Sharon Leino: Adapting to Challenges with Flexibility & Faith
Sharon cried when her husband was told he was going to go blind, but she learned to adapt to caregiving with imagination and flexibility as she faced each challenge with faith, hope and God.
Episode Discussion Points
How she became an amateur silversmith
When her husband was building homes for Habitat for Humanity during his retirement, she began writing
When her husband started having vision problems it took them a while to get a final diagnosis that he would eventually go blind.
How they got medical help for his condition, but were also proactive in trying to get him trained so that when he did go blind it wouldn’t be such a tragic shock
The importance of taking care of yourself when you are a caregiver so you don’t get worn out
When she was anxious--The process of learning to lay your problems at Jesus feet (at the cross) and leave them there—not to go back and “chew on them.”
Part of truly giving our burdens to God is learning to trust Him—and so it is a process of learning to work at it a bit at a time with God’s help.
Part of abounding in hope is remembering that sometimes we don’t get the miracles we want, but watch for the miracles God sends. Will wanted a miracle of the healing of his sight, but got a miracle of peace and the understanding that he would see again in heaven.
Having a “knowing hope” of things we know will happen in heaven eventually
Even when you have hard things enter your life you can still find things that bring your joy, so be creative and find things you enjoy by trying different activities.
How we need each other and weren’t meant to do it alone.
If you are feeling alone, serve others!
After her husband died, she wondered what her purpose was, and she figured out that she could help and serve others. Now she serves the church and the poor in her community.
“You don’t ever have to be lonely if you reach out and help others.”
The story behind her book “Scaredy.”
The doors that have opened to help her publish her book
Scaredy is about a 10-year-old boy facing his bullies. He and his friend end up in a fantasy world which teaches him self-confidence to help him conquer their bullies.
Using imagination and fantasy can help children learn to problem solve, which is a skill we all need to use in life.
Advice for Caregivers
Be good to yourself
Take time to read and pray daily
Go on outings by yourself or with a friend
Forgive yourself for making mistake. You are only human.
Take time to be alone
Do things that renew you and your spirit
Be flexible and modify your caregiving needs to meet the constraints of your family (ie: if you like shopping maybe you can also learn to shop online).
Stay connected to God because he can help you to manage the emotions of the changes in your life. (This takes practice, so be patient with yourself when you feel like you have failed).
Plan fun activities you can still do
Set up weekly time for you to get away and get a break by building a network of friends to help you.
It is okay to take overnight getaways without them and leave them with someone you trust.
Favorite Bible Verses
Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Connect with Sharon
Website: https://www.sharonleinoauthor.com/
Buy a copy of Scaredy here.
#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #blind #maculardegeneration #losingvision #caregiving #facingfears #writing #creativeproblemsolving
Transcription
You can find the transcription of today's episode here:
Sharon Leino 0:04
I used to lay my problem set the cross, uh huh. And say and leave it there. And then I'd run back and grab him and chew on him. You know? And then I lay it at the cross, and I'd say, Lord, you know, you've got to help me with this because I can't do it. As a human. I can't do that I need your Spirit to help me. And again, it's practice. It's just practicing, trusting and loving what God and Christ has has given us.
Tamara Anderson 0:45
Welcome to stories of hope and hard times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times, all with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments. My guest today was the oldest girl in a family of 11 children and has always had an amazing imagination. In addition to being a wife and a mother, she spent her career as an educator. After retirement, she became a caregiver to her husband who was going blind, which led to a new adventure full of trials love and joy. She is the author of the book scarcity, and lives in Florida, where her days are full of volunteering at church, creating jewelry as an amateur silversmith and of course, writing. I am pleased to present Sharon Leino. Sharon, are you ready to share your story of hope?
Sharon Leino 1:49
Why Sure. Thanks for having me.
Tamara Anderson 1:53
Well, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. I really am. And I just have a question. How in the world did you become an amateur silversmith, that just sounds so fascinating to me.
