Stacey's Story #LegacyLeaver | anchor-and-heart

Stacey McBride Wilson All Things Together For Good					Stacey McBride Wilson

I love people...

I just find them so fascinating.

I love hearing their stories; the similarities, the differences, the ups and downs and the lessons learnt from this thing called life. To me there is something so truly beautiful when someone shares their story because in that, you get to see so much more than just a person, you see a soul. With that in mind, I feel so honoured to share my story with you. Where to start though? That's always the tough part…

To sum up, I guess a lot of jumbled pieces in my life all came together last year when life seemed to do a complete 180-degree turn. I went from a single mum/ school teacher at the beginning of 2014, to a wife and entrepreneur/business woman by the end of 2014. While this turn around is huge, it's all the other 'stuff' happening behind the scenes for years before that make it even more amazing and make me appreciate the beautiful place that is right here and now even more - I still can't believe it's my story to share.

I am so blessed to say that I had an amazing upbringing and childhood. But at age 13 I became really sick. Months went by with unanswered questions or reasons for my extreme lack of energy or zest for life. It was later found that during that time I was suffering from Glandular Fever however as this wasn't diagnosed until much later, it developed into the hugely debilitating condition Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. CFS is basically a condition where you lack all energy and are consumed with lethargy with no real reason or way to cure. For nearly 3 years I was constantly bedridden. I missed huge chunks of school. My weight plummeted. I had very little social contact (for a 14/15 year old girl that's torture!). I was a living shell. During this time I became so unwell, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

Bless my parents who tried to keep my plugged into normality in some degree, getting me to school when I could and taking me to social gatherings as much as possibly. Living out bush, social gatherings involved a lot of alcohol and I quickly became wrapped up in the party scene and some pretty self-destructive behaviour. Drunk on the weekend, sick and wiped out with fatigue all week. Resentment and bitterness set it due to being sick and trapped in an unwell body - my life was a mess. Unexpectedly (but not completely given my behaviour), at age 16, I fell pregnant. In an emotionally abusive relationship and desperately unhappy and depressed (because I just wanted to be a 'normal' teenager) I turned to food as my comfort. My weight ballooned from around 45kgs to 82kgs in a few short months. Incredibly low self-worth encased me. (On the positive side, while the exact cause and cure for CFS is unknown, it has been documented that a big surge in pregnancy hormones can lift someone out of the CFS state. Fortunately, that's what happened to me! Since my pregnancy I have never again ever felt the effects of CFS).

Thanks to incredible support from family and friends, I finished high school and attended my graduation with my three-day-old daughter in tow. From there, I enrolled in Uni to study teaching. It was during that time that I joined a gym to lose weight (despite my low self-esteem and amid concerns that I may suffer a CFS relapse); from there, a passion for health and fitness took hold. It was unbelievable to me that I could even keep up in gym classes given that in my mind I was an 'unwell/unhealthy person.' However, I was instantly hooked on ‘that’ feeling. ‘That’ feeling that I was doing something to nourish myself, and my health; and I’ve never looked back. Over time, the owner of the gym saw my passion, determination and drive and asked if I'd like to come study fitness and work for her. How could I do that as a single mother studying at Uni? Being young and naive I just said yes and started on that journey, but saw it purely as a hobby while I studied for my real future, which I saw as teaching. Over the journey under her amazing mentoring I lost the majority of weight I'd gained, but in it's place gained so much confidence and life skills. I wasn't just in 'survival mode', I was beginning to thrive!

Despite being busy instructing and studying Uni and raising my daughter, my soul was still restless. I was trying to fill ‘that’ void with a myriad of things that just wouldn’t satisfy. One evening a friend of mine invited me to church and with nothing to lose I agreed to go with her. Boom! It was like all the lights went on. I had been raised in a Christian home but after years of hurts and pains and challenges I had long given up on God caring about me. But that night, I heard a message of love and acceptance and restoration – to think the mess that was my life could be of worth was just beyond words. From that day I found a relationship with Jesus and in that, the freedom, strength and confidence to really live!

I wish I could say that after making that decision life was all amazing, but the challenges I had experienced before were nothing in comparison to the season I was about to enter. I won’t go into all the details, but in essence, some pretty sad and horrible and messy stuff happened with my daughter's father and we took a huge leap of faith decided to move to the Sunshine Coast to start fresh; a big move after living in the same small town all my life. Despite knowing only one person and being told there were ‘no jobs in fitness or for teachers on the coast’, I can honestly say looking back five years on, it was the BEST decision I’ve ever made.

