Don’t Let the Hard Days Win!

Sometimes a message hits you so hard, you have to listen.

This past Saturday, I volunteered to take “professional” photos during our neighborhood’s annual Cookies with Santa event. This is the second year I’ve volunteered my time, and I always love the joy I can provide the parents and (most of) the children.

After nearly six hours of taking photos, I was excited to download the 600ish photos and share them with all the families. I was shocked to discover that the SD card in my camera stopped working about four hours into the event. I could see all the photos as I took them, but had no idea that about 200 photos were permanently lost. I even tried the help of professionals in technology, but no luck.

I was completely devastated and the guilt I felt was overwhelming.

The words “Don’t let the hard days win” have been written on my chalkboard for over a year. I normally forget they’re there and don’t see them for weeks, even months at a time, but as my heart continued to drop, I reminded myself that it would be okay.

A few hours later, I was in the car and wound up behind another car with the exact same message spelled out on the back window. “Don’t let the hard days win!”

A higher power was sending me a very clear message.

I even had a solution — offer free family photos for anyone impacted by the issue. The response I received after falling on the sword has been overwhelmingly kind. Several have accepted my offer of family photos, and others are fine with the photos they snapped on their phones.

Moments like this remind us how quickly things can unravel — even when we’re doing everything right. It’s easy to let frustration take the wheel, but hard days can also be invitations to choose grace over guilt, solutions over shame, and perspective over panic.

As we pause during this holiday season and reflect on all we can celebrate, I am grateful for kindness and understanding and a year filled with incredible achievements, setbacks, and learning opportunities. I am especially grateful for the times when everything didn’t go as planned. Those are the moments that remind us that misdirection may, in fact, be the right direction.

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