2016: The Year of Firsts

Oh, 2016. 
I dub thee the year of firsts.

In order-ish:

First year of marriage.
First year of working with retired nuns - I needed a break from the hospital life and boy did I get one! 
First year of husband getting diagnosed with cancer.
First year of a lot of tears.
First year of radiation everyday for 5 weeks.
First year of being told we won't be able to have our own kids.
First year of surgery and hospital stay.
First year of getting a cancer-cat (a cat you get when you have cancer).
First year of truly experiencing what community means within the church - finding friends outside of the church that are part of THE church. 
First year of having in-laws live with us for a month and half and LOVING EVERY BIT OF IT EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY I LOVE IT, smh.
First year of $300,000 in medical expenses. Yes, that's why health insurance is so important AND there are people who cannot afford it. And yes, inserting a #healthcareissue here.
First year of husband becoming a sarcoma-cancer survivor, yay! - way to beat cancer's ass, babe!
First year of a Trump-ed presidency (don't be surprised, you know you saw that coming).
First year of officially turning old - 30 - and experiencing the "that didn't hurt before."


Oh, 2016. You were a roller coaster of emotions. 

We walked into it looking forward to celebrating our first year of marriage and thinking about changing jobs and moving. 
Instead a few months later we found ourselves putting life on hold. 
Feeling unstable. uncertain. 
Exhausted. emotionally drained. 

When we look back on the past year there are couple of things we both are blown away by:

1. The hub's workplace was INCREDIBLY supportive of him. I 
    didn't realize this but it is hugely helpful and makes life A LOT 
    less stressful when your work supports you and helps you in 
    anyway they can. My workplace was also very supportive. Within 
    a few weeks of being hired I told them the news and the answer I 
    got was, "just let us know when you want to come back." I mean, 
    seriously. That's a big deal.

2. After his diagnosis in April '16, we felt very alone though we 
    talked/skyped/face-timed with family and friends. Every 
    month after his diagnosis and sometimes multiple times per  
    month we had our people stay with us. We didn't know it at the  
    time but it meant the world to both of us. We know these folks 
    could have done something else with their time and expenses but 
    they decided to travel and be with us knowing we wouldn't be 
    doing much.
   
We seemed to handle the year of firsts with calmness. 
And we know that that calmness comes from our faith. 
We both have a heavy past and have experienced the love, faithfulness and provision of our God.

So regardless of what life may bring us we know God is with us. Always walking beside us,
 In our lowest. 
 In our highest. 
 In our doubting. 
 And in our certainty.


P.S. I just realized after posting this that what happened to us in 2016 deserves to be in 2016, #twasashittyyear