Four Months Off

Hello friends.

For no specific reason {other than being exhausted, I suppose} I took a four month break from blogging. We've been going through a crazy season in our lives, and while I wanted to remain transparent on this blog, I also wanted to give ourselves the space needed to work things out. 

At the beginning of the year, TJ was accepted into the police academy. We were so thrilled yet so nervous for this next chapter in our lives. We knew it would take months of sacrifice and hard work for everyone {especially TJ} as he went through one of the nation's toughest academies. 

I cooked his meals and pressed his uniforms while he worked his butt off there and studied all night. It hadn't been maybe a few weeks until we had noticed a difference in the way he was reacting to the stress. To be perfectly honest, the month he was in the academy was tougher than the six months he was away in Afghanistan {compounded by my pregnancy I'm sure}. 

His demeanor and disposition were comparable to when he was deployed; only this time he had to deal with the stress of home life as well, which meant we got to see that stress in ways we hadn't before. It was rough. 

To make a long story short, after an exhausting night, we decided a thirty year commitment to a high stress job wasn't going to work out; and it had also showed us that TJ needed a bit more help than what he was getting as far as his anxiety goes. 

It was an incredibly tough decision to make. We went four months without a paycheck, but it was nothing compared to the support we received from everyone. I don't share all of this with you because I feel you need to know every aspect of our lives {and believe me you don't}, but I share it so you can have a closer look at someone you know who might be struggling. 

We share things on Facebook and Twitter all day. We like inspirational posts and comment on stories of strangers. But when was the last time you openly shared about your own mental health and the steps you took to get on the road to healing? When were you so brave that you shared your need for medication and your success with it? Who was the last veteran you knew who struggled readjusting to civilian life after a long deployment? And finally, when did you call your friend and high-five them for being a champion special needs parent? 

I really couldn't tell you how many people have helped us since last winter. I'm eternally grateful to our family, friends, church, and our gracious Lord. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to celebrate with our newest little Campo joining us soon. There are much worse things to suffer through than a season of unemployment {which is over, TJ has a job, praise the Lord} or figuring out your mental health, but I'm so relieved and grateful to be on the other side now.

...aaaaand back to our regularly scheduled blogging. 

Hugs, 

Sharon