How hard life taught me to laugh more

How Hard Times Taught Me to Laugh More – Beth Nyhart

This post has been kindly contributed by blogger Beth Nyhart. So happy to have her share with us today. See her bio and social media links below.

I have always been a pretty happy person.  Even when going through some difficult times, it wasn’t too long until I found hope in my faith, my family and friends.  I think that always made it a little hard for me to relate to people who struggle with depression or other things like that.  I couldn’t relate to a sadness that didn’t lift.  

That changed when I suddenly found myself jobless, at home with a 6 month old baby and no way to make ends meet.  My husband was working to pay the important bills, but so many things fell to collections because we were just recovering from his unemployment the prior year and didn’t have a savings.  My confidence was shot, I felt completely inadequate to even apply for a new position because of the way that my ex-employer had treated me.  I remember days and weeks and months of sitting at home trying to keep a smile on my face for my daughter.

After about 3 months, I was able to start watching kids in my home which eased our financial burden a great deal.  With that lifted, I felt a little more free to realise that I was officially a stay-at-home-mom which had always been my dream.  I decided that I needed to treasure the time at home with my toddler, even though it was unexpected and I didn’t know how long it could last.

I started to ask God to help me enjoy each moment instead of worrying so much over the big picture and the future.  I read books, watched cartoons, and sang to the kids.  We played with legos and laughed at each other’s silly antics.  And I found my heart was lighter, my focus was on these precious kids, and I was able to let God pull the worry from my mind.

Now, I am building an online business and still doing home daycare.  My income from working full time has been completely replaced, and I have a close relationship with my daughter that I don’t know if I would have been working 8+ hours a day with her in a daycare somewhere else.  I realised that my house is cleaner, my family eats better, and we save a ton of money with me being home.  

I also realised how choosing intentionally to live in each moment and laugh with the kids makes me a happier person, makes it easier to laugh and love with my husband, and makes my entire life centred around finding the beauty and humour all around me.  

Job loss and depression isn’t something that I wanted to walk through, but it has actually enhanced my life in ways that I never expected.  Looking back, I can see how experiencing those trials made me more equipped to come alongside my friends who are dealing with hard times too.

—Bio—

Beth Nyhart has her heart set on being a Godly wife & mother, and being as close to God as possible.  She dabbles in all things creative, from DIY home improvement to Bible Journaling, and is often swept into a new obsession with making stuff look cool.
Beth writes for Many Sparrows Sisterhood and The Happy Wife of a Human Husband.

Thanks so much to Beth for her post.

For more light hearted stuff, read my post about Laugh More here. Also, if you would like to guest post with us, use this link. We would love to have you share with our readers.

Have an awesome week!

xoxo