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Your Daughter has Type 1 Diabetes
Your daughter has Type 1 diabetes is not what any parent wants to hear. Why do you ask? Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas no longer produces insulin. A type 1 diabetic must give insulin a minimum of four times a day and must calculate every carb that he/she eats. Type 1 diabetes is not curable. T1D was foreign to us a year ago. It all started with extreme thirst. I don’t recall how long Amelia had extreme thirst and tiredness but we think it was maybe a month or two. I remember shrugging it off thinking her thirst and tiredness were related to our busy…
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Face the Dead Ends in Life
How do you face the dead ends in life? Do you turn around, do you throw up your hands in frustration, or do you ask a friend for help? Dead ends make me think of the book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. When faced with an obstacle, the family considers their options, “We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, so we have to go through it.” There are so many times that we have to face the dead ends in life, those instances in life that we can’t go over, under, or around. The only choice we have is to address the issue…
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It’s Never Too Late to Get Back Up Again
Life can be full of ups and downs, but we cannot remember how important it is to get back up again. When Chris and I were first dating, I started attending church with him. In those early years of our relationship, we attended a Sunday school class taught by Webb Hall. Some teachers stand out more than others, and Mr. Webb is one of those teachers. He was very knowledgeable about the Bible and could explain things in simple terms. Mr. Webb submitted this week’s verse from Joshua 7:10: “The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?’ ” There are so many times when…
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From Glancing to Gazing Upward
Stargazing has been around for as long as I can remember, but it really should be called star glancing. If you are anything like me, you occasionally look at the stars. Now imagine the last time you really gazed at something. What would it be like to reprioritize our glancing to gazing? When I put out the request for favorite Bible verses, Ricky Phillips was the first person to respond with his verse choice of Psalm 121:1-2. “I will lift up my eyes to the hills — From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” Brother Ricky adds, “No matter what happens,…
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Amelia’s Type 1 Diabetes Motto
I decided to start something new this year by sharing fifty-two Bible verses, one per week, from some of my friends and family. I hope to share the verse, who submitted it, and why the verse is special to the person. This is also a way to make me commit to blogging at least once per week in 2021. To start the year off, I want to share the Bible verse we adapted for Amelia’s Type 1 Diabetes Motto. This diagnosis came out of nowhere (story to follow in a future blog) and we had to learn to adjust to a whole new life. I researched Bible verses and made…
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Coincidence or Intervention?
Am I the only one who struggles with interpreting signs and distinguishing intervention vs. coincidence? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to see one of the angels we read about in the Bible? What if you had someone speak a specific message from God? There would be no need to over-think the message if you knew it came straight from the source! I’m an over-thinker, and anytime I pray for a sign or think something may be a sign, I struggle with the notion of was it a sign or am I trying to make it a sign? Even if we do no have heavenly angels on…
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Not the Phone Call Expected From the Teacher
Sometimes grief hits you right in the gut when you least expect it. This happened to me about a month after we lost our Ella Claire. My phone rang one afternoon. The caller was Nolan’s first-grade teacher. Instantly I said, “what did he do”? The teacher quickly clarified that she called to give me heads up on something. Since the class finished end of year testing, they had free time to draw whatever they wanted. With a wide-open canvas, I can imagine all the things that a first-grade boy would draw! Nolan frequently drew about sports, hunting, or farming. Instead on that particular day, Nolan drew something that was a…
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The Gift of Time is the Best Return on Investment
Take the Trip During the first week in December 2017, Chris and I were fortunate to have a trip just the two of us. There were several times we almost canceled the trip. The logistics of asking people to care for three kids, school, homework, and extracurricular activities almost felt not worth the effort. We are fortunate that both of our parents were able to help with the kids which afforded us the gift of time away together. I tried to recharge more than I ever have on a trip. I was almost a recluse and spent my time reading and enjoying my surroundings. He Was Preparing Me for What…
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A Stillbirth Is Still A Birth
Probably one of the biggest unknowns about someone who has a stillborn baby is that delivery and all the recovery afterward is still the same even though you go home without a baby. Don’t worry because had I not had a stillborn baby, I probably wouldn’t know this either. The truth is a stillbirth is still a birth. The doctor determined my baby no longer had a heartbeat and gave me two options:1. Go home and wait for things to happen naturally 2. Go to the hospital I was an hour from home with a friend and had nothing but my purse; however, I couldn’t bear the thought of…
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Finding Forgiveness
Finding Forgiveness Takes Time It took eighteen years for me to realize the peace of forgiveness. True forgiveness requires reaching deep and pulling from the heart. Finding the willpower to forgive is like a picky person resolving to finally eat vegetables. Both are hard yet necessary. The Call You Never Want I will always remember where I was & what I was doing “when I got the call” that my sister had passed away. It was a Thursday in June and Becky, my dad, and I met for lunch on June 14, 2001. Becky told us a coworker was having a get together after work. Becky decided to attend the…
