A Different Kind of Mom: Making a Difference at Home and in the World for Christ

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I remember sitting at my first MOPS meeting for Mother's with Preschoolers. After years of waiting to have a child, my husband and I had been blessed with a newborn through adoption. The irony is, all of the moms at the table had new babies. We needed support way before our children reached preschool age! Our of about 10 of us however, I found is disheartening to hear all but myself and another mom say, "Don't you just hate being a parent some days?" Gasp! And these were Christian women. "All I feel like is the maid and the cook" they shared. Looking back, now I realize that I was still in some of the "bliss" of motherhood." Yet, ironically, the only two of us who were content at the moment were both working at home--in the middle of the … [Read more...]

How Can I Get Kids Out The Door To School When I Can Barely Move?

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My husband used to take care of the kids in the mornings because I have a hard time with mornings. But he works the third shift now and I now have two children in school. I have to wake up at 6:30 after little or no sleep and have the kids on the bus by 7:30 a.m. It is becoming increasingly difficult and I keep waking up later and later. This makes it harder because then I have to get them both ready in less time. Sometimes they balk. One is an occasional bed wetter, which makes it worse each morning. So far I have managed to get them to the bus each morning on time. But, I know it is just a matter of time that they miss the bus on my account. I really need prayers. Karlynné Hi, Karlynné, First I have to confess that my husband … [Read more...]

Our Stories – It May Sound Cheesy But I Am Happy

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By Stephany I have been a type 1 diabetic since I was 2 years old, so 22 years I’ve lived with this “illness.” Growing up it was hard to be different and not be able to share in the birthday treats and have “fun” food for lunches. Sometimes, I had to go to the nurses office to take shots. A very embarrassing thing when you’re 8 years old. As I got older and more mature, I was able to take control and be responsible for checking my blood sugars and taking my insulin shots. As I hit high school I let it all go and had terrible control of my diabetes. As a girl having a blind dad with many ailments because of his inability to care for his diabetes, you would think I would have learned a lesson. My dad was at peace … [Read more...]

Writing Brings Healing to the Soul

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By Lisa Saunders, Special Guest Writer The moment I gave birth to my daughter Elizabeth in December of 1989, I felt a stab of fear—her head was so small, so deformed. Within 12 hours, I was told she had been profoundly disabled by congenital CMV (cytomegalovirus). The neonatologist said, “If she lives, she will never roll over, sit up, or feed herself.” He was right. Writing (& Scripture) was how I dealt with my initial shock & grief--organizing my thoughts of despair by getting them down on paper stopped them from endlessly swirling around & overwhelming me. Getting my revelations & stories inspired by Elizabeth published made me feel less alone as I connected with others. Sharing my story with others not … [Read more...]

Amazing Mother Who Lives without Arms

If you live with chronic pain & limitations, chances are you have those days where you have felt like your lack of abilities were impairing the kind of parenting that you always imagined you would do. Living with rheumatoid arthritis, I have dealt with not being able to lift my son some days when he was a toddler, not being able to go down the slides or climb many steps, & being unable to open a bottle of milk while he was screaming for it. It can be disheartening & frustrating. But I've never once had to fold laundry with my toes. Let me introduce you to this amazing woman who actually lives with no arms at all. That's right she does not have arms, & yet she is an amazing mom (with a pretty fabulous husb& we think too!) We hope … [Read more...]

Make Your Own Artwork for Pennies

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When you live with a chronic illness your house can get so dreary. We are often there--at home--looking at the same old knick knacks day after day, watching those dust bunnies grow into adulthood (oh, I'm sorry, maybe that is just at my house!) Well, either way, summer is just around the corner & maybe you are looking around wondering how you could cheer the place up. Or maybe you have kids that are out of school & they are bored & need a project. Here is a cool little tool we found! You can create a poster with the printer you have, even though your printer will only take regular sized 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper. Posterazor has a great video that shows how to download this free software & then how to upload your print. I can see … [Read more...]