In 2012, after 7 and a half years of study (and a whole lot of life happening) I graduated Uni with both a Bachelor or Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning under my belt. Finally!

I was super blessed on my final prac that the school I was placed at offered me a position which I accepted. During my time teaching I continued to moonlight as a fitness instructor outside out school hours and on weekends (I mean I was paid to keep fit and do something I loved, why on earth would I give that up?!) While I thought the passion for my ‘hobby job’ would die when I started my ‘real future’ of teaching, the passion only continued to grow and become more intense! Although I definitely loved teaching, my amazing students and the beautiful people I worked with, the job fit was never really quite right and I was constantly confronted with feelings of restlessness due to this fact. After two years, I couldn’t stand it any longer and mid last year I made the decision to move on from teaching and pursue health and fitness full time. Unsure of what this would look like and again being strongly counselled against it I left the security of a job I had worked so hard to attain. But again this is equally one the BEST decision I’ve ever made.

Fuelled by what I'd seen in my time in the health and fitness industry, and a vision God had placed in my heart, my ministry/business The Healthy Happy Soul was born. THHS philosophy is that the BODY (physical health), MIND (psychological health) & SOUL (spiritual health) are all connected and are all equally important for living the fullness of the life we’ve been created for. It’s all about equipping, empowering and inspiring people with the freedom and confidence to enjoy a life full of health, happiness and soul.

While I was super focused and ready to just unleash this vision, the final piece of the puzzle (so far) delayed my plans.... enter my now husband Dom on the scene. To describe Dom: when I met him he was a kite-surf instructing, English backpacker, four years my junior. While initially just acquaintances from church, our relationship moved rapidly from friendship to something much more serious. Over a casual lunch one day (no not a date, just a friend lunch) Dom announces that he feels like God’s speaking and that we’ll be married one day. Ummmm speechless is the only way I could describe my reaction. Shocked by his boldness, but not completed surprised (God had been giving me a few nudges over time which I’d promptly written off as ‘too out there’ – I mean young English backpacker and teacher single mum, - how does that work God!?)

I was just so overwhelmed that I would be blessed with such an amazing man. While I knew my worth was found in God and I was no longer bound to my old way of life, there were times I would come under attack wondering if I’d ever be married, have a family etc. etc. So this was just like wow – no words!!

After dating only two weeks, we were prompted to go to England. The following weekend. In seven days time. Crazy! Rationally, it didn’t make sense at all. But full of faith and trusting what we’d heard, Dom and myself and my daughter, flew to London to meet Dom's family to stay for a month. This trip was amazing in so many senses of the word. We didn’t do much sightseeing but I guess that hadn’t really been the purpose of the trip. It was amazing how we were taken out of the busyness of our everyday lives - how we bonded as a family unit during that time set a really strong foundation for what was to come….Upon arriving back home it all continued at a great pace and within another month after more prompting from God, we were married. So from dating to married was around three months - it's been a wild ride!

We have now just celebrated our seven month wedding anniversary and I have to say that life is beyond amazing. We have settled into family life and we are just like 3 peas in a pod; it's hard to believe that we ever did life without Dom?! Is it without challenge? Definitely not! But all we have to do is look back at how faithful God has already been and it fills us with hope that there are even greater things to come.

So from the beginning of last year to now it has surely been a big 180 flip of the life I was leading. I love my role as a wife. I am finding a new joy in my role as a mother in a partnership. And I am now just over four months of being in ministry/business doing what I love - inspiring others to do live healthy, happy, unstoppable! As I say to my clients, I know what it is to be unwell body, mind and soul and I never want to feel that way again, and what's more, I don't want anyone else to feel that way either! I want to use and share the experiences that have shaped me to inspire others to be free; to dream bigger and to live louder then they ever imagined they could! My hope is that my story would inspire and reach as many people as I can, not because my life has been amazing, but because the God who put this whole thing together is flipping unreal!

God has a life more amazing for you than you could ever imagine for yourself. Years ago when I couldn’t have even possibly imagined how beautiful my life would be, I set my life upon solid foundations.

I held onto unshakable truth when everything else around me was shaky. I focused on the One who sets everything in it’s place. Be encouraged, if you build your life on strong foundations, one day it WILL be a beautiful place to live. So dear one dream big, believe big, and live big. Cause our God is huge!

Blessings!!

I am Stacey and I am a

#LegacyLeaver xo

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