"Grace & Grit" By: Cathy Holman
Lead a life of Grit and Grace.
This deceptively simple sentence has been my mission for over a decade.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Cathy Holman…otherwise known as Prairie Wife from PrairieWifeInHeels.com.
Almost exactly 19 years ago I met a cowboy at the Frontier Days’ Beer Tent and fell in love. Over a decade ago he moved this hard-core city girl (born and raised in Milwaukee) to 10 acres in the middle of the Wyoming prairie. At the time we had a 2-year-old boy, and a 3-month-old girl and I didn’t know a single person in our new town. He traveled five days a week (as many Wyoming men do) and I was left alone to figure it out.
Grit and Grace.
It was up to me to make sure everything went smoothly on the home front, and as a young mom I was a bundle of nerves. Exhaustion, anxiety, loneliness, and never-ending mom guilt plagued those first months. One night (or is it technically morning) at 2:30am I sat in the rocker nursing our gorgeous baby girl and crying. As my tears dried and I sat softly rocking my daughter in the perfect silence of a Wyoming night, I made a decision.
Grit and Grace.
My dream all along had been to be a stay at home mom with a huge brood of children. And while it didn’t look exactly the way I planned…I was still technically living my dream. I decided to stop focusing on what I could not change…babies that don’t sleep and a husband that had to travel to provide for our family…and start changing what I could.
Grit and Grace.
I forced myself to shower and get out of the house at least once every week and try something new. Story time at the library. A MOPS group recommended by someone at church. I called the wife of my husband’s coworker that had mentioned to him she would be willing to show me around. I strapped the kids in the stroller and went to the park…alone. And I asked my husband for what I needed (just two hours without a kid saying “mom” …just two hours alone PLEASE).
Grit and Grace.
Slowly but surely, I created a life I loved for us.
A life that was no less messy or chaotic, but was also filled with joy and blessings abound. Here I am, with three more kids added to our brood and more side hustles than I can count… Living a life I could have only imagined as I sat there weeping in a rocking chair feeling utterly alone.
Try new things.
Make the changes.
Create the life you dreamed of as a child.
Lead a life of Grit and Grace