Get to know... Nancy Stone, Mentor Mom

Mentor Mom Nancy Stone will be joining us for the MOPS meetings on Wednesdays this fall. Here are a few fast facts about Nancy!

Nancy Stone has a heart for young moms!

“I remember how difficult it was to raise a family. It was the hardest, yet, most rewarding career I ever had. My husband was great, but he traveled four days a week for fourteen years. If it was not for the encouragement of my mother-in-law, the Lord, and church family friends I would not have made it. I love encouraging these young women. The culture doesn’t always give them enough credit for the awesome job they do.”

A new bride of three years, Nancy and her husband Bob have a combined family of five grown children (2 girls, 3 boys), five in-law children “they’re our kids, too!” and ten grandchildren (ages 3-10).

“I have three children from my first marriage and Bob has two from his. We were both widowed after long marriages (37 and 37 years). Our family’s scope was greatly broadened by the adoption of my Korean daughter (adopted at age 11), and our Vietnamese daughter-in-law. We celebrate many customs in our family! Furthermore, I have helped raise foster kids who challenged and blessed our family.”

Nancy has had a wide variety of careers and jobs over the years.

“I taught elementary school until I was a mommy. I was able to be a stay-at-home mom until my three children were teenagers. At that time I went back to teaching on a secondary level at my kids’ high school. Since then I have had a variety of professions: retail store owner, outside sales person…corrections and later library furniture! My most fulfilling job, after parenting, was full-time Christian missionary staff. My first husband and I were on Campus Crusade for Christ staff ministering to college students at San Jose State, Stanford and Fresno State. When I was able, after a sales career, I joined the staff of Youth for Christ working with troubled teenagers. After a six-month Law Enforcement Chaplain course I became a licensed chaplain with the Sheriff and Police Departments of Sonoma Co. Experience with law enforcement led to being asked to be the chaplain at Sonoma Co. Juvenile Hall.”

Nancy is a California girl, but didn’t grow up in the Silicon Valley.

“I grew up on a small horse ranch in the hills of north Orange County. I attended Brea Olinda HS in Brea and college at Cal State Fullerton. I have a BA in English Literature, music and a California teaching credential.”

Here's a quick Q&A with Nancy as well!

How do you spend your time now?

"I am a retired new bride of 3 years. I enjoy studying and teaching the Bible, gardening, bird watching, walking, entertaining , grand parenting and flying."

Best bit of parenting advice you ever received?

"Always live your Christian walk in the home, and speak to your children with the same respect that you would a good friend."

What was your most embarrassing moment as a mom?

"I found out after my son graduated that he spent more than one afternoon in the counseling office of the High School where I was teaching."

What is your favorite way to be spoiled?

"Take me out to dinner then give me a foot massage."

Get to know... Debbie Davis, Mentor Mom!

Debbie Davis, one of our Mentor Moms, has been working with and serving the families of the Campbell Church and Campbell Christian School for 24 years. She has had an amazing motherhood journey, with both blessings and sorrows, and is now sharing her wisdom and experiences with the moms on Wednesdays!

Debbie was born in New York, and grew up surrounded by relatives. “My mom came from a family of nine siblings, so there were plenty of cousins. I remember always playing outdoors in good weather, and when the snows came, my sister and I and several cousins played in our basement for hours. We all have fond memories of those times of creativity and camaraderie. Oh, and the holiday dinners hosted at each other's homes were so memorable!”

Debbie spent her teen years in New Jersey. “Friends played a more important role at that time, not only because of the developmental stage of life, but also because now we lived further away from most of our relatives My aunt and uncle from Sacramento were visiting in the Summer of '69 and extended an invitation to me to come out to California. So at age 20, in the Winter of 1970, I left my childhood home and my family to stay with my aunt and uncle, secured a job at the State Capitol, and met the man I was to marry all in a matter of months.”

Their first two years of marriage were spent in Sacramento, then Placerville where they lived for 14 years before moving to the Silicon Valley. “We just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. Our only child is our 30-year-old daughter. She attended CCS during her elementary years here in the South Bay. She recently completed her Masters in Investor Relations at the University of San Francisco and is currently working in San Francisco's financial district.

Debbie has a personal understanding for the challenges and sorrows that often come with starting a family, especially when things don’t go as planned. “We were unable to have more children and that was hard to accept. But God had a plan. For 15 years, I was employed by CCS, working in the Extended Care Program for three years, and in the preschool as a teacher for one year, then director for 12 years. There were many, many children in my life over the years. What a blessing! Currently, I serve on the CCS School Board.”

