I met Amanda McDonough when we were involved in some media work together and was truly touched and amazed (to put it mildly) by her amazing journey through deafness. Since I have a fantasy manuscript with a deaf main character I’m working on getting published, I wanted to know more about her life. When you meet her, what you’ll notice first isn’t her hearing aids or even her gorgeous smile. It’s her bright sense of vivaciousness and joy. Amanda is truly one of the most positive people I’ve met and is so authentic about her struggles and also how much…
From Bankrupt To A Servant Lifestyle
I met Author Lauren Brandenburg at an ACFW conference years ago and she’s graciously offered to share her story of how they went bankrupt as part of the Let Resilience Arise Series. Her hope is to encourage us all to look less at stuff and more at the things that matter—and find hope wherever we are on the journey. By Lauren Brandenburg We knew it was coming; we tried to prepare, but we had no idea how bad it would be. Heavily invested in real estate, in 2008 we began our descent into the hold of a crumbling economy. We…
Granville Redmond, A Word Picture Of Resilience
In honor of National ASL Day this weekend, I’m featuring the story of Granville Redmond, who I discovered recently at a visit to the Hunting Library in Pasadena. I was fascinated to learn about his life, stricken with scarlet fever and turned deaf at age three. Nothing held him back since he had parents that believed in him and were able to enroll him at the Berkeley School For The Deaf. There, his talent as an artist was discovered and flourished. Later in life he became friends with Charlie Chaplin and taught him about pantomime, having great facial expressions,…
Resilient Cookies
Resilient Cookies After surviving challenging situations, one of the best lessons we learned was to create new traditions. Our son Joey loves anything with pumpkin in it and one year after the fires, we started making pumpkin cookies. Now it’s an annual moment that brings everyone a smile. Especially our neighbors and friends since they are too good not to share. These simple cookies remind me that God’s grace is new every morning. When I get sad remembering our loss in the massive wildfires of this area, I just breathe, count my blessings, and turn directly toward the difficult memory…
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