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One Thankful Mom - Lisa Qualls

Honest reflections on family, adoption, foster care, and faith.

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Search Results for: grief

How to Survive When Grief is Your Teacher

How to Survive When Grief is Your Teacher

By Lisa Qualls

Grief is the teacher you hope you’ll never get. As you trace your finger down the column of names assigned to each class, you hope you won’t find your name on her list. But then you see it – your name typed in crisp letters, and your heart sinks. You get the call. You hear […]

August 28, 2017 10 Comments

Grief as the Kids Go Back to School

By Lisa Qualls

There’s something I’ve been carrying in my heart for a few days and I need to say it now, because tomorrow is the first day of school and I need to greet it with a smile, be excited with my children, make them a special breakfast, and send them out the door with prayers and […]

August 29, 2016 15 Comments

Grief At a Low Boil

By Lisa Qualls

We were standing in church, singing The First Noel, when I instinctively reached up and held the Ethiopian cross necklace resting against my chest. With no warning, my eyes filled with tears and my throat got tight. I was wearing Kalkidan’s cross, the one that we bought for her in Addis, the one she wore […]

December 14, 2015 17 Comments

“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and Grief

By Lisa Qualls

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman has become part of our slow journey through grief. Evenings are hard. Once dinner is cleaned up and the boys head to bed, the house becomes quiet; it’s unsettling. Kalkidan was a bundle of energy, often talking, singing, and recruiting us to play games right up until bedtime. The strange calm in our […]

February 9, 2015 25 Comments

When Grief Swallows Them Whole

By Lisa Qualls

Yesterday caught me by surprise. One of my younger ones came home from school and quickly spiraled down into a very loud, dysregulated state. I tried everything I knew, gentle words, loving touch, food, rocking, sensory support (deep pressure, tight hugs), giving space, offering a change of environment (sometimes a shower is calming). Nothing. I […]

December 3, 2014 21 Comments

I Learned Something About Grief That Day

By Lisa Qualls

I considered trying to shorten this story, but truthfully, it will take more time for me to edit and cut things than to just pour it out.  I know it is a lot of detail; I hope you don’t mind. I’m going to continue on through the next couple of days, bear with me. If […]

January 16, 2013 38 Comments

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Mentoring adoptive and foster moms with                   practical help and hope.I serve families by providing practical tools and hope through my private membership group, The Hope Circle, as well as parent coaching, marriage mentoring, speaking, and writing. As a mom of 12 by birth and adoption (and more through foster care), wife of 35 years, and a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) Practitioner, I’m honored to walk alongside you as you navigate your family’s unique journey.

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