While working at Campbell Christian School and taking care of her family, Debbie completed her Associates in Early Childhood Education at West Valley College. “I had begun on the journey of early childhood education when my daughter was very young. I felt I needed more information to raise her, and went back to college in Placerville when she was six years old and at school. I finally received my degree after about ten years of study.”

What was the best thing about being a stay-at-home mom? And being a working mom?
The first 13 years of our daughter's life, I was able to be a stay-at-home mom. I'm very grateful for that time because I was able to focus on her a little more without the added stress of an outside job. But when I went to work, it helped her become a little more responsible and I became a little more organized. The timing may have been good.

What did you do before you started working for CCS?
Prior to working in the field of child development, I had worked as a secretary, both in my home state of New Jersey as well as California, which included working for the California State Legislature for eight years.

How do you spend your days?
I've been retired for over five years. Since we retired, my husband and I have flown to France, Italy, Australia, and crossed the United States and Canada by train. It's important to remain as active as possible, so helping out at one of the local elementary schools, reading to the kindergartners through fourth graders has been on my list of volunteer activities. Serving as a Sunday Bible class teacher of three year olds and helping as a mentor mom for Mothers of Preschoolers are priorities at this time.

My husband and I stay busy right now caring for his elderly mother who lives nearby. She is 95 now and depends on us, so we see her every other day and make sure she has what she needs. It is very difficult to witness a loved one in decline, but there is a blessing in this, too, something to be learned.

Best bit of parenting advice you ever received?
My mother said to always remember "This too shall pass." She was big on understanding stages of development and she didn't even go to college to study it. She was absolutely right, and it passes too quickly. Just before our daughter was born, a dear friend wrote me a letter and said, "Just love her." I've done just that every day of my life since she was born. So when I was director of the Early Childhood Center at Campbell Christian School I would share these adages with our parents and also tell them, "Enjoy each day with your little ones because they grow up very fast." I will add that praying for them every day is essential!

Get to know... Mary Ruby, Mentor Mom

The Wednesday MOPS groups welcomes a new Mentor Mom – or really, Mentor Grandma! Mary Ruby, 85, asked to be a part of this group simply because she loves to help and be around young moms.

When you ask her about her life, Mary Ruby beams: “I feel like I’ve had a wonderful life! I have felt like God has watched over me all my life.”

Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Mary feels fortunate to have had a father who was always happy, and a mother who, during the Great Depression, made “milk and bread for lunch taste good.” When Mary was three years old her family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they raised rabbits for food. On Sunday mornings, Mary and her sister, Clydene, would catch the trolley to go to church; then, for fun “we would buy an all-day ticket and ride the trolley all over town. One bus driver was even a ventriloquist!

Mary started nurse’s training at the University of Utah, but when her father died, she left school and went to work for a radio-tube plant as a part of the war effort of World War II. Later she worked for United Airlines in food service, then in the dispatch office, checking weather and schedules for pilots.

When a group of Pepperdine College (now Pepperdine University) students visited her area, Mary met Lowry (her future husband) “in a cherry tree!” She found he had all the qualifications for the husband she envisioned: he was a Christian, had blue eyes, and did not drink or smoke (he was only missing the dark hair…). Lowry returned to California, and he and Mary wrote to each other for 4 months. He came to visit her in December, and he proposed. They were married in the church where Mary had grown up. She was 21. .

Mary and Lowry lived all along the coast of California. They had three children; the youngest, Don, is married to CCS’ beloved PE Teacher, Cheryl Ruby.

Mary has always lived a life based on service. She has taught kids with learning disabilities, as well as working as a psychiatric technician until the age of 65. At the Campbell Church, Mary taught 4^th/5^th grade Bible class for 40 years! She helps lead the 2^nd/3^rd grade girls’ club, Tuesday morning Women’s Bible Study, and works in the CCS Resource Room every Thursday morning. In addition (and all this “in retirement”) Mary is a leader in the Seniors’ group, visits friends and is in the process of learning to use a computer.

Mary is a firm believer in living life to its fullest. At the age of 69, with her sister Clydene (age 70) Mary Ruby went…(wait for it)…bungee jumping! Shortly after losing Lowry, her husband of almost 60 years, Mary traveled to Nairobi, Kenya with a missionary group from the Campbell Church, helping the students and leaders at Made In the Streets.

Mary says about herself: “I am happy, I have things to do, I have friends. The church has always been my family. I’ve never felt I didn’t have a place to go because I’ve always felt I had it in the church. No matter where I went, it was home. I’ve always felt they were my people.”

When asked what parenting advice she would give a young mother, Mary replied: “All you can do is show the way, and they make their choices. They don’t always make the choices you want, but my mother told me you keep on teaching them. You leave them in God’s hands, and be a good example.”