Parenting preteens to young adults can be both wonderful and messy. Kids are striving for independence and this can be a depleting chapter of life.  Sadly, marriage may have been put on the back burner and become stressed.  Our own parents may be needing more care.  And in the midst of all this, add peri-menopause.

For optimal mind - body - spirit health and to enjoy the adventure of marriage and parenting, we benefit from fellowship among women of shared faith and women of all ages.  Friendship among women is crucial for sharing burdens, mentoring and ministering to one another. 

Marge has worn many hats as an Registered Nurse in specialities such as critical care, home health, hospice and psychiatry.  She served as a hospital chaplain, counselor, and educator.   Marge was the first nurse in Arizona to open a private practice for Integrated Healthcare.  Marge is known in the Phoenix area as a "champion of care for women". She founded Well Care, a non-profit which operated five clinics utilizing 140 volunteer practitioners to provide healthcare for under-served single mothers. When caring for women, Marge addresses the vitals of mind - body - spirit.  She draws upon her foremost identity as a devoted woman of God.  She is a wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, once-widowed and now a newlywed.  She has tenderly cared for and said goodbye to both parents.  

God gave Marge a heart for women and we would love to process life together.

GEMs of Wisdom from "TLC for Moms" by Marge Ebeling-Gipson, RN, DCh, PhD:

We are fashioned by God, loved by God, and God delights in us.  Psalm 139:1, 13-16.

Let's take a few moments each day to reflect upon this amazing love by sitting in a relaxed posture, closing our eyes, breathing in and out the name of Jesus, and meditating upon a verse or attribute of God.

Part of mind-body-spirit health is communicating gratitude.  Gratitude shifts our bodies out of a state of negativity toward improved health.  In addition to saying prayer at mealtime, a healthy habit idea is to speak aloud one thing for which we are grateful.

Jesus healed many people through touch.  The health benefits of hugs and therapeutic touch are well known.  Healing touch can be as simple as asking for permission to hold hands while we pray with loved ones.  

Caring for others comes with mothering, but we cannot fix people.  If we focus on fixing, we can become depleted and forget our own identity.   People often solve their own problems by being in the presence of a trusted listener.

Marge gave each of us a pocket size journal to write a daily one word attribute about ourselves.  It was not easy to shift our thinking away from our to-do lists and productivity.  Us moms are good at affirming our kids, but when we were asked to say an attribute about ourselves, many of us defaulted to our accomplishments and abilities.  So our task for the month is to list one word each day that describes a quality about us not what we do.  

The butterfly on the journal is a reminder of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And how we are constantly transforming each day because of God's grace.

And finally, humor is a huge part of good health!   The joke of the evening:  Why did the menopausal woman cross the road?  To kill the chicken. 

Thank you Marge for a discussion that was honest and helpful.