Life can be down right hard at times. Maybe its a day, a week, a month or even years. Maybe you can’t figure out why things have been going the way they are. But you don’t stop living! You keep pushing through praying for the guidance and protection that these hard times will pass.
If I can be openly honest with you (which is not easy for me) my 30’s have been my hardest years yet. In my 20’s, life was good. I got married to the love of my life, my best friend. We started a business together, had a child and were just living the dream, or so we thought. We worked hard as a couple and a team. People believed in us; two young kids who had nothing but a dream to make a living. 
Then came my 30’s. Wait! Why didn’t someone warn me that it was going to be this hard? My wife surprised me with the best 30th birthday party. We had a great time with a live band and many friends, but the night didn’t end well. I’m not a fighter. Im a pleaser, but I found myself in a fight that ended me up in the hospital with a broken jaw.
That night robbed me of my joy. It completely crushed the person I was. I lost everything. In a lot of ways, I gave up on my own dreams and living the life I wanted for myself and for my family. It took a part of me that I may or may not ever get back.
Don’t get me wrong, good things did happen in my 30’s! One being my youngest son’s birth. God sure knew what he was doing bringing the happiest baby into our lives.
We continued to ride the roller coaster of effects through my 30’s with lots of family issues and trials. Things happened that I look back on and think did I really just make it through that time? I have lost a lot of loved ones in my 30’s; more than any other time in my life. Death is hard! Like really hard.
I had never been super close to my dad, but the last 3 years we had grown closer and talked more and did more together. He was a very wise man who taught me a lot in my life. I unexpectedly lost my dad this past January. How could my dad die at only 62 years old? I’m not even 40 yet! I have so many unanswered questions that now I will never know answers to.
My wife came to me early this year and asked if I would consider seeking counseling as a couple. I thought, “why not? Something has got to change and start moving into a new direction!” I never hesitated and told her yes. That decision has helped me in more ways than I can count. I never knew the pain and hurt I had been carrying around with me for 10 years. I stopped living for me. I gave up on me, my dreams, my family and my friends. I had let Satan take control of me.
Each day is still a challenge, but I am living for me one day and one step at a time. My marriage and kids are the best things that have ever happened to who I want to be. I will live my 40’s stronger and wiser than my 30’s. I am ready to accomplish the world!
-Dusty
