“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Take heed to the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.” – Proverbs 4:25-26
Unexpectedly, April of 2015 was one of the hardest months of my life. December of 2014 had been the best month of my life. I had been dating the love of my life, graduated college, accepted my new position at St. Luke’s. Everything seemed smooth sailing, until April of 2015 – I found out I was pregnant. Every plan I had laid out seemed shattered and was an incredibly dark time for me. I felt crushed, I questioned everything I had learned, what it was for, and where my life and next steps were going to be. Did I ruin everything?
Jeff and I had to find a place to live and bring our baby home to and merge our lives together quickly. To say this wasn’t an easy feat was putting it lightly. We bought a house and moved in together 2 weeks before our beautiful baby girl, Cate, was born. I spent my maternity leave unpacking and trying to plan how we were going to make everything work.
Jeff’s dad was also incredibly ill, and he felt torn between our new family and being the sole caregiver for his dad. I forgot to mention that Jeff’s mom passed away unexpectedly two weeks after we started dating. And, he worked in the oil field, which required so much of his time being away from the home.
Everything felt impossible to handle. We had to find a way forward. So, piece by piece, day by day, we worked together and relied on God’s grace, wisdom, timing, and provision. Almost ten years later, Jeff and I are married, we have two beautiful girls, and a life that we love keeping us busy. There are still days and weeks that feel impossible, but we continue to push forward together relying on the same principles we started our family with.
– Mandi Coleman, Director, St. Luke’s Children’s Center
