Dear Friends,

It’s that time of year again! Mother’s Day will be here before  we know it, Sunday, May 12, 2019! I don’t know about you, but Mother’s Day has always been special in my family. My father has always made sure that we honored our dear mother and that it was a very special day for her. They have been married 65 years and he still honors her-not only on Mother’s Day, but everyday, as he is her caretaker as they grow old together.

This year is especially dear to me, as my mother has suffered a stroke, dementia, broken shoulder, 6 broken ribs, a broken femur and broken wrist due to falls over the past several years. She has been in and out of the hospital more times than I can count. More recently, her heart is getting tired and we are enjoying her beautiful smile and the time we have with her. Life is so precious and so is the love of a mother.

Our mother has been an angel to each of us as we travel through life; always in love with her children and seeing the best in us. In honor of her, I have made a list of some beautiful gift items that any mother would love. They are similar to what my mother (the fashionista) is wearing in these pictures.

My mother has always ADORED fashion. She lovingly recounts the way her mother dressed her as a child and how her Auntie used to take her to the big department stores in Detroit, back in the 30’s and 40’s and buy her pretty outfits. Then she got married and had 5 daughters to dress. Needless to say, we all love fashion! Here are some of the fashion picks in honor of my mother:

Tassel Fringe Necklace

KELITCH Long Handmade Shell Pearl Crystal Beads Necklace for Women

JANE STONE Fashion Floating Bubble Necklace Teardrop Bib Collar Statement Jewelry for Women (Blue)

MNLYBABY Women Cotton Linen Oversized Blouse Stand Collar Long Sleeve Loose Tunic Top T-Shirt  (Pink)

Hearts of Yarn Plush Ballerina Doll

Mont Marte Calligraphy Set, 33 Piece. Includes Calligraphy Pens, Calligraphy Nibs, Ink Cartridges, Introduction Booklet and Exercise Booklet.

Hand Lettering 101: An Introduction to the Art of Creative Lettering (Hand Lettering Series)

May you all have a blessed Mother’s Day, whether you are a mother to human children, furbabies or the nurturing mother figure to a friend. God bless you.

If you follow me on any social media, you probably know that I have been struggling to beat a bad strain of strep since early January. Friends, have you ever had strep throat? If so, you know how absolutely miserable it is. Imagine it not going away and living with it day in and day out for nearly three months!

When the first round of antibiotics didn’t work, the doctor changed it up and said, “let’s try a new one” and prescribed a different round of antibiotics and asked me to come into the office for another throat culture after it was complete. Five days after the second round of antibiotics, I got the call: “Mary, you still have strep. We are sending over a prescription for another round of the last antibiotic.”

I took another round of the antibiotic for an additional 5 days and went in for another throat culture. A few days later, the doctor called to say that the culture came back positive for strep once again. This time, he called out the big guns and prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic for the next 10 days. This antibiotic is known to cause C-Diff and I had to consume lots of probiotics to get through it ok. I will now be at risk of C-Diff for the next two months.

I went back into the doctor’s office after 10 more days, still feeling yucky, but now my lymph nodes in my throat and under my arms were painfully swollen. I was examined and sent immediately for major blood work, a stool sample, another throat culture, and an ultrasound of my lymph nodes. Then I got another call: “Mary, we called the pharmacy to send over another prescription of the last medication. Unfortunately, upon doing so, we realized that the pharmacy made a mistake and gave you too low of a dose for it to do any good. We feel terrible about this, but you will have to take another 10 days of this antibiotic and we have increased the dosage.”

Meanwhile, I was feeling worse that ever with fever, chills, body aches, extreme nausea, stomach aches…the whole nine yards of strep throat! My husband took me to the emergency room to see if there was something more going on that my doctor had missed. They ran all kinds of tests and referred me to an immunologist/infectious disease physician. At this point, I had gone through 5 rounds of antibiotics, 5 strep throat cultures, 5 visits to my family doctor, ultrasounds of my lymph nodes, stool samples, visits to the lab for blood tests, and an emergency room work up.

The infectious disease physician ran his own blood tests and told me that I still have strep but that it has colonized and I am no longer infectious. He said that antibiotics will not kill it, as we had noticed over the course of the past 5 rounds. So, all this time later, I am still struggling with strep throat and it is floating around in my body, making me feel absolutely horrible. Additionally, the antibiotics have wiped away any good gut flora that I had. So, I am dealing with major tummy troubles and nausea. My throat is still on fire, but there will be no more antibiotics prescribed for now. The culture came back positive once again and it has been suggested that I go back to Mayo Clinic.

Your prayers would be wonderful, but I just want to be transparent with you because many of you have messaged me with questions and concerns about my absence for so many weeks. I’ll tell you, friends, it seems as though my life has been put on hold through this experience because I have been so sick. But I want to give you an update on one of the courses that I have been scribbling down in notebooks as I sit in a chair and convalesce in the sunny bedroom window. I also want to share with you some insights about illness, the waiting and my conversations with God during the past 3 months.

Here are some things I have learned during this time:

1.  Prayer is the solution for worry and fear.
2.  A chair in a sunny window has amazing, healing powers.
3.  Faith involves minute by minute surrender.
4.  God’s love and mercy is not situational.
5.  There are blessings-even in the midst of suffering.
6.  A kind word from a friend or loved one can calm the storm.
7.  Where I am weak, He is strong.
8.  Doctors are fallible but God is infallible.
9.  Trust the GREAT PHYSICIAN more than a family physician.
10.  God’s mercies are new each and every.single.morning. Unfailing love.

Here are some scripture verses that have carried me:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

When I am in distress, I call to You, because You answer me. Psalm 86:7

The Lord watches over you–the Lord is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:5

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. Jeremiah 17:7

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Psalm 126:5

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

I am also excited to share with you my new online courses. Writing this one has been such a challenge during this time and it has been the voice of God through me during my health trials. You can read more about the upcoming courses right here.    

Cultivating a Blessed Life is the first of many of my courses to come. I have had a dream of creating courses for you for sooooooo long. Years! Since I started blogging in 2007. I never dreamed of the places God would take me the day I stepped away from the pulpit or the day I wrote my first blog post. I could have never imagined at that time, that He would use me to reach thousands of women with my message through the years. I remember standing in front of 800 people one Sunday, being amazed and overwhelmed back then that God was using me to reach 800!

Once you read all about it by following the link, feel free to pre-order my first course, Cultivating a Blessed Life, which should be available for download the first week in May! I can’t wait to share it with you! Include your mailing address if you would like a freebie that I will be mailing to every woman who enrolls in one of my Spiritual Enrichment courses. Will you join me in prayer for healing, that I may be able to continue the work for which He has called me?

The most important reason I continue to write is to bring YOU hope, to listen to your stories, to encourage you to do the internal work necessary to live a grounded life in Christ and to walk with you on this journey.

Thank you for supporting the ministry of Hope-Filled Living. Each workbook or course that you purchase helps me to give practical assistance to other women who need a helping hand, helps to support my family, purchase supplies and  maintain this website and associated expenses.