Today’s Inspiring mom has been a mother for 48 years. She has 3 kids and 2 grandchildren. She blogs regularly at HopeHeartHome.com and is the author of 10 books, one of which is launching this week!!!!
When Susan was 8 years old she gave her heart to Jesus. The Bible was her standard and life was very black and white. If only things could always stay so simple, but the path that had appeared so clearly straight as a little girl would eventually become more and more blurred.
When Susan was 12 her parents got a divorce and she was uprooted from Florida to New Jersey to be raised by her mom.
When she was 16 she decided that she was fed up with the rundown “hood schools” of New Jersey and quit before her Senior year.
When she was 17 she fell head over heals in love with a soldier who she married the day after he returned from Vietnam. She was advised not to marry but thought their love for one another would conquer all and for a long time it did.
However, after 11 years of marriage and three children, ages 9, 7, and the (surprise) newborn baby boy, Susan discovered the most devastating news she would ever hear. Standing in her dream home that she and her husband had built together she looked at the love of her life and was crushed by the words he was telling her.
He was a police officer. He was supposed to be noble and faithful. He was supposed to be the head of their home and the protector of their family and here he was wounding her and tearing their family and dreams apart.
For months he had been having an affair and the horrendous details destroyed Susan. The pain felt unbearable. Susan says “My life stopped. I think I stopped breathing for at least three months.”
So she left their home with her three kids in tow to find a small place of their own and make a new life, although not necessarily a better one.
Susan had spent the past 12 years being the good wife. She sacrificed anything and everything for her kids and her husband without realizing that she was emotionally on a one way street that would leave her banged up from a head on collision with a husband who was going the wrong direction.
That’s when Susan decided to quit. She was done being the good girl. She rebelled and became promiscuous. She searched for approval from men. For the next several years Susan would burry all the hurt and insecurity and just live the worldly life that she thought would keep her numb.
In the midst of the hurt and confusion, Susan still had a young family to take care of.
She was high school dropout who had never worked outside of the home and now it was up to her to provide for her family. She immediately took the G.E.D. test passing highest percentile in her class. As she got her certificate her sister hummed the song played during the graduation march. Then she was off to find a job.
At that time all the kids were in school except for her youngest who was about three years old. Susan saved gas by making her way around on a bicycle with her toddler in a seat on the back. Her first job was as a courier delivering paper files from one office to the other (this was before computers and email). When she was out of the office she would ride around on her bicycle and collect aluminum cans to recycle to buy groceries. She saw life as an adventure.
Eventually she would move up in careers and begin working for a magazine. For a while this dream job lit a fire in Susan because she knew in her heart she was a writer. Except in the end it was a woman’s lib magazine and a horrible fit for her. So she left that job and ended up working for a property manger. He asked her if she had ever run an office before. Susan confidently answered, “No but I’ve run a household”. With that she shook hands with the man that would teach her everything she ever needed to know about business. It was an incredible stepping stone and Susan learned so much from that career, but unfortunately there was some illegal maneuvering of funds going on so she quit and went to work for another company doing property management in Palm Beach.
This is how Susan ended working for Donald Trump. That’s right. Back in 1985 Susan worked for the man who is now President of the United States. For the record, Susan states “He was very nice and I can honestly report that he was always a gentleman.”
Susan may have lost sight of God but He never lost sight of her. One night she was camping in Idaho smoking pot around a campfire and the Lord gave her a vision of a triple yield sign and it involved her children. Susan said “He basically was warning me to return to Him. I listened and began the “return trip.” He had a lifeline on me and gently, oh so gently began reeling me in. I’ve never looked back and I have NEVER gone back on the vow I made Him that very night. Yes, Lord.”
As far as a second chance at love, Susan’s knight in shining armor rode into her life on a vintage Norton motorcycle and the two of them got married in a teepee and they have lived happily ever after…
Well, that’s the short fairy tale version. In the real life version, there are struggles that come with being a step parent and having teenagers that are bucking heads. There were times that Susan certainly felt like quitting but she says five years into the marriage when she was whining to her mom about the blended marriage and all the difficulties. That is when her mom gave her what she says is the best advice she had ever gotten she said “Susan, when those kids grow up and leave, and they will leave. You will be at home and that man will not leave you.”
Her mother was right. Her kids are all grown up and have been out of the nest for a long time now.
Susan has spent the past 29 years living on a gorgeous 14.25 acre ranch in North Carolina with the man that makes her laugh every single day.
She has a heart of forgiveness and walks in freedom thanks to a God that redeems the broken hearted. Her “was-band” as she calls her ex is still a part of her children’s lives and when Susan sees him now she can thank the Lord for His mercy in the entire situation. She says “God had a plan and I’m living it. God redeems what looks broken and hopeless and uses it for His glory and our good. He is my hero and good, good Father!“
Susan advice to women facing similar hurts and struggles is to learn from her mistakes and “Run as fast as you can into the arms of the Lord rather than away from Him!”
I’d like to give a big Thank you to Susan for allowing me to interview her and share a snippet of her testimony. Come back later this week as I review the phenomenal 52 week devotion she wrote called 52 Commands of Jesus for Children. It’s a really fantastic resource and I am so excited to be able to give away a copy to one of my readers so definitley check back this Thursday to learn more.
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