Not the Brady Bunch – How to Live With a Bipolar Mom

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By Libby East When I was little my family would watch reruns of the Brady Bunch & I would think "gee I wish I could have a family like that". It was so nice to think that a family's biggest problems could be whether Marsha gets class president or Jan gets to be a pom pom girl or if Cindy will find her favorite doll. And the best part about all of these problems was that they could all be solved in a thirty minute episode. Even though they were a blended family they seemed perfect in my eyes. You see my family was far from perfect. My mom is Bipolar -- Manic Depressive. I have sisters who are twins & they are five years older than me. Where did bipolar come from? I don't know. They say that they remember her being normal & … [Read more...]

When Chronically Ill People Are Assertive, Are We Not Taken Seriously?

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By Lisa Copen I had just received the third pink slip in two weeks from the lab that said my payment was passed due. Over three times I had called and my insurance company had assured me that the lab work was covered and that they would mail out a check that afternoon. This time, when I finally got a representative on the telephone, I was polite, but firm. I said that I wanted the problem taken care of immediately, and I wrote down her name and the supervisor's name. It was time to get even more assertive. When chronically ill people are assertive, is it not taken seriously? Is it assumed that we won't have the energy or stamina to fight all of the battles that we will face? When we do talk to someone in customer service, we are rarely … [Read more...]

The Hero

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By Rhonda Clark Her days are filled with poking & prodding. Doctors & nurses keep a watchful eye over our little darling as they adjust & administer medications. Every moment her tiny heart beats is one more moment we have with her. My days are filled with learning hospital jargon as I sit in the brightly painted rocking chair near my daughter's NICU bed. Today, I get to hold her but only for a brief time. She's so tiny, frail, & weak. Her six-week-old body has survived one surgery, & only God knows how many more will be required to mend her malformed heart. The God-given talents of special surgeons will make her heart right. The second surgery will happen as soon as the doctors believe she can h&le it. We call her Faith because we … [Read more...]

Can Your Or Your Kids Set a New Record? Fun Summer Project

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Summer is coming soon & if you are a mom or dad with a chronic illness you may be wondering how you are going to fill in some of that spare time your children have. Here is one web site that get the kids, even if they are only 6 or 7 years old, to start thinking about what they could do to set a record. The Universal Record Database is touted as "the definitive site for human achievement." While I don't think seeing how many spoons you can knock off the counter with your nose in 20 seconds can be defined as a human achievement. . . who am I to judge? The fun thing about this site is that you can do almost anything, video tape it, & stick it up as a new record. One gal decided to see how many plastic spoons she could hold in 1 h& (45). … [Read more...]

Why I Decided to Homeschool My Kids Despite My Illness

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Did you know Rest Ministries has a group of women who not only are mothers, but who take on the responsibility of homeschooling them too? And since they are likely tired of being called "crazy" by both their healthy & ill friends, we asked them to share a bit more about how exactly they felt this calling & what made them decide to take it on. Are you a homeschooling mom or one who is considering it? You will be met with unconditional acceptance & underst&ing in our Sunroom group Beyond Surviving Homeschooling. These moms may laugh with you. . . but they won't ever laugh at you! ___________________________________________________ What influenced me to home school my children? We began to look for alternatives when our oldest child … [Read more...]

Teen Starts “Wear iT Wednesday” to Spread Faith Message

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We thought this was a cool idea & it's always encouraging to see youth doing something for Christ. Although this isn't specific to illness, we thought you may want to pass it along to your own kids, gr&kids, youth pastors, etc. Maybe we should start a day where we wear a button or something to create more invisible illness awareness & where our true hope comes from too? _______________________________________ “Wear iT Wednesday™” is a grass roots movement which empowers Christian youth to show the joy of their faith as one community. Wear iT Wednesday™ is the idea of college senior, Chelsea Eubank. Chelsea’s vision is to register over 1,000,000 youth on www.wearitwednesday.com to gain their commitment to wear their favorite … [Read more...]

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