"She’s My Everything" by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!

She’s…My Everything by Suzanne Woods Fisher

“A mother is one who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.”

--Cardinal Mermillod 

Just a few more months. My mother was hoping Dad would hang on long enough so they could celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary in April. But on January 1st, as the sun rose on the new year, my dad’s worn out heart beat its last. Dad had battled Alzheimer’s Disease for ten years. As many of you know, AD is a long, hard journey. Hard on the one afflicted with the disease, hard on the caregivers.

But not without its blessings.

Four years ago, as I began researching stories for Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World, my path crossed with a handful of Plain families who were coping with Alzheimer’s. It was just about the point when Dad’s illness was shifting from early to mid stages AD and the timing was a divine accident. I learned so much as I observed the calm acceptance of these families. Rather than waste time shaking a fist at God for allowing this disease to take their loved one, they put their energy into trusting God’s sovereignty. They didn’t deny the difficulties and complications and sadness of Alzheimer’s, but they didn’t dwell on them. “God has a plan,” one woman told me. “He always has a plan.”  

Something else I noticed was how privileged my Amish friends felt about caring for their loved one. Caring for the elderly, they believe, is the time to give back to them.

Those encounters shaped my perspective of Dad’s illness. I started to pay attention to how God provided answers to new wrinkles created by Alzheimer’s, just in time. God may be slow, but He is never late.
I started to cherish special moments or good days with Dad—just as he was at each point in his illness. Not mourning the past, not dreading the future.

I really miss my dad. I miss his scratchy whiskers and the way his eyebrows would wiggle at us, even as words failed him. Yet I have such peace in my heart that he was well loved and well cared for, right to the very end. And as hard as Dad’s end of life has been, it isn’t the end. We will meet again. As the saying goes, “Some may see a hopeless end, but as believers we rejoice in an endless hope.”

There’s a beautiful story that illustrates my parents’ 59-year marriage. This event happened about a year or two ago. My sister had accompanied our mother to the doctor appointment for Dad at the Stanford Memory Clinic.

Dad had declined quite a bit that month. He was weak and lethargic, even to the point of whispering, as if it took too much energy to project his voice. During the doctor's appointment, the doctor told my mother and sister that Dad was now in late stages of Alzheimer's. Dad didn’t have much vocabulary left, but when the doctor asked him who mom was, he whispered something back. The doctor looked at Mom and asked, "Did you hear what he just said?"

Mom shook her head.

"When I asked him who you were, he whispered, 'She's...my everything.'"

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Suzanne Woods Fisher is a writer of bestselling fiction and non-fiction books about the Old Order Amish. Her interest in the Plain People began with her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised Plain. Suzanne is the host of Amish Wisdom, a weekly radio program on toginet.com, and writes a bi-monthly column for Christian Post. Suzanne can be found on-line at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.


Re-printed with permission by Cooking & Such, www.sherrygorebooks.com.



Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord -- Giveaway

This month I have several books to giveaway from Thomas Nelson. The first book is for parents Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord is by Pastor and Author Dave Stone. I have been reading this book this week and I must say it is a great read. It is full of great insight and guidance.



The following is a release from Thomas Nelson books;
"No matter how perfect the family pictures look, every family struggles and is dependent upon God’s grace and mercy. As a father of three, Dave shows parents that they have more influence on their kids than any other factor in their lives. Brimming with warmth and humor, Stone gives parents creative examples of how to help kids develop their own faith with ideas such as praying at significant times, encouraging kids to display Scripture in special places around the home, and serving others alongside their parents."

We try to develop our faith in everything we do, but we don't always succeed. One thing that we do everyday is to pray together in the car on the way to school. Each one of the kids has an assigned day to pray first, it prevents arguments. I always pray last. It usually takes us at least 15 minutes for everyone to pray so the 25 minute trip to school is a great time. I've picked up some other ideas from this book that I want to use with our kids.

I would recommend this book for any parent. Leave me a comment below and let me know that you would like to win this book.

Share your own creative way you help your kids develop their faith. Leave your comment by midnight on May 13th, Mother's Day for a chance to win.

Disclaimer: Thomas Nelson gave me a copy of this book to review. One winner will receive a copy. I will pick one winner using random.org on May 13th. Happy Mother's Day!!

Joy Comes from Perseverance | Shelia Walsh

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Joy Comes from Perseverance by Sheila Walsh

One of the most important lessons I have learned in my own life is the joy that comes from perseverance. Eugene Peterson, borrowing a phrase from Friedrich Nietzsche, wrote his book  “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction …Discipleship in an Instant Society.” He points to the Psalms as the way believers have always learned to pray what they live and live what they pray but it is not a short journey. It is an intentional commitment to keep walking even when you are worn out.

*If we want to see lasting results in any area of life it’s important to keep walking in that direction.

