God chose me to be a “heart mom” seven years ago when our brave boy entered the world with only half of a heart. I prayed that God would give us a name from Him that was perfect for our baby.

We didn’t know the baby’s gender, but one month after we found out about the diagnosis, we chose a name for the baby if he was a boy: Jace Leonard. Jace is from the root-name Jason, and means “God is my healer”. My husband had suggested the name Leonard but I vetoed it right away. Then the name started to grow on me. My husband has a great-uncle whose name was Leonard and his family used to say that he looked like Uncle Leonard. We also looked up what Leonard meant and it means “heart of a lion”. After this, I was sold.

About two weeks later we had a cardiology appointment where they did another fetal echocardiogram. After talking to our cardiologist, we learned that the baby’s surgeon’s name was Dr Leonard. My husband and I looked at each other in disbelief. God definitely answered my prayer and gave me a perfect name for our baby boy.

I am a homeschooling mom, a certified mental wellness coach and I am passionate about supporting kids and parents that are walking a similar road with managing a chronic illness.

I married my college sweetheart and together we live in Colorado, on a little piece of land, where we are  learning to raise our four kids and lots of crazy animals. We have walked through some challenging times in our lives and my husband and I have truly seen that when we are weak, God shows up so strong. I enjoy being outside with my family and I try to embrace all of the adventures around me, those planned and unplanned.