June 08 US - Pink Truth

“
Kids, graduate school, full-time work?
Even with all that, I can do it, I thought.
After all, excuses are what keep us from
realizing our dreams. It was then that
I gave myself permission to dream again.
It was then that the seeds of belief were
planted again.
22 Applause June 2008
“
seeds of belief
When Independent Sales
Director Karen Mitterling
Johnson, of Riverton, Utah, in
the Independent National
Sales Director Tammy Crayk
Area said “I do” in 1980, she
put on a new perspective along
with her wedding ring. A city
gal from Fresno, Calif., Karen
married a horticulturist, Brent,
who had a love of the land
deep in his genes and a
wide-open dream in his heart.
Although Brent’s dream was
not her dream, Karen committed
herself to helping him bring
his vision to life. There was just
one cloud on their harmonious
horizon: Karen and Brent
desperately wanted children,
but infertility had left them
alone. The couple decided to
adopt and brought two biracial
sons into their caring home.
But providence saw an even bigger picture,
and soon Karen was pregnant with
triplets. Their surprise-package daughters
only multiplied their bliss, and the tight-knit
family felt comfortably complete. Her longtime
desire to be a stay-at-home mom had
become a reality, and Karen, a former teacher,
believed she had retired from the working
world for good. They moved to a 90-acre
spread near a small Pennsylvania community,
where eventually greenhouses dotted their
fertile farmland and crops of colorful field
mums bobbed in the sunny breezes.