Be still and know…
Today we are celebrating a graduation. Without adoption, John & I would be sending our youngest to college next month. I cannot imagine our home without children. John said he could. 😂♥️ Last night, fears showed up as I slept. It still shocks me to realize what trauma does to the heart and mind. Milestones…
Graduation 2020
When I traded my paid career in the restaurant business three years ago, to homeschool our two youngest children, it was the most difficult job by far. After this past Spring, many can relate! They were grateful when I quit sharing my “wisdom” and shared a graduation speech instead. Yesterday, at our son Calvins graduation,…
Never underestimate loss.
Have you ever woke up and thought, “How did I get here?” This is not the life I’d imagined. Each time God presents a significant opportunity, it’s formed in the crucible of crisis. It is not free or safe. In a cross road, we choose to look up or walk away. If we see adversity…
Seven strong.
Overnight our family grew from five to seven. Adoption was nothing we planned. A series of events had us filling out paperwork and enrolling in foster care classes. Two children that we knew, from another state, needed a home quickly. When I placed the call to DCFS they were happy we were asking to be…
Breakthrough
I had no idea what challenges lie ahead for us all. I had no idea how God would show me a portion of trauma that our youngest two had experienced, allowing me the empathy necessary to be their Mother. The adoption story below was shared in the Spring of 2014, six months prior to our…
When the world stopped…
My phone rang. It was my good friend Sarah, who is a Trauma Nurse at St. Louis University Hospital. She was on her way to work, again. Like most in the medical field, she has been working long hours away from her family. In her usual cheery voice, she shared this story with me… …
This virus is really changing my perspective!
This morning I received a text with the title of this blog post. It continued with the truth of many things we take for granted and how much we have to be thankful for. This early morning text left the following words on my heart… We are ALL beginning to understand loss and grief on…
When nothing makes sense.
We hear “God is good” when outcomes are as we desire. Dear friends…God is PRESENT and GOOD, EVEN when bad things happen. Four years and forty days from this photo taken in 2010, our party of seven was tragically and unexpectedly reduced to six. Never in my life did I imagine losing a child. Never did…
Dear Henry
One evening last week my husband and I received a text from our daughter. Our phones simultaneously alerted us just after 9pm. We read the words: I’ve been in an accident. I’m sorry. Time rewound for a moment, as I stood motionless at the kitchen sink. My husband promptly responded to her, “are you…
Mama Grief
Forgot what joy was, it all but tore. Poured my soul, to the child no more. Exhausted in trying to make it right. Feels like life is always a fight. Remembering back to better days When life was not a constant haze. They say true love is never lost. Our savior, already paid the cost.…
Sprouts Of Hope
Are you feeling like a tree that was once standing tall, now ravaged by high winds and storms? I was desperately struggling with grief after the sudden unexpected loss of our 19 year old son. I was raised in the church and believed I was a Christian. There were tests of faith over…
What is YOUR story?
36 years ago – if you would have told me that I would survive a suicide attempt, I would have said, that’s not my story. 26 years ago – if you would have told me I’d be divorcing the man I dated for five years, after one year of marriage, I would say that’s not…