You know what…

Life is hard.

Mine. Your’s.

It’s all different and it’s all difficult.

We have our own stories. We have our own trials. We are each made up of different backgrounds and varying experiences, which makes each of us unique and capable of different things.

That’s how we are made.

Different.

If each puzzle piece were the same…would there even be a puzzle?

No, just a pile of the EXACT same pieces, pieces you couldn’t do anything with.

And that’s how life is.

We are made to fit TOGETHER. We were designed to form a picture, a beautiful design, with millions and billions of unique pieces…pieces that have spanned time and space.

So what’s the problem? Why do we fight one another for BEING different? Why do we fault one another for having varying degrees of happiness, joy, sadness, struggles, and needs?

Why do we feel the need to lump one another in the exact same group as we find ourselves?

Why do we feel our way is “best,” the only way, and JUDGE?

We can’t all be border pieces. We can’t all be blue or green or gold.

Yellow-orange-red.

I want to be yellowish-orangey-red like one of those rich colors, blended into a sunset, but that doesnt mean you have to be. Maybe you’re more purple or gray.

I have 4 beautiful, healthy daughters, with another on the way.

I don’t say that to brag…my heart pools in tears for those who don’t have the children they long for or those who had and lost them.

I’ve never been hurt with THAT kind of loss.

I have a home.

My husband has a job.

We have a supportive family.

I don’t know the struggles of people who don’t have those things, but care.

I can have compassion and TRY to gently understand.

I still have struggles. I still hurt. I do cry. Sometimes I ask “why,” and I don’t always get answers.

I’m not a single mom, making it in the world on my own, but I have a husband who works long, hard hours, and is gone most of the week.

During the week, when I am exhausted to the point that I don’t know how I am going to make it, I am still preparing food for 4 spunky kiddos, still giving baths, changing diapers, playing Mrs. Fix-it when things break that just can’t wait. I am fighting the bedtime battles, kissing sweet little faces, and saying prayers with my children by myself while my husband is alone on a truck, wishing he were home with us.

Is my life easier?

Is his?

Is your’s?

Who knows.

Who was assigned the job to judge?

I don’t know your battles. I don’t feel your fears or understand your lonliness and you may not see mine, but let neither of us discredit the fact that we each struggle.

Let us not forget that we were put here FOR one another, not to battle each other.

We ARE in this life together. We ARE part of a bigger picture…an ongoing story, continuing to be written with each and every breath.

There will always be winners and losers. Someone will always be further ahead or just behind. We have different lives, different needs, different strengths and struggles…

But we ARE pieces of the same puzzle.

By casting my piece aside and determining that it doesn’t matter nearly as much as yours does not help to complete YOUR picture any faster or any better than mine because it’s the SAME PUZZLE.

Without me, you aren’t complete, without you, neither am I.

It’s all bigger than you and me.

Why can’t we just embrace each other and say…

“That sounds hard. I see you.”

If I’m struggling, shouldn’t I be able to feel secure in saying…

“Hey, do you see me? I need you.”

And NOT judging. No one judging.

Not me. Not you.

It’s ok to be different. It’s ok to not understand. It’s ok to say…

“Can you explain? Because I DO care.”

And it’s more than ok to take that moment and try to learn something…

Empathy, friend ❤

We all have something to give. My something may seem so very small compared to what you already have, but if my something and your something come from the heart…

What more could there possibly be to give OR receive?

Love…the greatest commandment…the greatest gift.