Sharon Leino 2:07
Well, um, when my husband was going blind, and we became limited in our social activities, I didn't want to leave him alone a lot, because when I did, he would sleep. So we were together a lot. But I'm the kind of person that I just can't sit still, I need to have something to do with my hands. And so I first started learning how to be read through a class with Mary. She was my instructor. And since then she has passed away, but she was a jeweler that had many talents, and one of them was torching silver and making a jewelry. And so she taught me with a group, and then she taught me a loan. She tutored me for a couple of years. And it's since then it's been God and I creating these pieces, because sometimes I look at him, I go, thank you, God. I don't know how that was created, but I'm sure it was his help.
Tamara Anderson 3:16
Well, we do need his help us we create, I think, I think when we tap into that inner creativity, it kind of attaches us to God because He is the great creator, right?
Sharon Leino 3:28
Sure, for sure. And he's a great artist.
Tamara Anderson 3:31
Yes, absolutely. Well, that is so cool. I thought we dive a little bit into your story today and have you tell us a little bit about how retirement didn't go as planned for you. I know you spent years as it as an educator, but once you retired, you and your husband wanted to spend your time volunteering and kind of take me to that point in your life where things started to change.
Sharon Leino 3:57
Okay, well, we did enjoy our retirement very, very much. And we searched a state, we went to Arizona, and Florida and then we finally ended up in Texas. And in this community of retirees, I was one of the younger ones. And I thought, I don't know if I'm ready to retire or not. And so, but my husband who loved to build, he always said that his work was a love in that work was some work unless you'd rather be doing something else. And he saw he got involved with habitat and started building homes with a Catholic priest and a Baptist minister. So that left me with a great deal of time to figure out what I wanted to do. And so eventually I joined reading groups. i There were two groups that I joined. One was was brutal. I mean, my first writings, they just were bloody. They are a mess. But a author took me under her wing. And she tutored me and taught me how to write and edit. And it was just the beginning. So I kept going on with that. And then my husband started losing his sight. And so we went to many doctors, many clinics, and we were told that he had uncontrolled uncontrollable glaucoma. Well, we finally went to a glaucoma clinic in Texas. And the doctor there was very blunt, and said, you will be going blind, which we didn't realize. I mean, I guess we just didn't hear it until this doctor told us. So we just sat there. Later cried. Anyway, he apologized, because he said that his wife was dying and he should not be practicing and he would not be following well. So eventually, we decided to come to Florida. And we found a wonderful doctor in Tampa, a specialist at the University who kept wills eyesight, going through shots through surgeries through I mean, there, we had medications that we had to chart he had so many eyedrops that he had to take, but he was always active and and the glaucoma was slow in creating this blindness. And during this time, of course, I could not concentrate on writing. So you're writing all the way. And what we did is start to investigate what we could do so that one well went completely blind, that would not be such a shock. And Florida had what they call the lighthouses for the blind. And he went there and learn to eat, learn to dress himself. We also got a leader dog for him, called Lily. And Lily became part of our family. And when she was working, she was Will's dog. But when she was off the leash, she was a family dog. And she was such a treasure to both of us. The Lord really gave us grace. He gave us peace, He gave us hope. And and he gave us joy, my husband, he was really not the kind to go gently into that night. But with God's help, he really was able to do that. In fact, a lot of people when they were talking to him, Lily would go onto the table, whether we were in a restaurant or a doctor's office, and they wouldn't know that he was blind until the dog came out. I can remember one time when we were at Moffitt's Hospital in Tampa, and the dog went under the desk. Then the doctor came in and sat down. And he goes, whoa, there's a dog under my desk.