*If we want to have a better understanding of the Gospel of John then it takes time and commitment to dig deeper day after day.

*If we want to be thinner this summer than last summer then the work begins now not then.

So too in our relationship with Christ…..

*If we want to know Him at a more profoundly intimate level, that also takes an intentional seeking after Him every day.

As a grown woman I have come to love the beauty of this gift. Passing this “mined treasure” onto my son on the other hand has been an interesting challenge.  We live in such a fast paced, attention-challenged culture where the latest thing can be delivered to your doorstep by tomorrow for a few dollars more. But, as you know, by the time it is delivered it has already been replaced or updated!

How do we speak then into the lives of our children to help them understand and value perseverance?

For me…part of the puzzle meant a large piece of poster board, scissors, some photos and a bottle of Elmer’s glue. My son, Christian and I spread everything out on a sheet in the game room as I explained our project. “We’re going to make a family faith-tree,” I said. “These are photos of family on your dad’s side and on mine. Many of them have gone on to be with Jesus but the seeds they planted into our family continue to grow.” Then we wrote down their names and when they came to faith in Christ (as many as I knew).  It was quite something to see when we were finished.

“Your life matters Christian. Running your race well matters.”

That night we read these words from the writer to the Hebrews,

“We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NCV)

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Sheila Walsh is a Bible teacher, speaker, singer, and best-selling author with more than 4 million books sold. Sheila Walsh is the creator of the award-winning Gigi, God’s Little Princess® and her new series, Gabby, God's Little Angel. Meet Gabby in Gabby's Stick-to-It-Day. As a featured speaker with Women of Faith®, Sheila has reached more than 3.5 million women by artistically combining honesty, vulnerability and humor with God’s Word. She resides in Dallas with her husband Barry and son Christian. Visit www.sheilawalsh.com for more information about Sheila, her other books or Women of Faith.

Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

Busy Week Here at MJ's House

This is a crazy, busy week as was last week. This is the last full week of school. I will try to post an update this week about Honor's and Field Days and field trips. But until then I've found a new website and blog I really like Margaret McSweeney. This week the Pearl Girls are offering a Mother's Day series. So each day this week look for a post from one of the Pearl Girls here on my block. I hope you enjoy them and have a great week!

Priceless Treasures | Cindy K. Stiverson

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series - a week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Sheila Walsh, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Bonnie St. John, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/6-5/13 and the winner will on 5/14. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Priceless Treasure by Cindy K. Stiverson

We've heard it said and often find it true:
You don't know the value of a treasure until you're without it. 

We take for granted the things in life that seem so readily available.
   A paperclip or rubber band, to hold things together.
   A tissue or napkin, to wipe our nose to clean our face, to absorb our tears.
   A Bible to speak words of wisdom and instruction and life and love.

And a Mother, who is all these things and more.
   She is readily available.
   She holds things together.
   She wipes our nose, cleans our face (and our fingers, and, well…everything else!)
   She absorbs our tears and calms our fears.
  "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." (Proverbs 31:26)
   She loves.

Within hours after my mother passed into the gates of our heavenly home, I was missing her. Her quick wit…humor…charm. Her warm smile and melodious laughter, which served her well to the very end, as did our Lord Jesus Christ, who so graciously allowed her to slip quietly and peacefully into His arms.

She simply stopped breathing.

As I stood at her bedside in those priceless moments after her passing, I wanted to touch her skin as much as possible while there was still warmth in her body; to nuzzle my nose against her head and breathe in the scent of her hair while she was still there. Priceless treasures I was guilty of taking for granted, clouded by unmet needs. I was so consumed with what she was not, that I never fully appreciated who she was. It’s like I was blind, but now I see!

I see her strength, her commitment. Her perseverance…sacrifice…her unspoken love. I see how much she meant to me, how much she did for me, how much she taught me, and how much of the good in me was modeled by her.

She was a virtuous woman, as described in Proverbs 31 of the Bible.
“Her children stand and bless her… a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise (vs. 31).”

This last verse of the poem serves as an epitaph for the woman of virtue. It speaks of the legacy she leaves in her passing. It spurred me to write a personal epitaph for my mother, which I read at her funeral.

We publicly declare your praise today, 

and in the days to come,

for you deserve to be praised and blessed,

"We honor you, Mom, for all you have done!"

In my earliest of memories, 

You worked so hard, striving for the rest.

You persevered through great trials

and did your very best.

I know you are being rewarded

in ways far beyond our reach.

We honor you now by practicing what you've taught,

and even what you preached!

You've stood for us for all these years,

Today, we stand for you!

I pray that our applause on earth

will reach your heavenly ears.

With the reading of this poem, I asked everyone to stand. We clapped our hands in celebration and praise of the life of my mother, Margaret Alice Stiltner.

