{"id":18,"date":"2010-11-03T15:42:29","date_gmt":"2010-11-03T15:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2017-01-06T16:35:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T22:35:10","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"rms_aboutpg\"<\/a>

Rachel Macy Stafford, Author of Hands Free Mama<\/p><\/div>\n

Hello. I\u2019m Rachel. To know me is to know my personal list of what really matters<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

*My daughters matter. My older daughter is 13. She is\u00a0my brown-eyed girl with an enormous heart. I learned what matters in life by watching her walk right up to the suffering and extend her\u00a0hand. \u201cBecause when you have the important things in life\u2014like love, faith, and family\u2014there is nothing you own that you can\u2019t give away.\u201d<\/em> I penned those words by watching my older daughter live. My younger daughter is 10. She is my Noticer. She remembers where I parked the car and often leads me by the hand to the right spot. She notices friends\u2019 new hairstyles and gorgeous sunsets before anyone else. She\u00a0looks for the child struggling to sharpen his pencil or the one who\u2019s off in the corner alone. She hops right up to offer her assistance. That\u2019s probably what I love most about her noticing gift\u2014she doesn\u2019t just notice things, she notices emotion. Her way of life inspired these words: \u201cWe are all just waiting for someone to notice\u2014notice our pain, notice our scars, notice our fear, notice our joy, notice our triumphs, notice our courage.\u00a0<\/em>And the one who notices is a rare and beautiful gift.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>*My husband matters. He provides me with the grace and love that I freely give others, but often neglect to give myself. His love constantly reminds me of the beauty inside me.\u00a0 I am certain that his love has added an extra ten years to my life.<\/p>\n

*Writing matters. My second grade teacher, Ms. Paluska, led me into the world of writing and it has been home to me ever since. Writing for others is my joy. My favorite gift to give someone is a note or a poem that highlights the best qualities about that person. I am humbled (and touched) when someone tells me they have saved every note that I have ever written them.<\/p>\n

*Teaching matters. Before I was a mom, I was a teacher to special education students. I can still remember all their names and wish I could see how each one turned out. I love sharing information in creative and inspiring ways to those who want to receive it.<\/p>\n

*Encouraging others matters, probably because so many people have encouraged me in my life. I remember the name of every person who encouraged me to publish my works so that as many people as possible could read my words.<\/p>\n

*Recognizing angels matters. I strive to notice the angels that come into my life when I need them, and then later telling them about it. Every single day, I want to be somebody\u2019s angel.<\/p>\n

*Faith matters. I have faith that there is plan for my life. In this case, I believe that God chose me to have a revelation about how I want to spend my days here on this earth.\u00a0 And it is because of my faith that I understand why God chose me. I was chosen to tell this story because of what really matters <\/em>to me. Being a mother, a wife, a writer, a teacher, and an encourager has prepared me to show others how to let go of their own daily distractions and grasp what really matters.\u00a0 Maybe through this blog, I can even become somebody\u2019s angel.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to my last and most recent item that really matters <\/em>to me\u2026<\/p>\n

*Being Hands Free matters. \u00a0Before, I was holding on to the wrong things and missing out on life.\u00a0 Finally, I am holding on to what matters, and it has given my life new meaning. Come on and join me; grasp what really matters <\/em>to you and then start living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello. I\u2019m Rachel. To know me is to know my personal list of what really matters\u2026 *My daughters matter. My older daughter is 13. She is\u00a0my brown-eyed girl with an enormous heart. I learned what matters in life by watching her walk right up to the suffering and extend her\u00a0hand. \u201cBecause when you have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7192,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P1fUJF-i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}