Faith's Mom's Blog

As all of the Fourth of July celebrations are coming to a close, I am still thinking about that one Fourth of July that happened ten years ago. It was around this time back in 2004 that we made the move from our home in Watford City to the Bismarck-Mandan area. I will never forget our first Fourth of July in Mandan. Due to getting moved in to our apartment, we didn't take in any of the celebrations. As we were still putting stuff away late into the night, I opened up the curtains and to my pleasant surprise, saw fireworks going off in the sky.  “Look!” I exclaimed to Rob, “We can see the fireworks from here!”  He picked up Faith and lifted her to the window so she could see too. We couldn't have known it then but in our next ten years here, we would be experiencing fireworks of many kinds - some bright and beautiful and others complete duds! Faith playing in our first apartment After living in Mandan and driving Faith back and forth into Bismarck for a...

It seems to me that God knew what He was doing when He made Rob Faith's daddy. Ever since Rob first met his tiny little girl in the NICU over ten years ago in Rochester, Minnesota, it was love at first sight. But his love and prayers for her didn't start there - it all started when we first saw the picture of her in my womb and we heard her heartbeat for the first time. He has loved her and prayed fervently for her ever since. Kangaroo Cares Snuggling One of the most wonderful fruits of his prayers for her is her love for Jesus and for others. She truly does love people and makes a point to remember people's names and ask them all sorts of questions about their life because she really is interested.  She loves to see photos of people's spouses, babies and even pets. Something else she has a result of her daddy's prayers is her own faith that keeps her strong and keeps her going through the difficult times. Story Time Play Time I love that Faith has...

I think North Dakota forgot all about spring this year and just went right into summer. It seriously seemed like one day the ground was still brown, the trees still bare and there wasn't a robin in sight and the next day was the exact opposite. While everyone was certainly getting tired of old man winter, we weren't ready for 90 degrees! Faith enjoying being outside at Michelle's with her ducks! Besides feeling like summer, I am thankful that it really is summer vacation, and that Faith is done with school this year! She did so well the first half of fourth grade and somewhere along the way around Christmas vacation she began to struggle. We chalked it up to her high muscle tone protesting the frigid temperatures. When it started warming up a little, though there were days she still struggled to get to school. In February she came down with a sinus infection and then in May the kids were getting a little more rambunctious than usual, so it was harder for her to be ar...

The book, In Sickness and in Health: Lessons   Learned on the Journey from Cystic Fibrosis to Total Health  by Mandy B. Anderson is the author's personal story of what life is like living with what doctors call an incurable disease.  In reading her story, I felt like I could completely relate to her. Although my diagnosis of a congenital heart defect is much different than hers, all the ways in which being a sick kid can take an emotional toll, is very much alike. For instance, most kids don't ever have to think about dying an early death or having doctors put an expiration date on your life. This cannot only be emotionally devastating but spiritually devastating as well as "words of death" are constantly being spoken over you.  As a kid, you can feel the fear and anxiety in those around you, so you take it upon yourself to be the "brave" one. You learn how to mask and hide your true feelings and inadvertently start pretending to be someone you are not. ...

This past Sunday at church I noticed Faith singing along to the chorus with a little more gusto than she has in the past. She seemed a little more confident and really projected her voice once she caught on to the words that were being sung. I must admit, listening to her sweet voice singing the words, "He is faithful, He is glorious, He is Jesus, all my hope is in Him. He is freedom, He is healing right now" was enough to cause tears to stream down my face. Later after thinking about it, I realized that part of her new-found confidence in singing probably has something to do with the integrative music sessions she has been doing with a music therapist. Faith playing the xylophone fun with shakers Every couple of weeks, Jonnica comes into our home and spends about 30 minutes with Faith singing songs and playing instruments. I know how much Faith likes music so I was pretty sure she would enjoy doing this, but an added bonus is that the music therapist also does wo...