Emotions--from a Grateful heart

This is a big week. A week our family has waited for for 3 years. A week that has taken a families effort to get us to this point.

Jason will graduate with his Masters in Theology & Culture from Northwest University.

To say i'm proud of him is a major understatement. To say i'm a crying mess when i think about him this Saturday walking to get his hood, is true. I'm a mess. I feel like it's me who is graduating, even though i didn't do any of the work. Let me tell you why.

2 1/2 years ago when Jason and I decided he would go back to school, was not an easy decision to make. It had nothing to do with the finances, and everything to do with time. We had just Judah. I was just beginning of being pregnant with Jocelyn. I was worried about the time. I already worked night shift so we wouldn't have to pay for childcare, except the occasional time my sister helped us out. He was busy at the church.

Time was valuable to be and i was nervous.

Nervous we wouldn't have dinner together anymore due to his evening classes and my working night shift.
Nervous we wouldn't have family vacations for the financial strain and the time it would take away from his classes.

Just nervous about the future.

We prayed and knew, this is what God wanted. God wanted Jason to pursue this degree. God gave me a heart of peace and we went forward.

So fast forward to now.

When i think about saturday and i think about what it means that he is graduating, i don't really care about the degree he got. The reasons i'm so emotional about this week and the upcoming graduation have nothing to do with the degree he earned or the effort he put into it (yes, the effort was enormous!).
It has everything to do with what we have gone through these past 3 years, and what kind of man i have by my side.

Jason never missed a family dinner because he was to busy. He always made time for family. Family always came first. Dinner is at 5pm everyday. If that meant he had to get up at 5am to get in a full days work at the church and still have time to study for school, that is what he did. If he had an evening class, he came home early to hang out with the family before he left.

Our family was never second.

We juggled and denied multiple people the opportunity to hang out or go out to dinner so we would always have time for our family.

So my emotions come from a grateful heart. I'm grateful we followed the peace that God gave us to let Jason pursue his passion of learning. I'm so grateful God has seen us through. And i'm grateful we are better and stronger for the journey we went on.

Our marriage is stronger than it's ever been.
We are happier in our life that we've ever been.
We communicate far better than we did before we had so much to juggle.
Our hearts are full.

God's ways are higher than ours. He knows what we need. This journey was a journey of our family, not just a degree for my husband. This was a family effort to make all things work. I'm so happy to come out the other side stronger and better.

I love you Jason. Thank you for always putting our family first, even while pursuing your passions. You are an amazing example of a true husband and father. I'm honored to be your wife and cheer you on as this week means so much to you. Others look into our life and think "no way, how do they do that". We look at our life, and see God's mighty hand at work and wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm so proud of you.