
One late Friday afternoon while working, my 5-year-old daughter came over to me and asked me to separate two of her LEGO blocks she wanted to play with. I had just picked her up from school, so once we got home I rushed off to my office to get my last hour of work in, with the hopes of celebrating TGIF soon thereafter! Since I was so busy trying to finish my work, I quickly tried to separate her LEGO blocks. After not much effort, I said to her, “Haley, I can’t split them. Bring it to your father upstairs. Didn’t he do it for you last time?” She surprisingly responded to me, “No, mommy. I don’t want to bring it to daddy; I want you to open it for me. Please, PERSEVERE, mommy, you can do it.” I looked at her, smiled, and attempted to separate the LEGO blocks again, and sure enough, I opened it.
“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but by perseverance.”

Well, isn’t that the word for 2020! What a year it has been! This has been one of the most challenging years, but a year of lessons learned. I know so many of you, like me, are struggling through this pandemic, so I wanted to make my first post a word of encouragement. Know that you are not in this alone. Although it seems 2020 wants to break us, it is the year that has taught me to not take anything for granted, pushed me to be resilient, and set my priorities in order. The lessons and challenges we have faced this year will only make us stronger. So shake off whatever you are going through and continue to PERSEVERE!
