Meet Suzanne

Hello there!

I am Suzanne, wife to Theo, Mom to Tera Evelynne, Hezekiah James, Ezra John and Orion Daniel

Theo and I were married in Saginaw, MI in May 2012.

We currently live in SW Ohio. Ohio has never been home to either of us, but we met at Cedarville University and by default found jobs in the area. Theo works for our local city, and I am a part time first grade teacher at our local hybrid school. Together, we run 4 long-term rental properties and one short term rental.

I grew up far, far away from Ohio, in the wonderful country of Niger, West Africa. My parents were (and still are) missionaries, and my brother and I spent most of our growing up years running barefoot through the African sand, speaking the local language, attending an American boarding school and growing deeper in our relationships with Christ through the things that we were blessed to see and experience.

This blog is a mish-mash of my everyday life. A little bit of cooking/recipes, a little bit of my journey into becoming a mother, and a little bit of the adventure of following Christ. I love to cook, run, keep up with friends both near and far, drink chai, teach children, read any book I can get my hands on, and blog. This blog will reflect all of these ‘loves’, and will be written primarily for me to look back and remember, but also for you, dear reader, to catch a glimpse into an everyday, average, crazy, adventurous, not always cheery and bright, unexpected life.

In late 2013, Theo and I began the process of becoming foster parents. Two months into this process we became pregnant with our first child. We stuck it out throughout the pregnancy, but then once Tera arrived in Aug 2014, life became a blur of feedings, crying and trying to keep up with a baby. In January of 2015, we received a phone call that kindly told us that if we did not continue with the fostering process, we would lose all the work that we had done. With a 6 month old baby, we kicked it into high gear and finally received our foster care license just two weeks after Tera’s first birthday. Two weeks later, we received our first foster placement, a 2 week old baby girl (only 13 months younger than Tera!).

Little Miss lived with us for 9 months and then she moved on to a beautiful adoptive home with some of her birth relatives. She is thriving and loving life.

In October of 2016, we welcomed Hezekiah James into our family! He brought with him so much love and joy and just a little bit of craziness!

In May of 2017, we said yes to our second foster placement- this time a 10 year old girl, whom we call Heavenly on here (not her real name)! She brought so much joy and adventure into our lives- with just a side of pre-teen drama. She lived with us for 13 months.

Next came Ezra John in the fall of 2018. After Ezra was born, our life seemed to catapult into chaos. We moved multiple times, we began to invest in real estate, I headed back to work as a teacher, and we faced a pandemic.

We decided it was time to try for one more precious little one, and our Orion Daniel was born into the family in March of 2023.

Life is crazy. Life is beautiful. Some days my life is nothing but mundane. But I know on all days I can bring God glory.

I’d love to get to know you better, so feel free to follow along, leave a comment or shoot me an email! The following is my social media and contact information:

Facebook: The Glorious Mundane

Instagram: @thegloriousmundane

Bloglovin’:

Email: thegloriousmundane@gmail.com

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4 comments

  1. Shelley Ramsey says:

    Suzanne,

    I just discovered your thoughtful and encouraging review of my book, “Grief: A Mama’s Unwanted Journey.”

    Thank you! Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for your recommendation. And, thank you for you for your blog!

    May God bless your work immeasurably as you serve Him.

    Shelley

    • sdevalve@cedarville.edu says:

      Shelley,
      I am so honored that you stopped by and read my review! Thank you for leaving a comment as well. But mostly, thank you, for writing your heart out so that the rest of us can know and understand just a little bit better what grief feels like. Again, thank you!

  2. Eli Z Walters says:

    Hey Suz! Stephen and I are talking about becoming foster parents (just talking! No steps forward yet.), so I decided I need to follow your blog (instead of only reading it when it shows up on Facebook haha). Ever since I was in junior high, you’ve been an example to me of what it looks like to follow God. Thank you for that example and for the encouragement and wisdom in your blog.

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