Baby Elle update

July 19, 2010 | Interesting People,Just thinking out loud,Nurturing Family

She’s here. Welcome to the world, sweet Elle. Gramma loves you like crazy.

online friends who become real-life friends

July 15, 2010 | Interesting People

Sometimes you meet friends online that become real friends in real life. Felicia (Flea) has become one of those people. She’s a fledgling writer, humorous blogger, and as I just discovered a “smocker”. Smocking is a painstaking hand-made process that produces an heirloom-like quality garment. The above is the beautiful outfit that Flea created for my granddaughter-to-be. (more…)

Think!…a book offering help for chronic head pain {{giveaway}}

February 4, 2010 | Books,Interesting People,She Reads, She Thinks, She Grows

How did Thursday get here so fast? Every Thursday I’ll share a new book that I’m reading. I’ll also share interviews with many of the authors. I was glad to interview my guest today for a personal reason.

I have a loved one who is a strong, athletic, jump-in-life kind of guy, but migraines shut him down. That’s why I was excited to read Lisa Morrone’s new book, Overcoming Headaches and Migraines. In it she offers hope and healing with those living with chronic head pain. 

She’s a physical therapist.  An adjunct professor in a university Doctorate level PT program, she has taught upwards of one thousand of tomorrow’s promising physical therapists, and now shares that information with those suffering with pain, and their loved ones.and shares her method of comprehensive Do-It-Yourself treatment for chronic back and neck pain sufferers.
 
Lisa joins me today to talk about some of those methods, as well as how chronic pain can sideline those who want to be active. She encourages those who have been told my numerous doctors that they should “just live with it”, to search deeper.

Suzie Eller: Thanks for joining us today, Lisa. . Let’s jump right in. When someone has head pain, they often reach for medication. Can the medication they take actually cause more headaches?
 
Lisa Morrone, PT: Strangely enough it can! When a person regularly takes medication to keep their head pain under control—whether it is over-the counter-medication, like Excedrin or Tylenol, or doctor-prescribed meds such as Cafergot or Imitrex—their brain actually gets used to the steady diet of those brain-altering chemicals.

 In fact it can become addicted to them! So what does an addicted brain do when its chemical diet is running low? It does what it knows will get it some more chemicals—it produces another headache. Very clever, huh?!

(more…)

12 days of Christmas – I’m #11!

December 10, 2009 | Interesting People,Proverbs 31 Ministries

“Are you through with Christmas shopping yet?” someone asked me last night.

I laughed out loud. “Of course not”, I said to my friend. She laughed with me, knowing that there are SO many days left before Christmas, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m not really a last-minute kind of girl, except for this. I have friends who finish thier shopping by October. I would hate that! I have other friends who have a tidy pile of Christmas gifts under their tree, a result of braving the crowds at bleary-eye inducing hours of the day. (more…)

This week on Christian Momlogic

September 28, 2009 | Books,Christian Momlogic,Interesting People,Nurturing Family

Three amazing bloggers joined me on Christian Momlogic, which means there is a ton more information for moms and women!

Jill Hart is an expert for work-at-home moms. She shares the scoop on how to stay at home with your kids and make an income at the same time. She also deals with issues that come up with being a work-at-home mom.

Carla Williams is the spiritual mom. She’s a grandma (a young one!), mom to many, and best of all she’s a warm, loving human being who loves to mentor other women in parenting and in faith.

Last, but not least, is Takiela Bynum. A pastor’s wife, radio host, and friend, Takiela talks about what it’s like to be a special needs mom. She’s battling lupus and living life large. Her posts reach out to moms who have struggled with sickness, and perhaps just need to connect with another woman who gets it.

Expressions of a Drama Tween

Check out these helpful posts this week on Christian Momlogic:

• Suzie Says: Making Good Memories
• Just Jill: This is Gonna Be Good! (traveling with your children)
• A Touch of Takiela: Expressions of a Drama Tween
• A Touch of Takiela: Special Needs Mom
• Just Jill: Interview w/authors of A Work at Home Mom
• Just Jill: Juggling when you are a work-at-home mom
• Carla’s Corner: How to help your child resist temptation

Encouragement for Today

September 4, 2009 | Books,Interesting People,Knowing Christ,Nurturing Family,Proverbs 31 Ministries

If you are joining me from my devo at Encouragement for Today, welcome!

My devo today was about two things. One, to encourage you that God is working even when we don’t see it. And two, I wanted to share Emily’s story.

Before we begin, I want to explain that this is not an interview about Catholicism vs. Christianity. Many who follow Jesus do so in the Catholic church, but in Em’s case it was more tradition than personal. So when she became an avid follower of Jesus Christ, it changed things. Not just for Emily, but for her family.

