New Contributor: Meet Jody

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There are many things I’ve said that I would NEVER do; have children, live in Portland, and do anything on a high ropes course or a zip line to name a few. Let’s just say, I’m an expert in learning the hard way. Never say never. I thankfully have become a mother and love this incredible city that I live in. I’ve even survived tight rope walking/trembling over a huge canyon in California and zipping through a canopy of trees in Costa Rica. I still wouldn’t consider those two fun and may have wet myself a little (although motherhood can have the same effect sometimes, can’t it?). There is much to tell about the journey of all of those things but I’ll just share a little about me to get us started.

I am an Oregonian from birth. I grew up in a small town in Central Oregon where my parents still live in the same house I was raised in. I love country music, much to my husband’s dismay, and I still love to drive a truck. Some parts of the country just can’t be removed.

After graduating from Oregon State University I moved to Africa for three months and then when I got home I got engaged and moved to Montana to be near my fiancé. I would never suggest moving from a hot climate in Africa to Montana in the dead of winter. I said to my sweetie, “I’m never living here after we get married.” And you guessed it, we stayed. We lived in Bozeman, Montana for nine years after we got married. Somehow when the snow melts (in June) those two glorious months of summer make you forget how cold you are the rest of the year and you stay. You buy into the slogan, “The last best place” and “God’s country” and purchase lots of warm clothes to survive. It really was a sweet spot in our life, and we loved it, but trading in our snow boots for rain boots to live in Portland has been a blessing. At the time I came dragging my feet, because I said I would never live here, but I’m so thankful that we now live in this crazy, weird and beautiful place.

My husband and I have been married for 14 years and we work in full-time ministry with a large faith-based non-profit organization. We love what we do and all the adventures that it has taken us on throughout the years. If it weren’t for our job we wouldn’t have found ourselves in Portland. We have been able to travel to many places in the world and I’m always reminded that the hearts of people are the same everywhere. We all want to love and be loved, find purpose and meaning, and although we may come from different places and cultures we have so much to offer one another. Motherhood is much the same way.

Remember how I said I didn’t want to have children? Well, my heart changed after a few years of marriage and then we found that our dream was being crushed month after month. The dreaded day came when the words “infertility” were uttered and my heart sank even lower. We ended up pregnant right before starting fertility treatment only to lose that baby and we were devastated. By some miracle we did end up having a baby girl who is now 8. She is a total delight and an old soul. When trying to get pregnant again a year later we were unsuccessful. We did a few rounds of fertility treatments that also failed; we made peace with the fact that God had other plans for us. We had a heart for adoption and when we got a call out of the blue to adopt a baby we knew this child was for us. Our miracle child through adoption was a boy and he is now 5. He is our exuberant and stubborn one. Our journey to making a family has been paved with deep pain but also incredible joy.

mccomas tracks family photo

A few more tidbits about me: I love coffee, the day should never begin without it. I love being outdoors and exploring new places with my family. I love Jesus. The beach is my happy place. I love hosting things in my home and serving people. I love to invite my friends over and watch the Bachelor or Bachelorette, also to my husband’s dismay (please don’t judge me). I love my neighborhood. I love taking pictures, thousands of pictures. I love to read. I love sausage and beer. I love to travel. I have great friends and family. Most of all I love being a wife and mom. 

kids at beach with buckets

I’m so excited to be joining the Portland Moms Blog community and I hope that I’ll get to meet many of you along the way!

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Jody
Jody grew up in a small town in Central Oregon, graduated from Oregon State University, traveled to Africa for three months and, upon returning, moved to Montana to be near her then fiancé. They lived in Bozeman, Montana for nine years working on the Montana State campus in full-time ministry. They now have lived in SE Portland for nearly eight years and work part-time with the same faith-based non-profit. She is also now a business owner and helps others find health and happiness through Plexus. She has been married for 16 years and they have two beautiful kids. Their 11 year-old daughter is a miracle biological child after years of infertility, and their son 7 is a miracle child through the gift of adoption. Jody loves living in beautiful Portland where flowers are always in bloom and there is always an adventure around the corner to be had. She loves Jesus, coffee, a good book, deep conversation with people she loves, being intentional to love those around her, hosting events in their backyard, sausage, beer, traveling, and being a wife and mom. The beach is her happy place. She also blogs occasionally at jodymccomas.com about motherhood and ministry.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Hi, Jody.

    I loved your blog post. And I’m so happy you’re joining this community as a contributing writer.

    Wow! You’ve certainly had an adventure in life: Africa, Montana, Costa Rica! I’ve been to the latter two, but not yet to Africa.

    May I ask, where in Africa were you? And why did you move there?

    This was one of my favorite lines in your article: “We all want to love and be loved, find purpose and meaning, and although we may come from different places and cultures we have so much to offer one another.”

    That’s so true and so powerful. I’m curious to hear more from you in future posts about how you strive to find meaning—to love and be loved.

    Thank you for your article and your writing.

  2. Thanks so much for your comment Eric! I was in Zambia for most of my stay in Africa. I had always wanted to go and had the opportunity to do so with an organization called SIM. I lived with a woman who had been there for years and worked along side her. She educated churches and communities about HIV/AIDS among a lot of other things. Thanks for reading!

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