She Speaks

I am a child of God. I am a wife of a minister. I am stay at home, work at home, homeschooling mom of four children. After a curve ball was thrown my way a few years back, I became a writer.

Not a writer of books, or a writer of a huge blog, but a writer of a CaringBridge website. If you are not familiar, Caringbridge.org is a wonderful site set up for families of people who are sick. It is a free site that allows you to set up a website where you can update friends and families on the medical developments of your loved ones.

My caringbridge site is for my daughter, Abigail, who was born in September, 2003 with congenital scoliosis. (Congenital means “born with it”. In Abigail’s case, she was born with a section of her spine not having developed properly. She has two vertebrae which look like triangles, and three that are fused together on one side. It basically looks like a puzzle back there.) Congenital scoliosis, if not treated, can be fatal. Typically, children with congenital scoliosis have lung issues. In Abigail’s case, her curve in her spine was causing one of her lungs to not grow like the other.

After waiting and watching to see how she would grow, and to see how her curve would progress, we had a titanium rod installed in Abigail’s back last January. She has had two expansion surgeries since then, and is scheduled for another surgery one week from tomorrow. Our life the past year has definitely not been normal, but it has definitely been a blessing.

I began writing Abigail’s caringbridge updates to inform our friends and family of her medical progress. Then it began to take on a life of its own. I found myself using it to encourage others and making them laugh. I would relay our day to day activities, searching for humorous moments in the midst of hospital stays. Most importantly, I was sharing the love of Christ by showing how He was loving our family through the storms.

I hope to continue encouraging others and to bring laughter to their days. Abigail will be continuing to receive treatment for her “curvy pieces” until she is done growing, so it looks like I have ten more years of writing. Maybe by then, I’ll have enough entries for that book that my friends are encouraging me to write.

There is a great conference coming up this summer in Concord, NC that would definitely benefit my writing and help me reach more people. It is called She Speaks and is hosted by Proverbs 31 Ministries. It is for speakers, writers and women’s ministry leaders. They are offering a scholarship to one very fortunate winner. Check out all the details on the conference and scholarship opportunity!