What a Difference a Year Makes.

These are two tired and happy faces; ones that glow with contentment and peace, not fear and exhaustion. 

What a difference a year makes.

A year ago we faced what seemed an insurmountable mountain that seemed to threaten our future and erase any hopes we had for adventure. Fortunately, we had a few cards in our back pockets that helped us remember we could overcome the impossible. These two have already been to hell and back before. God has already seen us through divorce and pain that is almost indescribable. He has already walked with us through the season that surrounded my sister-in-law's death. He has held our hands on nights when our oldest son had asthma so severe we prayed we could give him our own breath or through the chaotic behavior and diagnosis of our other son. So when we faced this mountain last year and found ourselves on our knees begging for mercy, we had those moments to draw from. We had stories that reminded us our God is so much bigger than any mountain, no matter how monstrous it seems. 

And...a year ago, that same great, big, loving God opened the doors to a series of events that forever changed our lives.

He has a habit of doing that. 

Enter the Parhams. 

Saturday night, we went to dinner and celebrated the year anniversary of a divinely orchestrated partnership and friendship. It was the year anniversary of dreams coming true and we took some time together to toast those to come.

We met this couple through the same fabulous life group mentioned in last week's blog. Unbeknownst to us, they almost immediately felt pressed to bring me along on a plan they were making for their own future. Because God had a bigger plan, they did not reach out until March of last year...and that's exactly how it needed to be. 

After some time passed and Jason and I learned some crucial life lessons, they asked me to take part in the creation of a business founded on the principles of helping women find healing and wholeness through intermittent fasting. For this past year, I have been blessed to be part of this idea that serves women and teaches them how to find real healing for their bodies and minds and in the process, I have benefited as well. Because God brought them into our lives when He did, I was able to bring a regular income back into our home to supplement Jason's, work from home and continue to homeschool our youngest son. 

Through this opportunity, I was given the ability to develop my creative drive, using my artistic side to help grow this business. 

Through this opportunity, I began to learn how to heal my body in a way that supported the healing that God had been working in my heart and mind over the course of the previous year. 

Through this opportunity, I was able to share this healthy lifestyle with my husband and others who have been able to take control of their own wellness. 

Through this opportunity, I gained a confidence and strength I never thought would be possible for me.  

In just one year, God used a relationship and opportunity to change me forever; body, mind, and soul. 

This happened because one couple leaned in, listened to God and reached out to someone they barely knew. In turn, Jason and I finally being able to come up for air again from the financial nightmare we had walked through and now we find ourselves really living again, not just surviving.

These incredible people took a divinely inspired idea borne out of their own personal struggles and pain and turned it into a tool to change the lives of others. Aside from my own life-changing experience, I have been allowed to take part in watching women facing hopelessness completely turn their lives around, and it has been amazing. 

What I have learned from these two is irreplaceable. I have learned what it is to take nothing but an idea and with passion and prayer turn it into a thriving business. I have learned that I am the only thing that limits me. I have learned that it truly takes a team who trusts each other to build a dream and make it work. I have learned that my credentials do not limit who I am when God says I am more. I have gone from that place that just knows anything is possible to truly knowing anything is possible. 

I have learned that anything can happen in a year.

Just one year later, Jason and I are dreaming again because God hand-picked people to place in our lives to model it to us. Now we are being given the gift of learning from the best as we begin to take a seed of an idea and turn it into something great to serve and speak life into others. 

What we have learned from these two has not just changed our financial situation, but our physical health and well being as well. Yes, they gave me a job, but everything about Jason and I both has changed as a result of walking through this past year with them. We are now mentally and physically stronger and ready take on whatever adventures lie ahead, which just may be the very best gift of all. 

Now we have friends for the journey, mentors that guide, and absolute gifts from the Father himself.

What a difference a year makes.

***Find out more about the amazing things the Parhams are doing at for Today's Aging Woman and IF Keto Family Life.***