Sharon Leino 8:38
That's a shock to him. That will explain because he had talked to well before he had gotten his dog. But the one verse that we clung to was Romans 1513, may the God of hope, fill you with joy and peace and believe in so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. And that's what we did. Wow, we've really had a wonderful life together. But as a caregiver, I think it's really important for people to be good to themselves. I learned that that is like you have a basket full of eggs, and you want a to your husband for this and another one for that and another one to the church, another one, two children. And pretty soon your basket is empty and you're tired, and you have nothing to renew yourself with. And so I made sure that I was good to myself, whether it was shopping, or forgiving myself for making mistakes, or just taking time to be alone. Going out with a friend, because if you don't then your spirit becomes tired. And, and just sorrowful. I have a friend that is going through that now she's just exhausted. And you need to renew yourself and your spirit.
Tamara Anderson 10:12
Yeah. What were some of the key things that you did that helped you renew yourself on a daily basis or a weekly basis? What did that look like specifically for you? Well,
Sharon Leino 10:28
when I had to sit with Well, what we did was, he loved gadgets. And so I had to learn to become very computer literate. And we had a special machine that we could get audio talking books, because Amazon would not allow us to use at that time, and this was years ago, their audio books on this machine. So when we listen to the stories, he would come out into the garage, and I would work on my jewelry. And to me, that was uplifting. There were other times when I would be in prayer alone. I, I was a person that needed a certain amount of alone time. Yes. So I would go out on our porch, we lived by a river. And I would read and I would pray. The other things I would shop now I couldn't. After a while take well shopping with me. So I became the Amazon queen.
Tamara Anderson 11:38
So you had to learn to kind of modify the things that you did so that it fit with the current needs of your family.
Sharon Leino 11:46
I sure did. And, and bye bye. You can learn to do that. And not resent it. I never resented the time I had with Well, do you think God helped you with that? Oh, yes, yes. Because I can be a nervous Nellie, I can be filled with anger easily at times. Not anymore. I mean, God just took those things away. Because a verse that is very, that I live by then and now was in Philippians, four, six to seven. Do not be anxious about anything about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your heart, your minds in Christ Jesus. And I'll tell you, it takes practice that does not come, boom, like magic. It takes practice, and many times, I would have failure. But that is what has really helped me. And I did I had a lot of peace, and I had a lot of joy. And we made a lot of we had a lot of fun together even in his blindness.
Tamara Anderson 13:07
Oh, that's beautiful. I'd love to just talk a little bit more about that. Because I think so many times, there are a lot of us out there who struggle with anxiety. And I know I'm one of them, I have a child who struggles with it as well. And it sounds like you took that anxiety and follow the advice in those verses and and kind of gave it to God Is that what you did in your prayers? Is that how that you said you became less anxious? So, so talk me through that process of you learning to do that with thanksgiving and all that stuff?
Sharon Leino 13:48
Well, I used to lay my problems at the cross, uh huh. And say and leave it there. And then I'd run back and grab him and chew on him. You know, and then I lay it at the cross. And I'd say, Lord, you know, you've got to help me with this because I can't do it. As a human, I can't do that. I need your Spirit to help me. And again, it's practice. It's just practicing and trusting and loving what God and Christ has, has given us and believing. And again, it's not magic. God, I really feel expects us to work and work and work at it. There are times when now like, when I go to the ranch, I'm not used to flying alone or traveling alone. And now I have transfer planes. And I was I thought, I can't do this. This is going to be awful. And then I just prayed about it and God's peace really just covered me in And I just left it there. And I didn't chew on it. I left it at the cross. And so, you know, I at my age, I'm thinking, Lord, how come it took me so long?
Tamara Anderson 15:16
Yes, I totally understand that. And I feel that and it's one of those things that I think we only learn through experience. I wish there were some other way to learn it. But I think it's only by dropping it at the Cross picking it back up a little bit later and going, Oh, wait, no, I need to leave this with him. And learning how to do that, you know, learning to trust him completely. Learning to give that anxiety to him learning to let that piece descend on you, and keep it and not go back and say, but, but I'm scared. Trusting that piece that it's going to be okay. It's gonna be okay, Sharon, it's gonna be okay, Tamra.
Sharon Leino 15:59
And, you know, I think that's one art or faith gets strengthened. And that little mustard seed of strength and faith starts growing. But it's it's not easy. I'm not here to say it's easy at all.
