Christmas Cards & Character
10/29/2025
We’re finally getting around to sending out Christmas cards this year. (!!) In fact, we just took family photographs yesterday evening with a dear friend, and it was a blast. I’m feeling more confident in my clothes, in my body. More beautiful, because of the newfound integrity I am walking in.
I mean, leading up to the shoot wasn’t a breeze, but we were eventually able to have a great time. The thing is that I was physically exhausted and not able to get Addilyn down for her nap because she had fallen asleep earlier in the car. She was fussy and wide awake, and I was overstimulated and tired, so I called my husband who was out spraying weeds, and he came inside to my aid so that I could rest while he soothed our daughter. I woke up tired still, and Micah was slightly irritated, but we both moved beyond our initial “moods” and decided we would have a good experience together as a family.
I’m so glad we did. Repentance and choosing to move beyond bad attitudes, these are beautiful things, friends. Virtues I cannot wait to teach my children to value and prioritize.
Back to our Christmas cards… I’m seriously excited, more so than a non-bipolar gal would likely be. When you’ve wanted to die for the past few years, this is kind of a big deal. The past two Decembers, we’ve had newborns. The years before that, we’ve been dealing with new mental health diagnoses and trying to keep our marriage in tact.
Life now feels merry and bright again; cheery, dare I say. I still don’t think I can wrap my head around how truly joyful I feel most days. Don’t get me wrong, life is no cake walk, and I am not perfect. (Big duh there.)
However, I am a prime example of what can happen when you stay the course amidst suffering. When you decide that your life has value because you were divinely created in the image of God, and designed to do His good will, on earth as it is in heaven. To live is Christ, to die is gain.
I would choose denying myself and choosing to magnify my Maker again and again, even as painstaking as it has been and continues to be. I don’t do so in my own strength, after all, and He has been my Helper in every step, through every valley, and on every mountain top.
He’s blessed me with an ugh-mazing husband. Seriously, I feel like I won. Period. I am blown away at this man’s ability to forgive quickly, to listen well and empathize with grace, and to put up with way more than most men have to.
And don’t get me started on the local church. Boy, do I have a lot to write about the church. (More blog posts to come.) I am in love with my community, not because they are easy to love, but because God designed me to stay engaged in a body of fellow believers who are just as broken as I am and fighting the good fight of faith on this narrow path. I know I would not be where I am today apart from their support, resources, and weekly admonition. What an amazing gift.
Luchando, Emi