I'm so delighted to introduce you to this week's goddess! Her name is Charity, and she is from Montana. Charity is a single mom to three beautiful children, and she is driven to be the best person she can be while gracing this earth. I met Charity through a friend, and she inspires me! Please take a moment to get to know Charity, and to familiarize yourself with the organization she works with, Redeeming Waters.
Read on to learn and be inspired by Charity! She is witty and smart and totally incredible!
As odd as it sounds, I just knew I was supposed to adopt.
Every young couple has important decisions to make about family size, etc, so when it came time to decide if we wanted to try to have that allusive girl,(after 2 biological boys) we just knew that adoption was the way to go. To be honest, age has always been just a number to me. I think that God gifts people with different maturity levels at a variety of ages, and I personally know quite a few mature, wonderful parents in their early twenties.( I also know plenty of people in their 40’s and 50’s who have not grown up yet!)
At the time of our adoption, we had 2 biological boys. My mom’s best friend used to be a missionary in Africa, so I grew up listening to tales of their experiences. Africa seemed like an obvious choice. Initially, we went through the adoption process in Rwanda, only to have the case dropped….. after a new mandate for age requirements was initiated during our adoption. We saw a powerful documentary on Liberia, and decided to switch countries.
We always thought that we would adopt a baby, but God had other plans! My daughter is 14 years old, and there is not a day that goes by, that I am not incredibly grateful to have her in my life. Adoption is wonderful.
2) You are a single mom now. I'd love for you address how you do it all... take care of your kids and take care of yourself.
Being a single mom is sometimes VERY difficult, but surprisingly enough, it has also showed me just how incredibly capable I am. Being a single mom constantly challenges me to be a better person. How do I do it all? Just one foot in front of the other I suppose…fall down 7 times, get up 8 : )
We are busy, that’s for sure. I am blessed to have a wonderful support system that helps everything stay together. The biggest piece of advice I can give to any single mom, is to get a good sense of humor. It helps everything become easier.
3) Tell me a little about putting yourself through nursing school, and how you were inspired to do that!
Initially, I thought that nursing school would be a good fit for me, but after going that route for a while, I had a complete change of heart. I decided to go Pre-Law instead. Not only is law something I have always had a love for, but during our adoption I had to navigate the legal process in Liberia with little to no help. It was hard at the time, but has been one of the most important experiences of my life. I’d love to help other people do the same.
4)Tell me about your water mission AND your work in Haiti, and what your organization is called, and how people can get involved, and GIVE!
Redeeming Waters International is an organization that was started by one of my best friends, Jocelyn Tarquini, in 2007. Jocelyn and I both adopted our children at the same time, from the same orphanage, and RWI was started after they came home. I was lucky enough to get an invite to come on board in 2008.
As any adoptive mom will tell you….. when you are adopting, your life is absolutely CONSUMED with that process. For that year or two years, however long it takes for your adoption to be completed, you eat, breathe, and live your adoption. It becomes part of you, and you do anything to feel closer to your child, a child that is thousands of miles away.
What I find that people don’t often talk about, is just how “out of sorts” you feel when the process is over! You put all of your time and energy into that one thing, so when your dream is finally fulfilled, you are left with a big space in your life.
I feel like helping with RWI has filled “my space” and renewed my purpose. It has given me a place to use that drive and energy.
RWI started out trying to provide clean water for 3rd world countries, but we have been blessed to be able to expand that help in a number of different directions.
We are not only trying to start a movement for clean water in desperate places, but we are also trying to advocate for pregnant mothers and their babies. Hundreds of thousands of women die each year, because of a lack of a clean environment for their birth, as well as a good, solid, childbirth education. Part of our mission is helping provide expectant mothers with a “clean birth kit,” to help reduce the rates of infant and child mortality.
We have also had the opportunity to put on some basic medical clinics, sport ball exchanges , and eyeglass clinics.
Anyone who may be interested can check out our website http://www.redeemingwaters.org/.
5) tell me your favorite food, drink, way to relax, way to have fun :).
My favorite food is P.F. Chang’s Double Pan Fried Noodles. UNFORTUNATELY, we don’t have a Changs here in Montana, (Sonic is as nice as it gets ; )so when I travel…we have to stop!
As for relaxing, I like to spend time with my friends and family. We are all very busy people, but usually set aside one day a week to get together for some food and laughter. I love telling the important people in my life, just how much I care about them.
Thank you Charity for sharing your life with us. You are truly an inspiration! Readers, GO and SEE her water organization website, and GIVE! What an incredible way to love people around the world. To conclude, I'll leave you with a quote I stole off of Charity's facebook profile:
“If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything.”- Win Borden
Amen to that! I hope you've all been inspired by this lovely goddess today... Charity, may your light shine brightly forever!
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