Giving birth to something new

The summer (2025) was remarkable, in that Andrew (our 2nd son) and Meredith (our daughter-in-law), made us grandparents. This baby made my parents and Darron's Mom, great grandparents. In addition, the baby turned siblings into Aunts and Uncles.  Baby power!  AND the baby was a girl.  After skipping an entire generation on my side of the family, and boys dominating in Darron’s side, we were extra thrilled.  Meredith gave birth to Gracie Ann on July 8.  

We are super proud of Meredith who endured nausea and vomiting her entire pregnancy.  Courageously, throughout her pregnancy she faced a full class of 2nd graders at one of the more challenging public schools in Chattanooga.  Yet with great determination she made it to the summer.  They have chosen to let Meredith stay home with little Gracie, and Andrew will be the provider.  We love that they have embraced this precious value. 

 

Meanwhile, Aubrey (our first born) and Mia (his wife) are “giving birth” to turning a basement into an apartment.  With 3 solid weeks in town, we were able to help them with hours of sheet rock, mudding and sanding.  Darron and I were delighted to be able to support them in this way, as most of the time we live thousands of miles away.  I’m sure the project will go “super-fast” now! At least sweet Mia has this positive outlook.  They celebrated 5 years of marriage this summer.  Proud of their love and determination to complete master degrees. 

Romantically, I was able to witness firsthand Jacob (3rd son) and Nathaniel (the baby – all 6’4” and the most muscle built of them all) fall in love with kindhearted and lovely girls.  This was an amazing gift to be able to “watch”, as usually I am so absent from their lives.  They have been out of the nest already 5 years (at age 22 and 20).  

My mother personhood treasured ALL these things in my heart.  I was reading how Mary (the mother of Jesus) treasured things in her heart as Jesus grew up.  I could so relate to that. It was a summer of treasures.  There were other treasures too.  Time with my parents, my brother and his wife, and Darron’s family.  Some friend visits.  A few days at the beach. 

Additionally, the way opened for me to give birth to a desire and that is to start earning a PHD in nursing. East Tennessee State University (ETSU) offered me a graduate assistant (GA) position where I work 20 hours a week remote.  This equaled my tuition being paid and a small stipend. I am taking full time classes and hope to finish in 3-4 years.  Let’s see!  All the classwork is on-line, which makes this very doable as we still live in Beirut, Lebanon. 

To transition from being the executive director of Woven Dignity to being a fulltime student and working as a GA, I needed to find someone who would take the refugee project over or close the non-profit.  We had been caring for refugee families for 5 years (October 2025), so the thought of cutting off their livelihood felt like aborting a mission.  There were so many times in our “search” that I thought it just was not going to work out.  However, 2 or 3 days before the 2nd deadline that the board set, the right people came along.  It is thrilling to watch the new leadership take over this project and run with it and improve many things.   I am still on the board and connecting with the team of workers and refugees here in Lebanon, but delighted to watch something “grow up”, after giving birth to it 5 years ago.  Our most 

recent success story is getting these 3 boys into school.  The oldest, 8 years old, had never been to school. 

What a journey and how blessed we are on so many levels.  My heart is filled with gratitude.  Closing with just a few images from Lebanon.  Fresh cut mountain lavender bundles, the sweet aroma wafted far.  A lovely time with Lebanese friends at their village home, high in the mountains. And a trip to Damascus, and posing near a basket that most probably was like and near where Paul would have been let down over the wall.