Tamara Anderson 16:15
Yeah, no, I think you're absolutely right. Wow, that's a powerful principle. So principle number one here, give it to God. And let him keep it.
Tamara Anderson 16:33
Ah, that's, that's really, really good. Now, you talked earlier about a verse in Romans that became so key to you. So in that verse in Romans, you shared me the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace so that you can basically abound in hope, by the power of the Spirit of God. And I've always been a super big fan of that verse abounding and hope. I mean, this podcast is all about hope. But my question to you is, how did he help you find hope? Especially when the diagnosis was so grim about well losing his sight? Because I know that initially, I mean, you talked about crying in the doctor's office, or maybe it was after you left the doctor's office. Take me from that complete grief and sorrow of Oh, my goodness, our life is completely going to change to abounding in hope.
Sharon Leino 17:40
Well, the thing is that we took the steps to make it easier for will to be blind, and for me, because if he's able to feed himself, and dress himself, of course, that was easy for me. Lily, at first I thought dog and obvious hair. I was vacuuming like crazy. But then after a while, it's like, you know what? She started dog and there'll be dog hair in here regardless. But so you go through, you know, learning how to cope with the problem. And coping, I think, maybe come first. But you have hope. Now, I'll tell you. We were at a McDonald's once on our way traveling to Florida. And Lily was with us. And so we stopped for coffee. And a fellow came over and said, and we started talking to a man. He said, You know, our church is just down the road. Our minister performs wonderful miracles, you should stop in. Well, you know, we had hope. So we stopped in. And there was a group of men in the parking lot, and they were all going hunting with Esther was with him. And he prayed for well, but will did not receive a miracle of sight. But the miracle that will received was peace. Because he was used to being active like myself, and he learned to do other things. And so his hope, I think came into realizing he would see in heaven. And that was both of our Hope Center. Our hope is not always just earthly. It'll be heavenly, you know? Yeah.
Tamara Anderson 19:44
Sorry. I'm getting a little teary over here but only because it's so sweet and tender. That sometimes the miracles we pray for and it was the same with me when my children being diagnosed with autism. I knew God could heal them right. Yeah, and and And sometimes that miracle is the piece. Yeah. And it's not always immediate. It's almost like it takes a little bit at a time for us to swallow the bitter pill. You know, Jesus talks about drinking the bitter cup. Sometimes we have to drink that bitter cup. And it's not fun. And it's not easy. But the peace comes, yes. And the hope, like you said, our hope isn't always for things on this earth, maybe the site will not come on this earth, but the sight will come in heaven. That's fine. For me, that is the same hope that I have is that someday in heaven, I'll be able to talk to my son with autism and have a conversation with him that I can't have now we can communicate and just little words and phrases here and there, but to really talk to him think, see what he's thinking what he's, you know, all those things. So that hope sometimes when the miracle doesn't come here on Earth, the hope is for that miracle to happen in heaven, and to have the peace now to enter whatever we're having to go through. Right.
Sharon Leino 21:15
Right. And I call it a knowing hope. We know it will. It's a hope that will come to you know, not just hope, hope, hope, you know, but it's annoying hope that, you know, my husband doesn't have he can see, he doesn't have to go through dialysis anymore. He loves to question everything about God and the Bible. And all his questions are being answered.
Tamara Anderson 21:45
And he passed away how long ago?
Sharon Leino 21:48
It'll be five years in the fall. Oh,
Tamara Anderson 21:51
there you go. So you have that hope that he is now getting all his answers, right? Yeah.
Sharon Leino 21:59
He also love to debate and it's like, oh, it's so simple.
Tamara Anderson 22:09
You know, it's interesting that that each of us have has different gifts, and some people have just that gift to believe. And some people like your husband probably like to debate it out. And how does this work? It doesn't fall as easily into their mind. Some people have that gift of faith. And some people, you know, battle with it a little bit, you know,
Sharon Leino 22:30
and he did.
