Gratitude Series: Creative and Entrepreneurial Challenges

This month we've been getting a little sentimental on the blog and sharing our gratitude for all sorts of things. Today, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I'm sharing something that is close to my heart more so now than ever before.

I'm grateful for challenges. Creative challenges. Business challenges. Personal challenges. The really hard stuff. The stuff that sometimes keeps me awake at night. The stuff that sometimes makes me question why I do what I do for a living or wonder if it's all worth it. The stuff that makes me understand the importance of time with my family while we're here on the earth together. The stuff that puts life into crystal clear perspective.

Why on earth am I grateful for hardship?! That's crazy, right?

Nope.

I'm grateful for hardship because it makes me stronger, smarter, and more courageous. Challenges are refining, and the adversity we experience in life may not always be understood, but it has a purpose. God always has a purpose.

So I'm choosing to be grateful for the hard stuff, even though that choice itself is hard to accept. Choosing to let go of my anxieties this week as we settle down to spend time with loved ones and celebrate the holiday. I hope this little blog post nudge will help you do the same. No matter what feels hard in your life right now - be it your workload, your health, the wellbeing of your family, financial stress, or anything else - it's going to refine you and make you stronger.

Leaving you with this... a peek at our recent editorial which is now live over on the Southern Weddings blog. Beautiful film photography by Ashley and Coty of Henry Photography. Talk about grateful. I still don't even have all the right words to convey what this project meant to us. See more in our portfolio gallery and stay tuned for behind-the-scenes details next week.