Wow, it’s been a hot minute since Stuck in Your Rut has been active. I’ve never wanted it to really shut it down but had shifted my focus towards my content marketing clients through my business Rising River Marketing. I found I was struggling to balance all that I wanted to accomplish (can anyone relate). I had to make some choices for my own mental health.

But 2020 hit and it hit hard. I was so excited for the new decade to start, as I think most people were. Through my planning time at the end of December 2019, I was so full of hope for what was to come. My husband and I had relocated our family to Florida, something we’d tried to do for years. My business was headed in a good direction. And, I felt like we were so close to having everything just click and fall into place.

And, then 2020 showed up.

It came in like a lion through my house.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been sick repeatedly. Nothing serious, just feeling bad on and off for months. We ended up with bed bugs which is something I would never wish on anyone. I struggled through a round of depression as the holidays came to a close and I realized how sad they really were for my family since we were so far away from loved ones.

We finally found a church we liked and a homeschooling group with activities the girls joined, as well as a place for my youngest to do gymnastics. I thought we were finally going to start connecting in our new community.

And, then the freaking coronavirus pandemic came and shut everything down.

And just like that, it was all gone. We can’t go to church. We can’t go to any homeschool activities. And, we can’t even go to the library. We are shut-in, in a place where we know no one. Our yard is so small that the dog doesn’t even like to go outside let alone there being room for the kids to play in it.

While I work from home, my clients are being hit hard by this pandemic which has me feeling nervous about the status of my own income. And, while my husband continues to go to work, like everyone else, we don’t know when that will change.

And, I understand that even with all the things I think are wrong in “my world” right now, I know it could be worse. I know there’s the possibility that it will be worse before it’s better.

And, that’s why I need Stuck in Your Rut. And maybe, you need it too.

Here’s what I’m going to focus on

This blog has had many faces over the years. And, I love to share about many things. But, right now, I want this to become a place of hope and encouragement in the face of reality.

Things suck right now. There’s no way around it.

But, while there are many things we can’t change, there are still a lot of things that we can. We can:

• Work on healthy habits like exercise and eating right
• Develop our self-esteem and confidence
• Overcome fear and anxiety
• Look for ways we can make a difference in the world around us
• Develop new skills and hobbies
• Continue to connect with others through the virtual world

So, there it is. I can’t promise you exactly what you’re going to find if you continue to come back to Stuck in Your Rut, but I can promise that it will be real. No fake happiness. No fake drama. And, I’m not going to pretend like life is normal right now because it’s not and I think it’s plain ol’ silly to pretend like it is.

If you need something you think I can help with, or you have an idea of what you’d like to find on Stuck in Your Rut, let me know in the form on the Contact page.

One of my favorite Bible verses, which I think I’ve share before, is 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

God’s given me a lot of comfort during difficult times in my life and I believe He will continue to so I’m going to look for ways to pass that on to others. And, if you have an encouraging story that you want to share with other women during this time, hit the Share Your Story option on the dropdown box under contact.

We might not know how, but “we’ve got this”.

And I promise it’s going to be a lot easier if we come together to encourage each other along the way.