Tamara Anderson 22:32
He did. But, but he was able to fill peace with the diagnosis. Oh,
Sharon Leino 22:39
yes. Yes. I mean, it took a while. But he was and and he, you know, it says, you find joy in your affliction. And he did. He had great joy. And people enjoyed being around him. Because he, he loved to tell jokes. He loves to keep up with current evidence. He loved to argue about politics and which I became tired up, but I'm not a political person. Yeah. But anyway, he, he really did enjoy his life, even though he was blind. So.
Tamara Anderson 23:22
So I guess that's another lesson that we can pull from this is that even though a hard thing may come into your life, whether it be blindness or disability of some other kind, health challenges, that you can still find things that interests you? Or that that bring you joy? Absolutely. You may have to get a little creative.
Sharon Leino 23:51
You really do have to be creative and, and people say, Well, I, I can't create Well, I'll tell you something. I worked all my life. I never wrote until I retired. I never made jewelry until I retired. And it's like, wow, I never knew I could do this. So you know, that is not an excuse. You just have to try try and try again.
Tamara Anderson 24:18
Yeah, so don't give up on yourself. Keep looking and find unique gifts that maybe you just haven't discovered yet. True. And you're never too old to find them right? For sure. We're gonna take a quick break, but when we get back, we'll have more lessons, tips and things you can apply to your life. Stay tuned. In my friends, it's tamariki Anderson and I need your help. I am gearing up for a wonderful Christmas season this year. And I need your stories to be part of it. I'm launching a new part on my podcast that I'm going to start doing every holiday A season called holiday stories of hope. And so I would love to hear your stories that you and your family have had happened to you during the holidays that have inspired hope, in Christ hope in your family stories that perhaps you pass down for generations. Or perhaps it's something that's happened to you personally. So, if you have a story you would love to share. If you wouldn't mind coming on a zoom call with me and recording it, we can do it in 510 15 minutes. And then I will be sharing that this November and December with my audience so that we can all be inspired by your story of hope. If you're interested, go to my website, Tamra Kay anderson.com, and go to contact me and reach out to me that way, and we'll get something set up. Alright, guys, thanks for being such great supporters. And I look forward to sharing more of your stories of hope.
Sharon Leino 25:59
And you know, the thing that caregivers have a hard time with is forgiving yourself. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. You know, we are only human. You know, and and we think that if we do something wrong in taking care of someone, it's the end of the world. It's not, it's just a mistake, you know, and you go on from there.
Tamara Anderson 26:27
I love that. And I'd love to dive into caregiving just a little bit more before we get to your book. And I do want to get to your book. But caregiving because it's 24 hours a day, and super exhausting. You mentioned that before you do find yourself getting worn out and you are going to make mistakes. And I'm in that same boat with our son with autism, that he's with us 24 hours a day now that he has exited the school system. So I feel a little bit of this. In my daily journey. Let me ask you, did you find it important to get breaks? Like did you ever did you have set something up where people would come in and give you breaks so that you could go out and just
Sharon Leino 27:16
Yes, and I was fortunate because when we were in Michigan, my daughter was there and her husband and her husband. And we also had a friend, a pastor friend, that will was very close to that was living close to us. So those people gave me breaks weekly. And when we were in Florida, we had friends that their husbands would come over. And they would visit with will or take him out. You know, because he could go and they didn't mind taking Lily. One did that was okay. So a friend, he just didn't like dogs. But it's so important to have those breaks, you know, you need that filling up again. Just enjoying life. Because if you don't get them then it becomes tiring. It becomes a job, which should never, to me should never be it should be a something that you will like, well, so there's something that you love to do. But but in realistically, you do need those breaks, you absolutely do. And you need maybe overnight breaks. I know we had my daughter and I used to go on trips, that you know, overnight, not for a week. But you do need those breaks, and you need to find someone like with your son that you can trust and feel at ease. And and be constant and use them over and over and over again. Because I knew I mean, that's I feel why I didn't feel it was a burden.
