In June of the year 2008, God blessed my family by allowing us to adopt a seven year old girl. She came to us one Tuesday morning scared to death. I'll never forget the moment my doorbell rang, I opened the door and there she stood. She was a beautiful little thing with long dark hair and tears rolling down her cheeks. I asked her if she wanted to come in and live with me and she threw herself into my arms and into my heart forever.
At the tender age of only seven, my sweet new daughter had already been through more in her life, than most of the adults I know. She had not slept in a bed, but on the floor until she was five years old. She had experienced neglect and hunger. She had been in rooms filled with the fumes of "crack" being made all around her. And yet, after everything she had gone through, she had to be the sweetest little girl I had and have ever met! God's spirit of grace and mercy flows so strongly from her that on almost a daily basis I have someone comment on how darling she is. Thank you Lord!
She is so funny and my family and I absolutely adore her. Her love for life is contagious and I'm so grateful God has allowed me to be her mom. What a joy and blessing she is in my life. My family and I would laugh with her constantly! At moments of frustration she would say "Oh Snaps". Yes...that is snap with an "s". We would literally fall off the chair laughing. It is a favorite saying of ours now.
My daughter is now 12, and I'm not sure she realizes what a great witness she is to God's great love and mercy. I pray she becomes aware and she uses it for His glory.
As you might imagine she was attached to me at the hip from the very beginning. Where I went, she went. I teach a women's bible study on Thursday night and she loved to tag along with me. Of course it meant I had to check her into the children's area but that was ok with her because she started to make friends pretty quickly. She loved going with me! One Thursday night we arrived at the church at our regular time. She asked me to go into the ladies room and of course my answer was "yes". I didn't want her to make a mess on the floor! After a few short minutes she ran out of the restroom and approached me and a friend I was speaking with. Her eyes were as big as saucers and she yelled at me "Mom!!!, your name is all over the bathroom walls! You are an almost famous woman!". My friend Sherri, and I laughed until we cried. As a teenager I would have been mortified to here these words! It all turned out well though as there are posters in the ladies room announcing our current bible study with my name and number as a contact in order for women to register. Whew!!
My goal has never been to be "a famous woman". It is however my goal to make the One who has seen me through the trials as well as the happiness and great delights of my life famous. I love to teach women in bible study and I love to interact with women of all walks of life. I believe God has called me to minister to women, and He has given me an array of experiences to draw from. They include such things as infertility, miscarriages, adoption of two children, troubles in my marriage, a very strong willed child, and most recently, cancer. There are also many I have not listed here! A meaningful quote I recently read in a blog by Leslie Leyland Fields is “ . . . For we do not, after all, simply have experience; we are entrusted with it. We must do something—make something—with it. A story, we sense is the only possible habitation for the burden of our witnessing.” Patricia Hampl
I believe God has allowed these experiences for the sole purpose of enabling me to minister and to witness to other women as they experience the same type of life's harships and joys. It's not about me, it's all about HIM!
2 Corinthians 1: 4 "He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
I look forward to sharing these stories of God's greatness, mercy and love with you. See you again soon!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
"A Time"
I remember the day I published my first post to this blog. I was sitting in a room with a group of home school moms. There are about ten of us who meet every Monday as our children all attend a wonderful fine arts school. We have become very good friends and confidants. We call ourselves "Monday Mommas". You will be hearing a lot more about them in the near future and I just want to warn you....you will enjoy it. Before posting to the blog I had asked them to pray for me. You see...I had found a lump in my right breast. I wasn't worried about it. All of my intentions were to post on a regular basis as God would lead me, and I was so excited to get started.
A couple of weeks later my greatest fears were realized and there was a huge turn of events that would absolutely rock my world and change me forever. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. In late December, after much research and discussion with a surgeon, I opted to have a lumpectomy. The doctors all told me there was no difference in mortality between having a lumpectomy verses a full mastectomy for the type of cancer they had found in the biopsy. So of course I decided to save the breast.
In February of 2012 I had healed well from the surgery and I was able to begin treatments that would consume most of the next seven months. I would go through sixteen rounds of chemotherapy and thirty five treatments of radiation. It was the most difficult year of my life to date. I am glad to report I am cancer free and in remission.
