About Wendy Stewart-Hamilton...

Site Publisher and Editor for www.inspiredmoms.com

Q&A with Wendy

Q: Who is the most influential person in your life?

A:  As a child my most influencing role models were my Grandfather, Pastor Harry Zickafoose (Piedmont, Clarksville Theological, Concord College) and my father, Pastor Lyell Zickafoose (Hyles Anderson, Faithway).  My Grandfather always treated me "equal" to the "boys" and encouraged my love of music and words.  I can't remember a time where I wasn't singing in his presence and building a lifelong love of music, words and song.

Q:  How about now?

A.  Still my dad.  We agree to disagree on "style" of ministry, but our core belief system is the same and is part of an inherited faith that goes back through centuries in our family.  My support system wouldn't be complete without my Mom, Sandra Zickafoose.  She is my biggest fan and cheerleader and reads every thing I write.  She has been known to stay up to 1 and 2 am to make sure she has noticed every word.

Q:  Who are your favorite authors?

A.  That's a tough one.  I read a lot.  I never quite got over the 12 library books per week limit that my parents put on my older brother and myself.  Although I do not have the time to read 12 books weekly, I try to read at least two non-fiction books and three fiction books in that time frame.  Most weeks I am successful at that.  I also check out books on CD for anytime I am in the car.

In 2003 I read two books that changed my life.  The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren and also The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson.  In the copy I had of The Dream Giver I signed my name, the date I read it and put "Inspired Life Ministries" (my dream) and then passed the book onto someone else.   It will be interesting to see if it ever finds its way back to me and if so, who else has read it and what other dreams have been written down, dated and signed, in testimony to God's Divine Purpose for all of us.

Q: Favorite childhood story?

A.  Hands down - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Q:  Why?

A.  I had a rock in the backyard that I would sit on and think a lot in my pre-teen/teenage years.  There were little purple flowers, violets, I think, that grew wild around there.  To me, it was my own "Secret Garden".   We all need a quiet place, and as child that was my place to just get alone and meditate.  

Q:  What's the story behind Inspired Life Ministries?

A.  Well, the short version is, I knew that everything I studied in college to date--English, Computers, Psychology (Concord, Liberty) and my various careers of Graphic Design, working as a Legal Assistant in Business Law and who I was talent-wise and my strong-willed/people-loving personality* somehow centered around God's purpose for my life.  I didn't know what that was really until 2003 when on April 15th, I was hospitalized, 28 weeks pregnant with our son, Andrew, with what was suspected to be Cauda Equina Syndrome, a serious back condition that is marked by loss of feeling in the legs, extreme pain, etc.  I was on complete bed rest for over a month in the hospital and then a few weeks more at home (after begging and pleading) until my son was born.  The forced rest was to ensure that my condition didn't stay "permanent".  As I longed for visitors, I found myself resisting being visited by God by counting ceiling tiles, watching clouds go by, and pretending I enjoyed slurping down hospital food.  However, each person who visited me began to tell me very personal stories of what God had brought them through and how He had changed their lives, their marriages...their goals.  (I'm in the hospital, no e-mail, no internet, no computer--I was a very captive audience.)  Their stories created the framework of the 12 online / offline need-based ministries of Inspired Life Ministries.

The rest is my submitting to a pact I made with God of just working little by little on things and building more and more daily and trusting him to bring the people and complete the ministry.

Q: What's the long version?

A.  Same story, more descriptions of hospital food.

Q:  How do you handle running a ministry and being a wife and mom?

A.  Early on, I heard time and time again - Let yourself be interrupted.  I can tell when I'm not managing my time properly and putting my family first.  My writing will suffer.  My motivation will suffer.  When I take the moments to watch my daughters and son experience their lives, then I am inspired.  When I'm meeting the needs of my husband, I find more to think about.  The quiet time I need comes only after I have met the need of my first job - being a wife and a mom.  Sometimes the quiet time happens at 3 am...but the awesome thing is--it happens. 

Q:  What is the significance of Proverbs 8:10&11 in your life?

A.  I seem to be on a quest for knowledge.  God dealt with my heart a long time ago about working for knowledge, wisdom and understanding above working for financial gain or accolades.   I always gauge what I do in life against that verse to make sure my motives are inline with my personal values.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to sell a million copies of anything, but I know that the purpose in that for me would be to bless the ministry of Inspired Life Ministries, Inc.

Q:  What particular work of yours best describes your outlook on life, your writing and work with Inspired Life Ministries?

A.  Good question.  I think it would have to be a free verse poem of mine written in 2005 titled "On The Day I Interview Myself."   It discusses all of the tough questions that most of us hesitate to ask of ourselves and our motives in our lives of purpose. 

* This would also be known as a Powerful Choleric with a strong Popular Sanguine personality.