Tamara Anderson 29:20
Because you had a network of people supporting you. Yeah. And I think that's such an important key is to have and build that network. Whether it be within your own family, whether it be within your church family. And maybe if you can't find it, you're not sure where to start. Give it to God and say, God, I'm not sure who I need in my network. To help me through this situation. Will you please help me find them? Right? And then don't be don't don't feel like you have to do the whole thing all by yourself because I think that's where we get into trouble, right? Yes. I just think in our society eat there, there was a lot of that I have to do it all by myself, I have to be strong. And I don't think God meant for it to be that way. No, because some of these burdens are too heavy to bear on our own.
Sharon Leino 30:12
They are, they truly, truly are. You know, it's just like I looked at some trees that interlaced with each other the other day, there are tree branches, and how they help hold each other up. And that's how we are to be in our church and in our communities. So that we don't just say, well, I'll pray for you get in there, and we help and we network, you know, and we really support each other. Yeah. So that when the winds do come, they don't affect us. And we're not blown over.
Tamara Anderson 30:52
Yes, absolutely. And it speaks to how much we need each other. And and perhaps that's why COVID was so hard as we couldn't interact as much. Do you know what I mean? I do. And so I it really speaks to how God set us up not to be an island, but to be able to interact with other people. We need each other.
Sharon Leino 31:12
Absolutely. For sure. Our church even closed down for a short time. And so what I did, I went and I picked the berries that I made jam, then I gave it away. I picked peaches made jam, and then gave it away to everybody. I could have interaction with people. But from afar, you know, I'm
Tamara Anderson 31:38
super creative. I love that.
Sharon Leino 31:42
Well, I just had a very hard time being alone.
Tamara Anderson 31:46
Yeah, absolutely. And so God gave you the solution? Yeah. Interesting. Isn't it interesting that the solution was in service?
Sharon Leino 31:56
Yes. But I feel that's what I'm here for, really, for service. You know, we have a group in Bellevue, Florida, that will help the poor, then they're called Bellevue areas, social services. And they have, we have different activities, where we help with electric bills, we help with whatever the needs are, because there are so many people that are just a couple of paychecks away from being homeless. And so we try and keep them so they're not homeless, and we're trying to get them into job training programs. So I guess, the Lord has made my, these remaining years a service for him. And I love it. You know,
Tamara Anderson 32:51
it is good to serve. And God blesses us when we serve others, you know, and it's almost like he gives us like that extra measure of blessing of peace. Even though you're now widowed, that he fills you with peace as you serve His children.
Sharon Leino 33:07
Yes, yes. And purpose. You know, that was one of the hardest things after my husband died was, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? Because my life before was always centered around him. And God gave me the answer. And it was service, you know. So I serve the church, and I serve the poor. And I
Tamara Anderson 33:31
love that. It's a beautiful mission. Sharon, it really is. And I'm thankful that you were able to find that so So your advice to people who lose a spouse, whether through divorce, or through death, or lose a loved one and find themselves alone is find a mission? And maybe it includes service?
Sharon Leino 33:57
Yes, yes. Because, you know, you don't have to ever be lonely. If you reach out and help others find very rewarding. I mean, and that sounds having an IT is selfish, because it is rewarding to see the joy of others, you know.
Tamara Anderson 34:19
Oh, that's wonderful. Well, let's talk a little bit about your book that you've been working on these last couple of years, because not only have you been serving, but you've also rediscovered your passion with writing and you have written this amazing story. So tell me a little bit about scarcity.
