Among the most famous mothers in history was the mother of President Abraham Lincoln. He is know to have said, “All I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.” He also said, “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” Now, I am not a president, nor ever wish to be, but I have appreciated the prayers of my mother.

As a child and as an adult, I would ask for my mother’s prayers because my mother’s prayers were “magic.” I believed that she had direct access to God, for when she prayed, things happened. I don’t remember the words she spoke in prayer, but I do remember finding her praying in her bedroom. I quietly closed the door and left because prayers are meant to be between you and Heavenly Father.

I remember when we needed extra help, gathering together in family prayer. Or when the car wouldn’t start, praying for it to start, or when something was lost, or when a big project was due, all these things were reasons in our home for extra prayers.

My mother was also a project manager. She would stay up late into the night typing papers which were due the next day or helping put together a model for a school project or numerous other things. She was my biggest helper. She spent time with us. She spent time with us. She spent time with us.

I think that the love of music my mother gave to us is a precious gift. She listened as each of us labored to learn the piano. She listened through voice-lesson practicing. She was our cheerleader. And even though I wanted to end piano lessons years earlier than she would let me, I am now grateful to sit at the piano (although my piano skills are not the best) and play. It brings peace to my life.

So, thank you, Mother, for all the things you did for me. I love mothers. I love being a mother. I love the mothers of my grandchildren, and I watch as their precious children grow and learn and one day can write a blog to thank their mother.

How will you thank a mother today?

Preparing to move can seem daunting, to say the least. You would think someone who has moved as often as I have would be better prepared. There are many thing to consider in making a major move across the continent, which I have done 5 times and am about to do again. I have complained and fought most of these moves, but have come to realize they have helped to make me who I am today. I have lived in the following places in consecutive order (coming home in-between, as you will see):  Lakeland, FL (1957 – 1960); St. Petersburg, FL (1960 – 1963); Lake Wales, FL (1963 – 1967); Lakeland, FL (1967 – 1980); Memphis, TN (1980 – 1982); Lakeland, FL (1982 – 1983); Anniston, AL (1984 – 1985); Augusta, GA (1985); Panama City, Republic of Panama (1985 – 1988); Odenton, MD (1988 – 1991); El Paso, TX (1991); Lakeland, FL (1991 – 1993); Las Cruces, NM (1993 – 1994); Lakeland, FL (1994 – 1995); Chandler, AZ (1995 – 1997); Lakeland, FL (1997 – 1998); Albuquerque, NM (1998 – 2000); Sacramento, CA (2000 – 2005); White Mills, PA (2005 – 2007) Lakeland, Fl (2007 – Present). I am now preparing to move to Gilbert, AZ. The first and most important step in this process for me is to pray. I pray to Heavenly Father for approval of this decision, physical strength to either direct the movers or for me to purchase the supplies and pack our belongings, emotional strength to enable me to accomplish the many tasks involved in a calm manner, and wisdom to not miss anything that must be done. I then make a general list of things that need to be done, which gets refined many times before the feat is accomplished. The way this has worked for us is that my husband goes ahead of the family and secures a new dwelling place for the family to follow. The corporate moves were the best because there was a moving company that moved everything including the vehicles, and I just had to monitor the packing and loading of all my worldly possessions and then clean the home we were leaving, stay in a hotel until time to get on an airplane to fly to my new home, then again monitor the movers as they unload and unpack everything. That was great! I have, however, had the daunting task of researching the cost of self moves, then creating and implementing a plan of action. There are so many things to consider:  schools for the children, proximity to a congregation of my faith, access to shopping, rents within the budget, etc. My husband and I each made these initial researches, then we would discuss the most viable option from the information we had obtained. This next move does not require as much investigation since the kids are now grown and we don’t have to worry about the best area for them to adapt to the new climate. You wouldn’t think that a move within the bounds of America would be a culture shock, but I can attest to the fact that it is. Each area is part of a neighborhood, which is part of a city or town, which is part of a region, etc. Each one of these divisions or separation has its own characteristics. There are generalities that exist, but we have moved east to west and south to north, from small rural communities to large metropolitan areas — and they have left their impressions upon us. We have lived in conservative areas and liberal areas, lower-income areas, middle-class American areas and just about anything in between. The kids complained:  they were leaving their friends, they wouldn’t fit in, they couldn’t go on, etc. It was my job to make each move an adventure, a new beginning, and to encourage continued contact with old friends and making new friends. It was not easy, and over the years I have found that we have become accustomed to moving every 18 -24 months.  If we don’t, there is a restlessness that sometimes goes undefined until someone mentions that it is time to move again. Then, everyone says, “Ah, that is what that nagging feeling was!” I, on the other hand, am tired and don’t want to move again. We had thought this last move would be just that, the last move. However, with the current economic climate, it is a matter of survival. I will miss many things from Lakeland, many people…but I will make new friends in Gilbert and find new hobbies and adventures to make this move a new experience. The key is to make the Lord the head of every decision and the center of your family, remaining optimistic, looking at newness as opportunity and encouraging love and acceptance of things different.

