Project 365 Day 16

“There is in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.” ~Washington Irving

I have always loved this quote because it describes me. Most of the time I appear happy-go-lucky, I lean on my husband and I seem to just float from one day to the next. I never thought about having strength or what it meant to be strong and "blaze in the dark hour of adversity"

Consider a cotton ball. It is soft, pliable and appears weak. Yet if you take a coin and put in on top of the cotton ball, it will hold it there as long as you ask it to. There have been many times that I have been that cotton ball. It wasn't until a coin was placed on top of me that I found I had the strength to hold it for as long as needed. 

There was a time just a few days after birth when I should have been home rocking Belly and rejoicing in her newness, that I found myself hovered over a hospital crib watching my daughter as she was put through test after test for a hole in her heart we never knew was there. I was exhausted from giving birth, my body ached but I couldn't leave her side. No matter how weak I thought I was, I found the strength to stand for my daughter. I found the strength to speak positively to my husband who couldn't be there and give him encouragement and peace. I wanted to crumble, but I found the strength. 

There have been times that I held the hands of family members and provided a shoulder during the death or illness of a loved one. I wanted to crumble, pound the ground and scream at the heavens about how unfair it was; but I stayed strong. It's not because I really wanted to, but I had a coin placed upon me.

There have been times as an adult where I have been asked to be strong. I don't want to be strong, but I will hold that coin as long as it is asked of me. It's amazing the amount of strength we find that we have when we are asked.