At the age of 32, I slipped my hand into my heavenly Father's and embarked upon the most challenging and amazing journey one could imagine. Part of that journey involved thirteen years of caring for my handicapped daughter. Learning how to care for Lysandra is what brought me to my knees; there my heart learned to focus on Jesus.

Prior to surrendering to God's will, my life was one of ensuing chaos. I was an unwed mother at the age of seventeen. I placed my first daughter up for adoption and endured the pain of separation for twenty-six years. God in His great mercy has now reunited me with my daughter and is faithfully restoring our relationship. My choice of adoption involved a great deal of sacrifice and years of silent suffering. Through that experience God has filled me with the compassion to wrap loving arms around other women “whose arms are empty.”

God has blessed my husband and I with three beautiful daughters. Early in our married life I worked in a hospital as a Radiological Technologist, experience which proved to be God's training ground preparing me for life with Lysandra. A life filled with struggles, rewards and unpredictable changes. For so many years I had viewed Lysandra as someone who was trapped in a handicapped body. Now I realize God had lovingly wrapped and cloaked Lysandra with cerebral palsy, a design to fulfill her destiny. Lysandra touched the lives of hundreds of people. Through her life, we watched God do extraordinary things.

My walk with the Lord has involved being a wife, mother, grandmother, x-ray technician, home school parent, host parent to foreign children from Belarus, foster parent, and national speaker. I started writing poems as a child totally unaware one day God would anoint this gift making it a blessing to so many people.

I am the director of Refiner's Fire Ministry (www.refinersfireministry.net). Through this ministry the Lord has opened the door for me to speak with students at a University in China, on the International Radio Program "Words To Live By" and the radio program "Life After Loss." I speak at Women's retreats, conferences and seminars. The purpose of my ministry is to equip and encourage others to live victorious lives through Jesus Christ.

I would like to extend an apology for the confusion caused by the Internet. The poem was originally placed on the Internet as author unknown and without my permission. As a result, some have changed the ending of the poem. In so doing they took out references to Christ as Savior and King. The poem also circulates under several different titles. When I asked the Lord how to handle this, His answer was very simple: "Tell the truth." Thus, the website christmasinheaven.net. The copyright is my effort to be a wise steward of the gift God has given to me and to maintain the integrity of the poem. I trust this website will help circulate the true poem and that Jesus Christ, our Savior and King, will be exalted.

For information on public speaking or to schedule a speaking engagement, please contact me through the Contact Information page.