Emily is a fun, out-of-the-box, amazing twentysomething who loves Christ, and who runs after God with her whole being.  (This is a pic of her w/my daughter at my birthday party.)

If you are around her for just a few moments, you walk away inspired by her faith.

Today Emily joins me as we talk about what it’s like when you live out your faith alone, and how to trust God even when your prayers seem to hit the ceiling.

Suzie Eller: Hey Emily, thanks for joining us! Can you share the story of when and how you became a Christian?

Emily James: Hey Suz! I grew up going to a Catholic school and church but had no personal relationship with Christ. I went to church on Sunday out of obligation and always dreaded going. The summer after my seventh grade year I went to a youth camp with a group of my friends for fun, not knowing I would be forever changed.

The speakers started talked about topics I had never heard of. The last night of camp there was an alter call and the Lord’s convicting presence fell over me so strong I knew it was something I had to do. From that night on I have sought more of God and remained hungry to know about His kingdom.

SE: What did your family think about your conversion?

EJ: When I first became a believer my family did not understand at all because my family was unfamiliar with having a true relationship with Christ.

SE: In today’s devotional I shared how you went to the Christian church alone for a long time, but now you are now wrapped in family that runs after Jesus. Your mom and dad remained in the Catholic church, but took their faith to a personal level. Your brother Adam is just as faith-filled as you, though he was your greatest adversary in the beginning.

What would you say to the person reading this who feels alone in their faith?

EJ: Don’t lose hope, PRAY. I have seen numerous people transformed by the miraculous power of God. My brother was one of the last people I ever thought would come to Christ and now he is one of the most radical believers I have ever met! I know at times it seems impossible but as cliché as it sounds, with God all things are possible!

SE: What did your brother think about your faith?

EJ: My brother was afraid of what he didn’t understand. He mocked and teased me. We would have lengthy conversations about the bible and he could always out talk me because he was older and smarter. When he was 22 the Lord woke him up in the middle of the night and he accepted Christ. He is now a new creation in Christ.

When he first became a believer the Lord told Him to sell everything he had, so he did. He sold his car, all of his furniture and all he kept was his mattress to sleep on. After completing his college education the Lord told him to work at Whataburger, so he did.

He worked as a personal banker for a while and the Lord told him to quit and do full time ministry, so he did. His obedience inspires me to follow the Lord’s leading even if it seems crazy to this world, because He will always prove Himself faithful!

SE: And now?

ER: My brother is so hungry for the things of God and he is continually seeking more of Him. I watch him move from glory to glory, never being satisfied but always seeking more of God. He has taught me to think outside of the box in everything I do. He has taught me to seek the living word of God for answers, not man, doctrines, or traditions made by man. I respect him and want to be more like him.

(This is a pic of Adam leading Emily and her bridesmaids in prayer before Em’s wedding)

SE: You’ve traveled all over the world in missions. Which was your favorite? And why?

EJ: In the summer of 07 I attended a Mission Training school in Mozambique, Africa for two and a half months. Through this experience I was truly ruined for the Kingdom of God. I lived at an orphanage with a little under 100 children that had been renewed and restored by their Heavenly Father. These children came from the worst situations possible, some of them were found in dumps, beaten, raped and filthy. The Lord restores their joy one by one and they become some of the most well mannered, loving, warriors for the Kingdom I have ever seen. I learned so much from the children of Iris.

While in Mozambique we attended classes during the day and on the weekends we would go on outreach trips into the “bush”. We would drive for hours on the back of flat bed trucks into remote villages. We would set up generators to show the Jesus film in their native dialects, share the gospel, pray for healing and leave.

On a typical outreach the majority of the village would come to know Christ, deaf ears would hear, backs would be healed, tumors would disappear, the list goes on and on! Thank you Jesus!

Through this experience the Lord really taught me how to love the unlovely. He taught me the importance of reaching out to those who are not like us. To go to the oppressed, the lonely, the hurting, the sick, the poor, and the dying and try to love them as Jesus did.

SE: What are you and Reed (Emily’s husband) doing now?

EJ: Reed and I are living in Boston, MA. He has one year left to graduate with a Masters of Divinity Degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. He is interning at the same church I work at and has had opportunities preach, lead small groups, and obtain more of an inside view of what it takes to keep a church running.

I am the Assistant Director for an After School and Summer Day Program called Kids’ Place. I am working with inner city kids, some of which have never heard the gospel before and it has been a tremendous blessing in my life.

GIVEAWAY: Would you like to know what it’s like to run after God, to find Him in your relationships, to understand what it means to be “called”, to know what to do when you are a work in progress (aren’t we all?), then comment today!

Share your thoughts about Em’s story, or a prayer request (I promise I’ll pray with you), and one person will win a copy of The Woman I Am Becoming: Embrace the Chase for Identity, Faith, and Destiny.