life is rough so i drew plance 💙💚

Heyyy, thanks for checking out the description and wanting to hear the tea 🧋
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A few months ago, our family learned that my father-in-law (who will hereafter be referred to as "Stinky Old Man") dropped some startling news on our family. He was leaving our mom and us for another relationship he had been hiding from us for a couple years now. He told all the kids through a copy and pasted text, made hurtful jokes about it, and expected us to side with him. Well, Stinky Old Man is not only stinky but also stupid. Of course, we all ran to support my mother-in-law (Erin), who was just as blindsided by this news as the rest of us.
If that in and of itself wasn't bad enough, three days after he left, Stinky Old Man came back claiming to have gotten feelings back for our mom. He wanted to give it another shot, in order to not lose his kids. (In total there are 9 of us kids--biological, adopted, and married-in). But sadly what he didn't realize is that the hurt was already done, and even though he had come back, a lot of us weren't ready to trust him again. We were scared of getting hurt again.
And for good reason, too. Because three weeks after he came back, he left again, this time with no goodbye, some stolen money, and no indication of where he was going. Honestly, the second time... it hurt so much more deeply than the first time. And I think it was because the first time he chose to leave, we knew he didn't realize he was giving up us kids as well as Erin. But the second time he left... there was no doubt that he knew he would be walking out on his kids too... and that wasn't even enough for him. We weren't enough for him. And as much as he claims he loves us, they're just words falling flat before contradicting actions.
And of course Stinky Old Man couldn't just leave quietly without causing any drama. There was a few weeks were he was incessantly trying to reach out to some of the kids--even though we asked him not to. He disregarded our boundaries, trying to show "how much he loved us" all while actively denying and dodging any responsibility for the way he hurt us. After a few weeks, he finally backed off. My husband Kaleb and I saw him one last time a few weeks ago, and then other than that, he's gone.
Noooowww to pick up the broken pieces! But we're picking them up together, as a family--and we're finding that what God's helping us create from the shattered pieces is more beautiful that what was ever there before! One way that Kaleb and I are finding healing is in choosing a new last name for us, so we can step away from the last name that ties us to him. We get to choose a new name for our family and legacy, and that feels really special. So I'd like to officially introduce myself to you guys, as Emma Davidson :)
Another big change that's happening in our lives: In order to help Erin out, Kaleb and I are moving in with her this Saturday, to keep her safe, and to help her with the mortgage. It's been a sudden life change, it feels kinda scary, but it also feels right. However you feel comfortable, we could really use prayer for adjusting to this new life were starting!
It really does feel like a new life--a new home, a new town, a new name. I'm so excited to see what God has planned for this new chapter