This past summer I got to meet Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover! That show made me cry every single time I watched it. He was fun and authentically nice. The day I met him he was speaking to an audience about how he got started in his career. He was asked who his mentor was and his answer was awesome:"really, my mentor is the single mom raising 2 kids. Talk about DIY (Doing It Yourself)!"
A couple of years ago I had the privileged of visiting one of Ty Pennington's Extreme Makeover homes. It was in Tucson, Arizona, about 5 minutes from where I was living at the time. It's built in a typical South Western style.
The reason I got to go was because of the "Mom's class" I attended. One of our classes was at the house of Kathy Flores Bell. She was the guest speaker for a class she hosted in her house built by Extreme Makeover. Below are a few pictures I took. It was beautiful. Kathy was warm and inviting. She shared about her experience with Extreme Makeover. It really was a miracle.
One of her daughter's has a rare blood disease that caused her to need a blood transfusion about every two weeks. She shared about the difficulties they have overcome as a family. Kathy spoke with great compassion for all mothers with children struggling with severe health problems.
Beyond being a support to mothers all around, Kathy is also an educator in health. She cowrote with Dr. Kevin Leman, "A Chicken's Guide To Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex." Dr. Leman is very knowledgeable and funny in his own right. I totally recommend this book.
This blog is an encouragement for all moms, whether you are a single mom, a mom with a child that has severe health issues, a child who is coming into sexual maturity, all moms need to know they are not alone. Anything worth doing is always challenging. Mothering is a very high calling. God will never leave you or forsake you (Deut 31:6). In Proverbs 31 God lets women know that we are "clothed with strength and dignity, we can laugh without fear of the future." Let God clothe you with His strength. In our weakness He is made strong (2 Cor 12:9). Following is a video update of the Bell family in the Extreme Makeover home.
Keep up the good work Beautiful Mothers,
Love,
Rosa
