Faith's Mom's Blog

I knew this would happen. Ever since Rob's parents told us about their plans to fly from Toronto to Winnipeg, we looked so forward to driving there to meet them. And now, after spending five days in Canada, the fun is over much too soon. Faith gets ready for our drive to Canada Rob, Faith and I made the 420-mile drive on Monday and Jean and David arrived by plane on Tuesday morning. When we told people we were driving to Winnipeg, they said, "That's kind of a long drive." But after driving over 1,300 miles all the way to Toronto in October 2011, this drive was going to be a breeze! And it was. Faith once again proved to be a great little traveler and was content to listen to her music CDs the whole way. Of course, we didn't make it in 6 hours and 20 minutes like MapQuest said we would. With stops to eat, gas up, get Faith changed and get her feedings started, it took us more like 8 1/2 hours. Practically the whole way there, Faith asked, "Are we in Win...

Not too long ago, someone at church commented to me, "Your daughter is so full of life." I have heard lots of positive comments about Faith throughout the years, but this one brought tears to my eyes. To think that my daughter - a nine-year-old girl bound to a wheelchair was full of life - meant the world to me. Faith's disability causes her to be different from her peers and others around her. She understands this, and although she gets frustrated at times, she doesn't let her disability get her down. She has a very positive attitude about life. I give a lot of the credit to those who pray without ceasing for her and to Jesus who helps her on her journey each and every day. I truly praise God that someone who sees my daughter sees that she has a joyful life despite her special needs. Full of joy I know too well this isn't always the case. Usually, when someone pictures in their mind a nine-year-old who needs to use a wheelchair for mobility, gets her nutri...

The month of May is already nearly over! But it makes perfect sense why it went by so fast, because this month was jam-packed. It's hard to believe that June is just around the corner. I can share in our pastor's sentiment when he said the year is half over, but it seems like 2013 has just begun! On the first Thursday of May, JOY Internationa l had its last Java JOY of the season. We had a great get-together as we celebrated moms and discussed the powerful prayers of a mom. We had a wonderful panel of three amazing moms who shared their hearts on praying for their children.  We also shared testimonies of answered prayers for ourselves and our children. As Java JOY coordinator, I am relieved to be taking some time off, but I already have lots of ideas for our next season which starts up again in September!   Me with our mom panel at Java JOY Me and Faith on Mother's Day Me and Faith playing our favorite game - Wheel of Fortune At the beginning of the month, we...

Growing up, I never honestly thought much about what it would be like to be a mom one day. In my preteen years, because of the heart condition I was born with, my cardiologists told me my heart would never be able to handle a pregnancy. I determined that when I grew up, instead of having kids, I would have lots of pets. I loved cats, dogs and horses and envisioned a future with at least one or two of each.      Growing up, being a mom is something I never thought I would be I was fine with the fact I would never be able to have a baby. I really was. Until the day in my early 20s, I visited a friend in the hospital who just had a baby girl. I walked in to see a tiny little bundle wrapped in a pink blanket snuggling in her mother’s arms with daddy beaming with pride alongside the bed.  I was not prepared for the emotion that would stir my heart. I put on a smiling face for my friend but left the room in tears. I would never have that opportunity, I thought. I w...

It was 35 days ago that our calendars told us it was the first day of spring. In North Dakota, we usually can't depend on the calendar to determine when spring actually comes. We know this, but every year, we still wait expectantly for spring to come - for the weather to turn warmer, for all the snow to finally be gone, and for the grass to start turning green again.  We also look forward to putting away all of our winter garb and donning our spring jackets. None of that has happened so far. Thirty-five days later, we are still waiting. Faith isn't thrilled about still having to wear her winter coat and mittens Just last week Bismarck broke their one-day snow fall record when we got over 17 inches of fresh white stuff. Church services were canceled on Sunday and on Monday the whole city shut down. Faith got a snow day from school, and I did as well from work. Thanks to a few days that the temperatures climbed above freezing, most of the snow has melted, but there are still...