are really capable of, and they even allow us to truly appreciate the blessings even more. In fact, they allow us to realize we have any blessings at all!Right now, if you are struggling with hardship or heartbreak, or suffering through a challenging situation, I want to encourage you to focus on the light within the darkness. I promise it is there, somewhere, and it will carry you through and help make you stronger.
Remind yourself that how you face (and recover) from the challenge is what truly matters.
You've got this Friend.
