By DJ Hejtmanek Mary, Did You Really Know? Dear Mary, Your exalted story plays like a lovely loop in the background of my life, complete with music, lights, and a little chaos. I feel I know you better with each pass. But one Christmas Day boosted that link. We both gave birth on the same day. Well, yours was probably a different day, they say, but I had my first child on the day we celebrate Christmas Day. Okay, maybe we aren’t that similar, but we both had a baby boy. Never

By Katherine Newsom God's Brave Women - Katherine's Story “Uh oh mama,” my almost two-year-old says as he pokes the leads that are taped on my chest from a 24-hour halter monitor I’m wearing. He then proceeds to play with the cords that fall between the leads to the monitor. It’s much more compact than it used to be a decade ago. I know this routine, and it isn’t anything new. But it’s still inconvenient. Couple that with throwing up throughout the night before, getting a spo

By Rachel Schelb God's Brave Women - Rachel's Story Gutsy. Sure. Self-confident. Independent. Self-starter. Determined. These are words that I’ve been described as. Sometimes they're used in positive ways, and other times, they have been used with negative connotations. I prefer to think of myself as brave. This one word encompasses all these other words but is never used with a derogatory tone. You never hear someone say, “Ugh, she’s so brave,” as they roll their eyes in dis

By Shannon Toller God's Brave Women - Shannon's Story Barf, mucous and constant crying are not what they tell you to prepare for at a baby shower. No number of pretty onesies and diaper genies can prepare you for the feeling of helplessness you experience when you watch your kiddos get sick in every room of the house. And when you are occasionally joining in on this fun germ-sharing merry-go-round, it’s hard to keep the negative voices in your head at bay. Your kids are sick

By Erin Boado God's Brave Women - Erin's Story My most vivid memory of the birth of my second son is his first lusty newborn cry. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It stands as an ebenezer, a stone of remembrance in my mind, of the loving and powerful God I serve. There in the birth pool, I clutched my chubby, healthy baby to my chest as tears poured down my face. Birth is an absolute miracle, a blessing from God. Unfortunately, birth isn’t always so beautiful

By Brittnie Blackburn God's Brave Women - Brittnie's Story My eyes filled with tears as I slowly packed her suitcase. Shirts, shorts, swim suit, sneakers, all the gear a child needs for a week at summer camp. All of the typical gear plus a lot of non-typical gear such as headphones, fidget toys, overnight diapers, wipes, chew bead necklaces and more. What was I thinking? I continued to wipe my eyes over the course of the next hour. Yet, as I grabbed the last tissue out of the

By Misty Oerther God's Brave Women - Misty's Story After every storm, there comes a rainbow. Thank you Lord for this promise of hope. October 27, 2015 was as gut wrenching as it was glory-filled in my life. You see, October 27, 2014 was the day, we lost our son - John Karl Oerther VI - on what should have been his first birthday. No one on earth knew how I would react or function, let alone me. Our sweet boy celebrated in heaven, while we “celebrated” here by remembering him

God's Brave Women - Sue's Story Brave. In the English language we know 'Brave' as an adjective, a descriptor, a way to describe a person's actions, right? Yes, except when it's not. 'Brave' for me has become a noun. A part of my identity. A part of me I would have never prayed for if I knew the circumstances it would take to flesh out a life of being brave. God once said to me, “I call you Brave. You call yourself terrified. I call you Courageous. You call your yourself a cow