Broken to Triathlete

Hey,

So it’s been awhile and I thought I would just quickly jump on to share something that is on my heart.

The last few weeks have been extremely stressful with both my dad and Sarahs’s being really poorly. Mine has had on going complications following a knee replacement, which resulted in sepsis, E.coli, flu and now further infections. Sarah’s dad had a stroke and they discovered through this that he has AF, High Blood Pressure and is in stage 4 kidney failure. Both came out of hospital at the same time, the Monday before Christmas, so this year’s celebrations were definitely a bit different to previous years.

Through this time, I have wanted to run, hide and batten down the hatches as coping with the stresses of poorly parents, especially when you don’t live close can be extremely stressful. On occasions all I wanted was to hug Sarah and hold each other tight, in that bubble we were BOTH SAFE!

One thing I have learnt and continue to learn in this season is the fact that we both have AMAZING friends and a church family that help hold us up. At each turn they have been there, whether to lend a listening ear, pray, drink wine, give us a hug or just let us know that it will be okay and that ; “This too shall pass”. The road we are walking is not easy but despite my instinct to batten down the hatches I have realised that by letting people in we are made stronger.

So this leads me onto my THOUGHT around EXPECTATION!

As we enter a New Year we can all get carried away with New Years Resolutions that we end up breaking and feeling rubbish about, or we can choose to EXPECT something different!

In the past few weeks I have observed how in the face of adversity a FAITH FILLED EXPECTATION to be WELL has bought peace, hope and resilience. I have also seen the opposite how FEAR has stolen peace and anxiety has been allowed to rule!

Being honest it’s been hard to stay positive at times, but I have chosen to dig deep and choose to EXPECT the BEST and BREAKTHROUGH even when the current circumstances are difficult. It doesn’t mean that there haven’t been tears and a times a feeling of despair, but in the midst of the storm, I have chosen to look up, not down and take it a step at a time.

I want to encourage you as a New Year begins to think about what you are expecting? Not a list of resolutions but something to keep you focused in the good and bad times. Expectation underpins all that we do and it has the ability to transform even the hardest situations.

A year or so we nearly lost our business and it was a scary time, but we put our FAITH in God and we did all we could to make it work. We expected for it to survive and put our all in for it to.

Last year when Sarah stepped out of the business it was quite overwhelming as something we had built together was mine! Would I stumble and fall or would I find my own feet and move it forward?

In December Sarah saw her Dad have a stroke and in that moment life looked like it would never be the same. Being my amazing wife she chose in the face of despair to pray and spoke healing. Her dad is being classed as a miracle and in that moment she CHOSE to EXPECT different against the odds!

Last year we finished stronger than we started, both as a couple but also in our own individual businesses. There have been BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS, LAUGHTER, FUN and lots of LESSONS learned, but we have always looked to succeed and adapt where necessary to do that!

This year I am expecting -

1. Financial freedom

2. A Booming Business

3. For BOTH dads to be fully restored to health

4. To qualify for next years Euro’s and Worlds

5. For Sarah’s team to fly

6. For us to be closer and stronger than ever

My challenge to you is WHAT are you expecting?

SEE IT, BELIEVE IT, SPEAK INTO IT AND GO FOR IT!

NO MOUNTAIN IS TOO BIG TO SCALE AND NO DREAM IS TOO BIG TO ACHIEVE!