Imagine our surprise to discover that she had left a poetic epitaph for us! She had clipped it from an old magazine and framed it. I found it when I was cleaning her home, on a nightstand by her bed. My mother was never versed at expressing emotion. This was her sweet way of kissing us good-bye: a priceless treasure to remember her by.

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Cynthia (Cindy) Stiverson is a speaker, writer, and artist.  In 1998, she founded Woven: Women of Virtue Network, a spiritual formation and friendship ministry. She pastors the women at Newark Church of the Nazarene in Ohio. She is currently working on her fourth Woven Workbook, and also a book for mothers and daughters on the subject of sexual abuse. Cindy considers raising her daughter, speaker/author Nicole Braddock Bromley, to be her greatest achievement. She loves the men in her life, hubby Mark, grandbabes Jude and Isaac, and son-in-law Matthew. You can find more of Cindy at www.WovenWomen.blogspot.com and www.CynthiaStiverson.com

Exciting News – the latest Pearl Girls book, Mother of Pearl: Luminous Legacies and Iridescent Faith will be released this month! Please visit the Pearl Girls Facebook Page (and LIKE us!) for more information! Thanks so much for your support!

What Do Your Feet Look Like

"How beautiful the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:15 (NIV)

One of my favorite songs is How Beautiful by Twila Paris. I've sang it many times for Lord's Supper, weddings and Mikie's cousin Tiffany sang it our wedding while Mikie and I shared our first Lord's Supper as a married couple.

The focal line is Romans 10:15 "How beautiful the feet of those who bring good news!"

Our family has been talking a lot lately about where God wants us. We're pretty sure that school and job wise we are were we are supposed to be for the time being. But since going back to work I haven't been able to serve like I did as a SAHM.

Maggie got in the car today telling me of a little boy in her class that she is going to tell about God tomorrow on the playground. She is always telling us how she is going to be a missionary when she grows up and go serve somewhere over seas. She plans to be a large animal vet so she is sure God will send her to Africa, after all someone's got to take care of those elephants.

She was excited because this little boy has never heard of God. He doesn't know Him or anything about Him. As she talked I continued to remember the verses that came on the screen after the "Go Ye Therefore" Banquet the other night.

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)

Those verses hit me like a ton of bricks the other night. "How can my kids call on Christ and preach it to others," (my paraphrase) unless they see me do it.

We haven't been called to go sell our home and move to be missionaries as some of our friends have, but we have been called to be missionaries right where we are. I firmly believe that God moved my kids three weeks into the school year to another school for His purpose. I see it everyday.

I may not be able to serve in the same capacities that I used to but I can serve right where I am, even in the check out line at Wal-Mart.

Mattie and I wear sandals all year long and our feet are always dirty. But they are beautiful to Christ when we share the Good News.

I want to always have beautiful feet and more than anything I could ever want for my kids is for their feet to be beautiful too.

Have you looked at your feet lately? Are they dirty or beautiful?

Have you heard the Good News? If not I'd love to share it with you!

Week in Review -- April 22-28

As part of our daily post, Sunday will bring the "Week in Review" for a lack of a better title. This has been TCAP week at school and to be honest we are so worn out that we haven't done anything really exciting this week.

I finally broke down and bought a DSLR camera. A refurbished Canon 2ti. I am now looking for a cute, one of a kind camera bag to carry it in.

There have been several funny quotes from the week but Michael gets credit for the most memorable.

Michael, "Oh man, my zipper is unzipped."
Me, "Well zip it before you get out of the car and your barn animals get out."
Michael, "They've all escaped already, cept the chickens. All I got left is two eggs."

He is so funny and quick witted. He comes up with a lot of good ones. On Thursday he got his nose busted by another little boy over the ball bag at Extended School Program (ESP, after-school care). I threatened to get him one of those signs that says "______ number of days accident free." He was currently on eight, now he is back down to three.

Saturday the plan was to meet my four children from other mothers at one of our favorite places and spend the day. You will read more about the place in a few weeks, I don't want to give away why we were there quite yet.

We had a great time minus the boys, one of whom was competing in the State Bible Drill Competition and Michael who had gotten into trouble and wasn't allowed to go. This is his sad, "I do it cause I ain't got no brother," face.


We had a great time without the boys and even got to meet a new boy, actually he is someone's special someone.

Last evening, the Young Women's Mission group hosted the second annual, "Go Ye Therefore" Banquet. The banquet serves to raise money to provide scholarships for members of our church who are going on mission trips. The girls did an awesome job as was expected.

Below are some pics from our fun Saturday, as well as, from my new camera. Hope you enjoy.

What did you do last week, anything exciting. Let me know and enjoy this coming week!

Caught holding hands. Young Love!

Mollie loves piggy back rides.

Let's climb the ramp and see what town looks like from up there.

Program at each place setting

Go Ye Therefore Banquet