Daring to Hope

   I love books.  Our home is overflowing with them. I seem to always have a bookmark tucked between the pages of a classic that I have been reading aloud to my children.  And the pictures books; overflowing shelves of silly and sweet stories that we have memorized but continue to read everyday.  Reference books...every topic and time period.  Our homeschool library has collected them all over the years.  But, even though I am always reading, it is very rare for me to be lost in a book.  A book just for me.

   I recently picked up Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis for my oldest daughter because it was on her biography reading list for this school year.  It has been on my wishlist for a long time and I swept it away as soon as it arrived.

   It is the story of a young woman who left her comfortable American life and travels to Uganda to serve and love the poorest of the poor. She then became the mother to a houseful of African girls and started a ministry to help educate and empower the people of Uganda.

   Her story has pulled at my heart so deeply because I have always dreamed of serving in Africa, but I know my heart would be so torn and I would just want to bring all the children home with me!  Her story is inspiring and I think I talked about it to everyone I saw that week while I was reading it.

   I was so excited to learn that she had continued her story in her new book, Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful.

   The story opens with a scene from Katie's kitchen.  I had to laugh as she described the scene of children running through as she is washing dishes and the trail of muddy footprints that they leave behind.  Here she stands at her kitchen window, and while her backyard view is African soil and mine is an American farmhouse, I felt such a kindred spirit with her.  She is just a mother trying to do her best.  Trying to show love in the most unlovely places.  She cooks and serves and kisses skinned knees.  She says she lives this ordinary life, though we all see it as so much more.

 Many years have passed between her first and second books, and while I read them only weeks apart, she instantly matured in between the pages.  Her story is not an easy one to write.  She shares the heartache and pain of great losses.  She is honest in her doubt and wrestled with God when her prayers were not answered in the way she had hoped.  And so much of her story is my story even though our lives are half a world apart.

  Her story is a beautiful reminder that God is still with us in the wrestling and that His plans are always for our good even when we don't understand.




*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Little Guys Can Do Big Things Too

This week our family was invited to visit Diggerland USA to help celebrate their partnership with Activation ReAct.  While our trip was complimentary, all opinions are my own.

Activation ReAct is a non-profit on a mission to provide ways for people of all ages to lend a helping hand during environmental disasters within the United States.  We have seen first hand the recent devastation of hurricanes Sandy and Irene in our home state. Activation ReAct encourages children and families to use their talents creatively to fundraise for the victims of tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters.

Activation ReAct's Founder and President Elizabeth Norton

 

My husband is an emergency medical technician.  During blizzards and hurricanes he is out braving the storms in an ambulance, while I am home cuddled up with our children.  They may be too young to help in the same way, but I love that Activation ReAct empowers them to use their talents to serve others any way they can. 

Activation ReAct has gained the support of Diggerland USA, a construction based theme park.  Our children were able to see the same types of heavy machinery used in clean up and restoration after the storms, being used for fun.

They rode on excavators and dumper trucks, drove mini-land rovers and tractors through an obstacle course and other fun and unique digger rides. 

 

 

The highlight for my older kids was the rock climbing wall and 4-story tall ropes course.  While I took my little ones on the playground, I watched my older children strap into their safety harnesses and start to climb.  They have never experienced anything like this before and I was so proud watching them challenge themselves in this way.

My petite 8-year old daughter beat her brothers to the top of the 32 foot high rock wall, and her face was shining with excitement, confidence and pride when she reached the top.

Our time at Diggerland created family memories that we will never forget and, I believe, gave my children a big boost of confidence.  They learned that little guys can do big things too, which is what Activation ReAct is all about.

For more information visit:

http://www.activationreact.org

http://www.diggerlandusa.com

Our NICU story

I didn't fully grasp the depth of a mother's love until I stood over my sick child in his hospital bed.

Our firstborn was a perfectly healthy 7 lb, 6 oz baby boy.  We brought him home from the hospital two days later.  The next morning we received a phone call from our pediatrician.  His blood test had come back abnormal, and we were told to rush him to Children's Hospital.

My head was spinning.  I just couldn't understand.  He looked fine, but over the next 12 hours as we sat in the ER, he became lethargic and refused to eat.  He was admitted to the hospital for observation and IV fluids.

During the night his monitors started beeping frantically and nurses rushed into our room.  They swept him away, leaving my husband and I alone and completely in shock.

We had so many questions and no one had answers.

I locked myself in the bathroom and just sobbed.  Was our baby gone forever?  I felt completely helpless.

We prayed through the night, but our words felt so empty.  I watched the sun rise and hoped that it had all been a bad dream.

We were brought in to see him.  His tiny frame covered in tubes and wires.  His body was shutting down.  His heart rate had dropped and he had moments when he stopped breathing.

He was then admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The NICU is a scary place.  It is the reality of life and death on the most innocent little ones.  It is a place where nothing seems fair.  But it is also a place of miracles.  A place you can be so thankful for and yet never want to see ever again.

Our baby boy was healed.  He is now 8 years old and stands nearly as tall as me. 

I don't know why the NICU was part of his story, our story, but he is a walking miracle.  My heart goes out to all the mamas that are there and that is why I am so excited to share a new project with you. 

NICU Daze written by my friend Elizabeth Norton and Megan Crume is a 30 day devotional for NICU families.  It is written by two mothers who have been there and want to share their story in order to breathe a little peace and hope into the most hopeless of moments.

It also features my artwork on the cover!  It is a drawing that I made during my first pregnancy and then had it sitting by our baby's bed in the NICU.  

It is currently available for Kindle only and debuts on Mother's day.  All proceeds made on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 will go to the Ronald McDonald house; a home away from home for many NICU families.

Book Review: The Money Saving Mom's Budget

I have been a reader of moneysavingmom.com for the past few years and have learned so much from Crystal Paine's financial advice and couponing tips.

That is why I am beyond excited to be given the opportunity to review her first book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget!

I have to admit, when the book first arrived and I flipped through the chapters, I wondered how much I would really learn.  I feel like I'm a pretty savvy shopper.  I carry around my well-stocked coupon binder, and I have learned the importance of saving and patience over spending and regretting.

But then I read the first chapter...and I was so inspired!

Yes, this book is packed full of practical money-saving tips, but what I learned most from this book was the importance of dreaming big, setting goals and making a plan to reach them.

So many times I put so much effort into clipping coupons and living frugally that it can feel overwhelming.  It does take sacrifice and when I focus on what I am giving up, I forget what I am doing all this for.

I was very encouraged by setting goals for myself (big and small) and finding ways to break them into smaller, more reachable pieces.

This book is obviously about saving money, but she teaches you how to not only budget your finances, but budget your time.

I have been on a journey to simplify my life for some time now, and her chapters on decluttering, finding your priorities and choosing contentment were very inspiring.

I do not know Crystal Paine personally, but she writes in a way that makes you feel like you do.  She is open and honest about her struggles and weaknesses and as she shares her story, you feel like you are sitting over coffee with an old friend.

The Money Saving Mom's Budget also features budget sheets and worksheets in the appendix to help you get your plan onto paper.  She makes it feel doable, not intimidating.

But my favorite part is that Crystal has generously decided to donate all the proceeds from her book to Compassion International, a charity that is very dear to my heart.