Sharon Leino 34:40
Okay, well, it seems like the Lord just keeps opening the doors for this book. I mean, I find it absolutely amazing, because I never thought of writing it or pulling it out of the dust. And a friend of mine who is now just CeCe sent me an invitation to Richard Paul Evans, writer's retreat. And it was only a week away. I thought, well, I don't know if I could go or not. But then I did. My, my daughter encouraged me, my son in law got me the tickets. And I went, and I'll tell you, it was a joy. I mean, the people I met, were just fantastic. And the total experience was awesome. And I now have a bunkhouse gain. Girls that we bumped with. I've wrote and rewrote and rewrote, and rewrote, after going there for a year. And I thought, well, I'm ready to be published. And, and theoret Rotom actor was the publisher of this Flint Hills publishing. And she advertise, she's an attorney. And she'll answer questions for a fee. So I called her up questions. So we started talking, and talking and talking. And she said, I'm not going to charge you a fee, send me your whole book. She paired me with a new artist. And the artist was new, I was new. And so we email back and forth. I sent her my book to read, which I guess I wasn't really supposed to do. But she read it. She created these delightful characters in the book. And we became quite good friends with this saw on my website, you will see all the characters in the book. Well, then you have to help market the book. And this social media is such a challenge. Yes. I had a friend, Danny that taught me how to use Facebook, and I still am learning and make mistakes there. And then I have to earn learn Instagram, which is just on me. I just don't get it. So Tasha, how one of the girls from the retreat is doing posting for me and she will be teaching me how to use it when I get to the retreat. The shoe is a an amazing at that. I had 50 followers. And she in a week has increased it to 90. Oh, wow. I know. I mean, it was just, it was just great. And saw it just you know, everything's just falling in line. Garrity is about a 10 year old who is afraid of life. He's just afraid of everything. And he has a friend Billy that helps him win to bullies who go after him after school when Billy's not in Taekwondo. But when he is Rudy has to learn to run fast. And he has to learn how to talk himself out of these situations with these bullies trying to make him do things that he is so afraid to do, while Billy and Rudy decided to go fishing one day, and they get lost. And they end up into a new world called loose air. And there is a problem. And Lucia, where the wizard has changed the thinking of the people that evil is good, and good is evil. And so they are going to help overcome the wizard and overcome his fear. And they have many adventures as they try to complete this test is wonderful.
Tamara Anderson 38:57
And then he comes does he come back and then defeat his bullies.
Sharon Leino 39:02
Yes, he was. And they are just shocked. And he does it without Billy's help.
Tamara Anderson 39:11
Wow. I love this. And it's a needed story for today's youth because we all face our fears. And just you're a perfect example of that you faced many fears in your life. But I think it's powerful that you've given young children this opportunity to figure out how to do that in the form of a story. Right?
Sharon Leino 39:33
Right. And the reason I use fantasy is because children's open they're open to fantasy at a young age, and they have their own imaginations, and they can relate to some of the things in the book, but a man a fantasy and imagination. If they're developed later in life, they help you to problem solve. And I truly believe that is very important because as we grow older, we have to problem solve, and use our imagination, you know, sometimes start out really with wild ideas and then bring them down to more realistic ideas.
Tamara Anderson 40:14
Mm hmm. So I really love that and your life is almost a mirror of the that. Do you know what I mean that you've had to learn to problem solve with your husband's challenges, and, and you've done it with faith and with grace and with hope, right?
Sharon Leino 40:32
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So,
Tamara Anderson 40:36
well, Sharon, this is so exciting. So tell me where can we buy copies of security?
Sharon Leino 40:43
Okay, you'll be able to buy them on Amazon and in many bookstores, that that will carry them.
Tamara Anderson 40:50
Awesome. Awesome. And where can we find you and your website?
Sharon Leino 40:55
Okay, my website is Sharon Lionel author.com.
Tamara Anderson 41:00
Wonderful. And we will be sure to link all these things in the show notes so that people can find you they can find your book. Well, Sharon, this has been such a joy to have you on the show today. Thank you for diving into your story, sharing with us your moments of grief, and yet how you were able to find peace and joy and hope. And then use that hope to make a difference in the world.
Sharon Leino 41:27
Well, I just thank you. I am grateful to be part of your podcasts because you help a lot of people. And I hope maybe this will help a couple.
Tamara Anderson 41:38
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website stories of hope podcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote or a scripture verse that they really, really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you're struggling with hope to carry on and have the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, remember, God loves you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai