Every Wise Woman Builds

This is from a Sunday School series, published here for another friend named Ruth. :) Let me know if you’d like to hear the other stories in the series! PS — I just realized it cuts off the very end for some reason. It should end with "his own great-great-great-great-many-greats-grandmother."

Ashley Jackson can't see or hear. Yet this girl is one of the most brilliant minds I've ever met.   In this episode, she shares her story of living without hearing or sight. When I first met Ashley, back when Lexie was only 10 months old, I knew a smattering of sign language. Okay, I knew most of the sign alphabet.   As a child, the first "real" biography I'd ever read was about Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher, and how she finger-spelled the sign alphabet into Helen's hand to teach her...everything. I devoured the story of this half-blind teacher locking the kitchen door when tiny manic Helen clawed her way around the table, snatching people's food, and battled this wild child into folding her napkin.     That story of how one woman opened the world for someone living in darkness shaped who I'd become, as a teacher, mother, writer. Yet I never dreamed I'd actually get to finger-spell into a deaf-blind hand.   Not until that day on a loud, crowded church bus when this tall teenage girl climbed on the bus holding onto her cousin's shoulder. No, she wasn't just blind. She was also deaf. And if someone only knew how sign, she could understand what they were spelling by feeling their hand.   I tried it.   It worked.   On that bouncing bus, I spelled into her hand, "M-y  n-a-m-e  i-s  R-e-b-e-k-(bump)-h."   "Oh, Rebekah. Hello."   Shaking my head, I continued. "W-h-e-e  d-o  y-o-u  g-o  t-o  s-c-h-o-l" (Oh yes, I did misspell a lot. For a while I honestly thought the sign for "r" was "t")   "Where do I go to school? Oh, Tennessee School for the Blind. I'm just visiting here for the weekend."   I raced my stuttering fingers across her palm, trying to get to know this amazing person as well as I could in the short amount of time we had. I only saw her two or three times after that. Each time, I'd learned a few more signs. Just hoping I could talk to her again.   So imagine my delight when I met Ashley a decade later (last year). Now she was a senior at UT Martin, even more brilliant and polished. I began driving her to church sometimes, and on one of those trips she let me interview her so you can also hear her story. Ashley lost her eyes before she turned a year old. Her prosthetic eyes are lovely, but she sees nothing. Her hearing was lost shortly afterward, but thanks to God's gift of brilliant minds and medical technology, she now has cochlear implants that somehow transmit sound waves to her brain and allow her to understand speech. That's how I was able to interview her while driving.   She still "hears" through finger spelling, but she has also learned to understand speech. You'll hear more about that in the interview.   What's most impressive to me is Ashley's hunger to learn, and even more, to share with others. She's graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin and dreams of opening the world up for children with disabilities.   This one quick truck ride didn't allow us time to share her entire story, and Ashley's a gifted speaker. If you're interested in booking someone who will leave your group a lifelong impression, make sure to check out her website and consider booking her for a speaking engagement. She's about to head up to Gallaudet University to get her Master's, so if you're local, don't wait too long!   I hope you enjoy this interview. Please excuse the vehicle noises. This story is a gift from God. Let's not take the precious gifts of life, sight, or hearing for granted. And like Ashley, may we never use our weaknesses as excuses, but rather, as bridges to help others.   Visit Ashley's website here

Everybody has a story. I have a story, you have a story, your mailman has a story, the lady who does your nails has a story. In the telling and the listening to these stories waits the power to heal. If sharing our stories was easy, this world could be spared much pain.   Thankfully, some people are willing to share their stories because they've been taught by previous generations of storytellers.   In this episode of Every Wise Woman Builds, we're going to meet one such lady, Mrs. Lucilla Hodges a pastor's daughter and professor's mother. What her parents couldn't know was, as they were telling stories and laying a godly foundation, this foundation of faith would be tested. Just like the foundation I'm building will be tested. Whether or not that foundation holds can mean the blessing or loss of countless lives through future stories.   I first met Mrs. Lucilla's daughter, Amy, as a young college student when she was a polished graduate student. She welcomed me on campus and got me a job in the administration building before I was even a college student. Later as a young professor she'd continue to be friendly to me, and I remember one friend asking me who that really pretty student was who always wore suits?   "That's my professor friend," I said.   Now Amy, my professor friend, teaches at Belmont. And guess what she teaches? How to tell stories that matter. And she has her own story to tell, as Mrs. Lucilla shares today.   Whatever stage you are, I believe this story will remind you of the importance of sharing your story, pain and all. Someone needs the healing God has given you.   Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

In this episode, Robin Sparkman shares her story of stepping into homeschooling despite her fear. Along with her interview, make sure to check out this link to her son's Youtube channel. It'll give you a glimpse into the product that can result when a daddy and a mama follow God's leading, even when Mama's scared. :)   https://www.youtube.com/user/danielsparkman

"The force was strong back when we focused on the Book. We could see behind the enemy's plans. Now with the new books, everything's become cloudy except our feelings of intellectualism. Patting ourselves on the back while the city grows colder and darker." - Lou, The Defense of New Haven Hi, I'm Lexie Joy Dorris, and in this episode, I got to interview Amelia Joy Steege. Her family has made movies that my family treasures. I have memorized almost every line in both movies. When I learned that I would be interviewing Amelia, I was super excited! I never dreamed that I would even meet her and that we would have so much in common. We both love horses and painting and we're both the oldest girl in our families. I hope you enjoy it!