From the beginning and even now I have felt the love of God and He has shown me such great mercy and favor. Why would He do this for me? It is simply because I am His child. He will do the same for you if you'll let Him. Trust Him. Give your life to serve Him. I can't promise what the outcome for your special situation will be but I can promise you He will be with you all the way. One of my favorite verses in scripture is this, "The LORD is the One who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8 HCSB
This past October my husband and I celebrated this journey with a group of about 100 of our friends. We had dinner and dancing! Without their help, prayers and encouragement, I would not be writing this post today. Yes......all 100 of them! The saints came marching in with meals, rides to EVERY... and I mean every appointment I had with doctors and for treatments. Friends would come to my home to sit with me, they brought me books to read, blankets, went shopping with me to find a wig (I never went with out hair....well until I fried it on a lamp...that's another story for another day), took my children to school classes etc. The list goes on and on and on. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says this "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance;" We did our weeping and our mourning and now it was time to laugh and dance. True to my love for all things sophisticated country and PINK we decorated in style with burlap and lace and ate barbecue. To finish the night off we had plenty of dessert and of course coffee.
Did I mention I like PINK! Well, in case you're wondering....I LOVE PINK!!!
Thank you Stacy Zeledon!! She has a business called Lemonade Moments (you should check her out at lemonademoments.com) and is responsible for all of the beautiful dessert table decor along with the help of a friend April at Honey Hush Cakery who made all of the goodies.
I also have some very talented friends, who are designers extraordinaire and they were responsible for helping me to decorate the tables and the inside of the barn we rented for the party. Thank you Tammy Miner (the designer), Tamara Lee, Lauri Campbell, Sandy Morgan, Caressa Hall and so many others.
A couple of weeks later my greatest fears were realized and there was a huge turn of events that would absolutely rock my world and change me forever. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. In late December, after much research and discussion with a surgeon, I opted to have a lumpectomy. The doctors all told me there was no difference in mortality between having a lumpectomy verses a full mastectomy for the type of cancer they had found in the biopsy. So of course I decided to save the breast.
In February of 2012 I had healed well from the surgery and I was able to begin treatments that would consume most of the next seven months. I would go through sixteen rounds of chemotherapy and thirty five treatments of radiation. It was the most difficult year of my life to date. I am glad to report I am cancer free and in remission.
From the beginning and even now I have felt the love of God and He has shown me such great mercy and favor. Why would He do this for me? It is simply because I am His child. He will do the same for you if you'll let Him. Trust Him. Give your life to serve Him. I can't promise what the outcome for your special situation will be but I can promise you He will be with you all the way. One of my favorite verses in scripture is this, "The LORD is the One who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8 HCSB
This past October my husband and I celebrated this journey with a group of about 100 of our friends. We had dinner and dancing! Without their help, prayers and encouragement, I would not be writing this post today. Yes......all 100 of them! The saints came marching in with meals, rides to EVERY... and I mean every appointment I had with doctors and for treatments. Friends would come to my home to sit with me, they brought me books to read, blankets, went shopping with me to find a wig (I never went with out hair....well until I fried it on a lamp...that's another story for another day), took my children to school classes etc. The list goes on and on and on. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says this "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance;" We did our weeping and our mourning and now it was time to laugh and dance. True to my love for all things sophisticated country and PINK we decorated in style with burlap and lace and ate barbecue. To finish the night off we had plenty of dessert and of course coffee.
Did I mention I like PINK! Well, in case you're wondering....I LOVE PINK!!!
Thank you Stacy Zeledon!! She has a business called Lemonade Moments (you should check her out at lemonademoments.com) and is responsible for all of the beautiful dessert table decor along with the help of a friend April at Honey Hush Cakery who made all of the goodies.
I also have some very talented friends, who are designers extraordinaire and they were responsible for helping me to decorate the tables and the inside of the barn we rented for the party. Thank you Tammy Miner (the designer), Tamara Lee, Lauri Campbell, Sandy Morgan, Caressa Hall and so many others.
Well....I am back in the saddle again!! I look forward to writing as often as God leads me to. And as before, I pray I might have something encouraging to say to all who stop by. God is great!!
See you soon.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
Today I decided to start a blog with the realization that I really don't have anything to say....not at the moment anyway. Those who know me at all, know that this is a phenomena worth investigation as I always have something to say.
In the coming days, weeks, months and perhaps years, come and take a look as God developes this blog. It will be on His time and terms when I post and I pray it blesses you in some way. It will be for WOMEN! PINK, PINK and more PINK. I love men and one man in particular but God has not called me to speak to men. If men happen to land here, no worries. The topics and conversations will always be of an appropriate nature, but related and directed to and for women.
Soooo....I've already said more than I had thought I had to say. See you soon.
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