Okay, I use the term “heal” metaphorically. But for the past eight years of that rollercoaster ride known as hearing loss, I’ve found laughter to be the most effective remedy for coping with the inevitable. “So I’m going deaf,” I say with a slight chuckle to my family and friends. “What’s new with YOU?” For … Continue reading
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The Little Girl Who Couldn’t Hear God
A little girl once sat in her bedroom and prayed to God. “What do you want me to be when I grow up?” she asked. God was quiet. Confused, the little girl thought that maybe she hadn’t heard God because she hadn’t prayed hard enough. So she prayed again. Still, the receiving end of her … Continue reading
Can You Hear That Whisper?
I took my kids to a park, and we wandered onto a paved walking path that paralleled a creek and row of trees. My oldest son skipped several feet ahead while my young daughter and I followed. She would take a few steps, stop to admire a broken twig on the ground, take a few … Continue reading
A Story About Six of My ‘Girlfriends’
This weekend, I traveled to Atchison, Kansas, as guest speaker for the inaugural “Grace & Girlfriends.” The one-night Christian event gathered women from different states for three hours of music, storytelling, and oodles of encouragement. It was the brainchild of author and speaker Pamela Sonnenmoser with Fresh Cup Ministries. I watched the attendees, ages 7 … Continue reading
Lessons in Courage from ‘The Help’
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” -‘The Help,’ Kathryn Stockett I am proud to call Minda and Stephanie my friends. Both are highly educated, caring women who love their families. Like me, my friends are also lipreading moms. When we gathered last week for a captioned showing of the movie The Help, … Continue reading
Can You Help Me Count My Lost Decibels?
Are you like me: not deaf, but close to it? Every year, I head to the audiologist for a hearing test. Ninety-five percent of the time, the result is the same: more hearing decibels lost. Eleven years ago when I was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss, each ear tested at 20 percent hearing loss. The … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom Has a Baby
It’s easy to go through the day feeling like nothing special or out of the ordinary can happen. As a Lipreading Mom with progressive hearing loss for almost 11 years, I often have my moments of feeling unsure about the future. But when I’m tempted to wallow in self-pity, I think about the surprise that … Continue reading
Lipreading Mom’s Christmas Story
My young daughter sits on my lap as we flip through her Precious Moments storybook about the birth of Jesus. The room is quiet. She watches wide-eyed as I flip through the cardboard pages. Although it is a picture book, there are so many words that I have to paraphrase to stay within a young … Continue reading
Can’t Live Without Captions: Transcript of “Atheist, Dead on Morgue Slab, Wakes After Meeting Jesus in Heaven”
Lipreading Mom Note: This video was originally broadcast by the 700 Club and is viewable at http://www.jesus-loves-you.org/?p=3449. However, because the video wasn’t captioned, the thousands of us with hearing loss could not enjoy this video. Enter my friend, Donna Ellis, a volunteer captionist at our church, who typed a transcript, word-for-word, of this amazing video. … Continue reading
You Are Not Alone: Susan’s Story
Lipreading Mom’s Note: This is part of a continuing series about depression in women. Today’s writer tells about her life with hearing loss, single parenting, and finding hope and courage. Susan’s Story My name is Susan. I found out that I had a moderate sensorineural genetic hearing loss when I was 12 years old. When … Continue reading
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