I remember the haunting call like it was yesterday. We had just returned home from a family photo session at the farm for our perfect Christmas cards. You know the ones where everyone is in matching outfits, with their arms around each other, flashing their most beautiful smiles so that mom doesn’t lose her mind on you before it is over. 

     Jake, my husband, answered the phone and then retreated to our bedroom and closed the door. He never did that, especially not on a Sunday evening. Who in the world could be calling him today I wondered? I could hear his voice through our door and I could tell something wasn’t right. I heard him say that we would make the appointment on Tuesday and confirm the time and address. He never missed work, so I knew it was serious. 

      When he came out of our bedroom and began to explain to me what they had found, I truly though my heart shattered into a million pieces inside my chest. The agonizing pain that I felt was unbearable. 

      We were your typical all-American family. We had five gorgeous children ranging in age from 15-4. We both were working on our education degrees and I was employed at our local high school thankfully.   We had recently sold our big house with an even bigger house payment and luckily were renting a tiny house from Jake’s boss with much more affordable payments until we found another one. Seriously, we were just a plain Jane, young family trying to get established. 

     Then cancer came in a tried to take everything that we had worked so hard to put together away from us. My husband Jake is the glue that holds us all together. Most people think that I run the show, but little do they know, I am nothing with him. Jake balances me and makes me want to be a better person. From the moment we met, his impact on my life is what has made me who I am today.

      So, we have five kids, we are both working and going to school full time, and now we have this devastating news that our lives are going to be changed FOREVER.

      Long story short, Jake battled cancer like a champ! Fourteen weeks of chemo 8 hours a day 5 days a week and two surgeries later, he is perfect once again. Being that we live in such a small town, Jake and I had to live away from our children each week and that was tough. For a very hands on mom, it was almost unbearable. 

      This is when God totally stepped in. You see, my head is about as hard as cement. I think that I have to be in charge and fix absolutely everything for everyone and that I am totally capable of doing so. Well, at least I thought that way until I heard the word cancer and knew that I, Wendy Moore, could not do one darn thing to fix it. 

      God totally came in and changed me through this process. I had to let go and let God. The community of Randolph County, Alabama scooped us up and held us during this time. Each day God would send someone else to fulfill our needs. If I was stressed about cleaning the house and doing the laundry, when we got home someone had already done it. If I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up something for supper, there was already a crockpot full of soup on the counter. If there was a co-pay due for the next doctor’s appointment, there was an envelope in the mailbox with that amount just waiting for us. 

      I vowed that when we got through this cancer mess, I would find a way to give back to others the way they gave to our family. It wasn’t long until God sent us to a house that would become our forever home and help me to keep that promise. 

      Our home is simple, but amazing. The porches offered me such serenity during a time when I just really needed to unwind from the overwhelming year and a half we had just been through. This old house needed so much work, just like I did, and took my mind off of the things that I could not control and back on the things that I could. 

     The gardens (that is a story for another time) offered my children and I a place to work with our hands and get back to our roots. One day while working in one of the many overgrown flower gardens, God sent me an idea. I could make all-natural products and use part of the profits to give back to others and spread His word. That is where The Peaceful Porch was born.  

     You see, God is always in control of every situation. He prepared us financially for Jake’s journey by allowing us to have a smaller house payment and by allowing me to get the Distance Education position at our local high school that offered us state insurance. His plan is always perfect. He allowed us to suffer for a season so that we would learn to rely on Him totally and He always provided. He allowed my precious husband to endure his treatments so that we could understand what cancer does to a family so that we would help others that are going to the same. 

      It may sound crazy, but I am thankful for all of the hard times we have been through because they have changed our lives to focus on what God truly intended us to do and that is tell others about how He took care of us and to let them know that He will take care of them too. 

      I hope that this explains our mission and brings you closer to our family. We LOVE providing great products to our customers and most of all we LOVE what your purchases help us do for other struggling families and for the Lord who has blessed us with so much more than we deserve. 

In God’s Love, 

Wendy