Well, I don’t really indulge myself too much in music like that anymore, but I did have a recent thought:  “Ohhhh, we’re halfway there…ohhhhh, livin’ on a prayer.”  Sometimes we live in moments, or challenges, or experiences that feel like they are going to last forever.  They aren’t.  I promise.  They are but a blink.  But they feel like forever.  Believe me.  I know.  I have felt those feelings.  But, my recent thought gave me a glimmer of hope.  What if I’m halfway there?  What if I’m over the hump?  What if the end of the trial is just around the corner?  I’ve made it halfway…probably the uphill halfway.  Maybe the next half will be fairly smooth sailing.  I’m halfway there!  I can do this!  I can finish this experience!  I am going to make it!!

So, live on a prayer.  Eat a little chocolate.  Talk to good friends who love you.  Listen to your favorite inspiring music.  And live Mpowered!  You’ll be glad you hung on…you really are halfway there!

Monday, January 4th was my son’s first day of preschool. I had a lot of mixed emotions, as I have always been a firm believer in staying home with your kids and raising them the way you want (with my beliefs and not someone else’s). Yet, there comes a time in their life when you have to start letting go and teaching them how to survive in this world and not hold them back from growing and learning, and playing with kids their own age. This last year, due to the economy, I had to go back to work. Even though I am very excited by my new journey, I still am a wife and mother trying to balance all that. My son wants to go to school, so I found a program that he will go three days a week. We prepared him for about 2 weeks before, but I think we were preparing ourselves more than him.

When we took him the first day, he was so excited–he even got out of bed on the first call–which is huge for him. We got up, ate breakfast, dressed him, read a Bible story, said our prayers and off we went. We took a few first day pictures. We were so proud of how big he was being. He said bye to us with no problem. It made us both kind of sad, but when you look at the big picture, we must have done something right for him to be so strong and confident in himself.

Parenting is not always easy, but if you just try your best and always put your family first, you can’t go wrong.

I want to share with you our story of this amazing adoption process. First of all – we’ve always wanted a big family. Both Tyler & I come from large families. Anna was born one year after we were married and she is a delight. From the time that she turned one year old, we struggled with infertility issues and were not able to have another child. For about two years Anna prayed every night for a brother and a sister. Then we discussed the idea of adoption. Shortly afterwards, I had a dream where I saw the outline of a little girl. She had blonde hair and was about 3 or 4 years old. We determined that we would probably adopt from Russia, since the girl was caucasion in my dream. I discussed the idea with my brother-in-law, Yury, who is from Belarus. He did some research and said that Ukraine would be a better country to adopt from than Russia. My husband & I prayed about Ukraine and felt overwhelmingly that it was where our children were. We decided that we wanted to adopt two children – a boy and a girl: one older girl who could play with Anna and a younger boy.

So, in a leap of faith we started the adoption process and chose our home study agency (Cherub International) and our placement agency (About A Child). Then I was talking with my friend, Valerie, who has adopted two special needs children herself – one from Uzbekistan and the other from Ukraine. She introduced me to the Reece’s Rainbow website – which has pictures of special needs children up for adoption in foreign countries. It was there in the siblings category that I first saw Nastya – and she fit the image that I had seen in my dream. I was floored! I couldn’t believe it. And when I saw that she & Nick were twins – I realized that God had answered my prayers. I had been praying for twins for 4 years! It was an incredible experience. I called Tyler, who was driving home. When I described what I had found, he felt God’s Spirit very strong and began crying. This confirmation united us in our commitment to making these children part of our family.

Tyler & I had discussed the idea of adopting a child with special needs, and we felt really good about it. So, when we saw that Nick has CP (cerebral palsy) and mental retardation – we were at ease concerning it. I have always been comfortable with those who have special needs – I’ve worked in nursing homes and became friends with those who had handicaps and truly enjoyed those wonderful people. Additionally, I want to share with you a promise that I made to God concerning special needs. When I was pregnant with Anna, the first ultrasound that I had showed some abnormalities in her head to body ratio. The doctor was concerned and scheduled another ultrasound for the following week after at a different facility. That whole week I was in distress, thinking something might be wrong with our baby. I finally prayed to Heavenly Father and told him that if it was his will for me to raise a child with special needs – that I would do it and that I would do my very best to raise him or her. The following week the ultrasound was completely normal, so I didn’t think about my promise that I’d made to God – until I saw Nick. And then I knew that I was being blessed with the opportunity to raise this boy and do my very best to help him have the best experience that he could possibly have.

And so, this was our goal: to adopt these precious twins and bring them home as soon as possible.