Guest Blog Posts

When I first found out I was expecting a baby, joy overwhelmed my happy heart. After years of waiting, it was finally my turn to experience the “love like no other” my friends and Hallmark had told me about for so long. High on naiveté, I envisioned myself floating on “Cloud 9” for the rest of my life, buoyed by butterfly kisses and the intoxicating scent of baby skin. And when my firstborn arrived, I did indeed experience an unspeakable love. I marveled at how it took mere seconds to fall madly in love with him.

Sadness lurked over her like a dark, stormy cloud. When days passed without seeing my friend, I became concerned. We pleaded and prayed for new life to grow inside her womb. Yet, before we could dream about what the gender would be or the baby’s hair color, he/she was gone. 

Not everyone can step into someone else’s life the way Donna did in mine. But oftentimes it’s the small acts of encouragement that can be life-giving to a tired mama. Donna was a living example of a Titus 2 woman and showed me how intentional help and kindness can impact someone’s life forever even if it’s just for a season. In living out her role as an older woman training a younger woman, she affected our family for eternity. When my season of life changes and my kids are grown, I hope I can be a Mary Poppins for a young mom like Donna was to me.

It felt like a bad dream the day we were told my husband had Multiple Sclerosis. I questioned God, tried to reason with Him, and cried more tears than I thought was humanly possible. Heartbreakingly, the diagnosis remained the same. I prayed on good days and on bad days. Some days I vowed I would not pray again, but I did. There were days my faith was strong and days my faith was weak. Other days I felt I had no faith at all. There were days when I was boldly confident in the God I serve and other days when I wrestled if there was a God at all.