When It Rains, It Pours

I thought about doing a video diary for this post, but then I thought to myself- self, what if you break down and start crying in front of the camera; that isn't a good look. (That's a joke. If you know me, you know that it is nearly physically impossible for me to cry).

And so, I present to you my life over the last 10 or so days.

It's been rough, LOL.

There is a joke that I would often share with my friends in undergrad about being on the struggle bus. We'd laugh and just talk about how we were always on the bus and that it never stopped- and that we never knew where the struggle bus was going. Well, I've been driving the darn struggle bus for the past two weeks.

...and that isn't to say that things are not going well. If one were to look at my own classwork or my student teaching experiences as measures of doing well, s/he would say, oh wow- he is managing very well. And I am. But I'm not.

I won't get into too much detail, but these past couple of weeks have been the ultimate test of balancing life. As a cousin, uncle, aspiring teacher, bill payer, mentor, student, friend, boyfriend, and ____ (insert title here), there has been so much launched my way in terms of being there for other people while also doing what I need to do as a student and as someone who wants to maintain a positive personal space. Dealing with real life gets even more complicated when you're broke as a joke and your laptop crashes with all of your work...

But with all of these things (again, which are too personal to detail in this public forum) I get news that someone took the life of my grandfather following a home intrusion. http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/20196951/elderly-man-killed-in-deadly-home-invasion
 To see and feel the effect of such a tragic event with my family members wis rough.

At the moment, I'm facing this decision of whether I should keep working in spite of everything or if I should take a break here and there and cater to my emotional facilities. So far, I've been working through everything and just grinding in spite of a lot of stuff.  By the grace of God, things are working out and for this, I am incredibly thankful. I was talking to a good friend who told me, "God allows us to be broken so that we can experience fulfillment. When we experience fulfillment and blessings following a rough time, we can remember what it was like to be down while also maintaining a sense of humility when we're up."

Right not it is raining... pouring in fact, but I'm confident that the sun will shine again. :)