Adversity, Family, Uncategorized
Our world turned upside down this summer.
Many people have been asking about my family and John’s health, so I wanted to give an update.
If you’ve followed any of my story at all, you know that my husband and I came back to the States from the mission field with our children 8 years ago due to health reasons. He was very sick and had to have a couple of surgeries. This included removing his large intestine and having an ileostomy bag for 2 months before his small intestine was healed enough to take over in place of the large intestine. He’s never been quite the same since then.
This spring, his health took a nose dive and he began having serious breathing issues (he even stopped breathing a few times!) as well as other medical complications. It was getting harder and harder for him to go about many of his daily activities and his pastoral duties. In July, he resigned from his position as pastor and he is taking some time this fall to try to heal. (more…)
Being a Godly Woman, Family, Goals, Living intentionally
Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s 2017 already. Wasn’t it just 1991 and I was planning my wedding? Ok, so maybe it doesn’t feel like it’s that long ago, but the whole Y2K thing feels like yesterday. Here we are, already 17 years later. Wow! Even more of a reminder of what I thought I’d write about today…
Do you have a focus word or phrase for this coming year? As I’ve reflected on the past year and have thought about the coming year, one word keeps coming to mind for me. It’s “STEWARD“. As in stewardship. That word has been very meaningful to me lately and I’ve chosen it to be my theme / focus for 2017. I want to be a good steward of my life.
As I mentioned above, time seems to be flying by. One minute I’m bringing home a newborn from the hospital and the next minute (it seems) he’s now turning 23. Repeat that scene multiple times and I can really feel time passing by. We’re only given so much time with our children. Only so much time with our spouses. Only so much time here on earth in general. We don’t have time to waste with foolish choices or careless words and actions. (more…)
Family, Living intentionally, Marriage, Parenting, Relationships
If you’re like most people, you’re probably good at noticing when your spouse or children do something wrong or something that you don’t like. Let’s face it, we all have things that just drive us crazy! Sometimes we become so focused on the negative that we don’t stop to see the positive. We don’t even acknowledge what they “do right”.
You’ve probably been on the receiving end of that before. Nothing you do is good enough. Only the negative is acknowledged. Criticism. It makes you think, “Why bother…it won’t matter anyway.” Have you even been there? Ugh, not a good experience. (more…)
Adversity, Family, Grief, Parenting
David
I realized what I had just heard, and for a brief moment, the world around me stood still. At least, that’s what it felt like.
My oldest son, Isaac, is a college student majoring in both English and Theater. We went to his campus last week, about 4 hours away, to see his play. He had the lead role and we were really excited to see it. As I sat down in my seat to watch, I glanced at the cast list to see which students would be playing the various roles. Honestly, I mainly looked at the side with their real names and then did a quick glance at the character names. When I saw Isaac, I just scanned across the line and saw “Dr. Mortimore”. I didn’t pay attention to his character’s first name. (more…)
Adoption, Family
We have been blessed by the adoption of 2 little boys. I must say, they are amazing! I can’t imagine our life without them.
They are only 9-1/2 months apart and we adopted them as newborns. We brought one home when he was 9 weeks old and the other when he was almost 4 months old. They’re now 5 and 4. The older is Chinese and the younger is Russian, so we call them our Chinese-Russian-Irish twins since they were both born in the same year.
They are extra-special to us, not just because they both have Down syndrome, but because of the way God placed them into our family. We were actually trying to adopt 2 little girls from Mexico and the process shut down. (More about them another day…..we’d still go get them in a heartbeat. They also sported “designer genes”.) Our boys were adopted domestically and we had only been talking to the agency we adopted them through for a few weeks when they called us about the first one. ( not normal and totally unexpected) We didn’t even have our home study 100% finished! (more…)
Being a Godly Woman, Family, Goals, Parenting
A week ago was the 2nd anniversary of my mom’s death. She had inflammatory breast cancer. I’ve thought about her quite a bit the past few weeks. I surely do miss her and over the past 2 years I have caught myself thinking that I would call her and tell her something a few times.
She loved life and was a lot of fun. My friends always liked her and enjoyed being around her.
Mom was always active in our schooling and activities when we were younger. She was my Pixie and Brownie leader, helped in Cub Scouts for my brother, and always volunteered as a room-mother. One time I came home from school and told her that I had invited friends over for a party that afternoon. I was only in 1st or 2nd grade and these “big plans” were made on the bus ride home. After explaining the situation and talking with the other moms, my mom actually did plan and host a big Valentine’s Party for us a few weeks later. It was a big hit and she went all out.
Those are just a few of the memories I thought about over the past few weeks. As I think back on all the memories with my own mom, there are some really funny stories as well as many other things that made a huge impact in my life. They made me stop and reflect on my own life as a parent. (more…)
Family, Life Purpose, Marriage, Parenting
What difference would it make if you knew your life purpose and lived intentionally, seeing each day as a gift, celebrating life, maximizing your relationships, and dedicating 100% of your life to God, bringing Him glory in all you do?
I read a great book this week. It’s 20,000 Days and Counting, by Robert D. Smith. It’s a simple book, and can be read in about an hour. When he wrote the book, at age 54, he had been alive about 20,000 days.
The idea is that life is short, yet each day is a gift you are given from God. Maximize each day and don’t waste a single second. What could you do with 20,000 days? How different would our lives be and how much would we accomplish if we lived each day on purpose? (more…)
Family, Marriage, Parenting, Relationships
Do you know your primary love language? Do you know the language of your spouse? Maybe you’re engaged. Have you learned your fiance’s primary love language?
What about the love language of your children?
Love languages are fun and can make a big impact on the dynamics in your relationships. I recommend the book The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman if you want an in-depth explanation and further information. It includes an assessment in the back for you to fill out and discover your language. There are also versions of the book for children and teens.
The idea is that everyone has an emotional need for love and we have an emotional tank that needs to be filled with love. We feel loved when others speak to us using our primary love language. When we feel loved, our tank is full. We’re affected by whether our love tank is full or not. Emptiness can lead to critical attitudes, withdrawal, harsh words, misbehavior, and negativity….to name a few.
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Adoption, Family, Life Purpose, Living intentionally
My family just finished a very unique and exciting week. It left me with many mixed emotions. I feel so blessed to have experienced what we did and am truly humbled, grateful and joyful that God would allow us to be a part of this. At the same time, it makes me homesick.
Let me explain….. (more…)
Adversity, Family, Grief, Parenting
I want to share a little of my own story and how loss has affected my life.
I don’t say it proudly, but very humbly—God has repeatedly allowed me to go through some difficult losses
I’ve mentioned a few of them in other blog entries before and on the pages with info about me. I really do think that part of my calling in life has been to learn to rely on God through suffering and then use that to minister to others, bringing them hope and encouragement in the midst of their pain and confusion. (more…)
