My family is in Colorado camping along the river in the mountains right now. I’ve been contemplating the fire ban that is going on right now here. The land is so dry, that campfires are banned, because it would only take one spark to set off something so devastating that would nearly be unstoppable.

This brought me around to thinking about my journey as a blogger, how I got started, and the things that inspire me to write and continue to grow my business.

When my husband and I both lost our jobs, and eventually our home as well, I found myself at the lowest point of my life, both financially and emotionally. We became dependent on some friends, and lived in a small apartment that we could barely walk around in because it was so tiny. We had to move far away from family, and I was stuck most every day in a rut that I felt I would never break out of.

The only work my husband was able to find was part-time, and we found ourselves on food stamps. This is difficult for me to admit, but there were even times when I did not want to go on living anymore. The only thing that kept me going was my precious little boy, because there was no way I would ever abandon him.

After about eight months of what seemed to be a complete nightmare, my husband found better work closer to family, and we were able to afford an apartment which gave us more space, and we were no longer dependent on the charity of friends.

Looking back on this time now, I see how this situation was preparing me for the moment that would spark a change that would become unstoppable. I was reading one of my favorite blogs, and on it was a series about blogging for business. I had plenty to say and a lot of knowledge, but hadn’t realized I could share these things with others so easily online. What flabbergasted me even more, was that I could make money while helping others.

So I invested about $10 in a domain name for my site, started my blog, and began working. Let me just make one thing clear: I worked hard. Despite what anyone may think, blogging takes a lot of work, and is a full-time job for me. But, after about a year and a half, I was paying all of our bills, my husband left the job he didn’t want to do and began working part-time at what he loves to do. He’s a part-time stay-and-home Dad, and only works because he loves what he does.

So as I look back on that time that we were devastated so terribly by something that nearly burned us completely, that time in my life prepared me for where I needed to be and what I needed to do to ensure that our family is never again dependent on “the man” in order to pay our bills and live our lives.

I know that a lot of you out there are suffering with different things. Maybe it’s an illness, a lost job or something else. Just remember that these seasons in our lives prepare us for the future and make us who we are. While I never want to go through what we did several years ago again, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

If you would like to learn more about blogging as a business, check out SavvyBlogging.net.

Have you experienced the struggle of losing a job? What is it that got you through that trying time, and do you have any advice for those going through this now? You can leave a comment by clicking here.