Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the fifth of seven children of Ruth and Charles Shaw, Deborah Shaw Lewis grew up in Georgia. She attended <a title="Asbury_University" href="http://asbury.edu" target="_blank">Asbury College</a> where she met her husband <a title="Gregg_Lewis_books" href="http://gregglewisbooks.com" target="_blank">Gregg</a>. She taught preschool, wrote preschool curriculum for <a title="David_C_Cook" href="http://www.davidccook.com/" target="_blank">David C. Cook Publishing,</a> directed a daycare center, Winkie Bear Child Development Center, and taught child care courses at <a title="Triton_College_River_Grove_Illinois" href="http://www.triton.edu/cgi-bin/r.cgi/index.html" target="_blank">Triton College</a> in River Grove, Illinois.<a href="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Debi_Lewis1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-230" title="Debi_Lewis" src="http://motherhoodstress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Debi_Lewis1-254x300.jpg" alt="" width="254" height="300" /></a>

Two fertility specialists told Debi and Gregg that they would not be able to have children. Their first child Andrew (now 32) was declared a "miracle." Then he was followed by <a title="Matthew_blog" href="http://alethinologia.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Matthew</a> (now 30 and married to <a title="Emily_Brown_Lewis_blog" href="http://greensandjeans.com/" target="_blank">Emily</a>), then Lisette (now 28), then Benjamin (now 27), then Jonathan (now 23 and married to Jessica).  They are ALL miracles.  All unique gifts from God.

Debi earned her master's degree from the <a href="http://www.erikson.edu/" target="_blank">Erikson Institute</a> in Chicago. She is currently the director of <a title="PALS_at_Trinity" href="http://www.trinityumcrome.org/content/what-makes-pals-unique" target="_blank">PALS</a>, the mothers' morning out program at <a title="Trinity_United_Methodist__Church_Rome_Georgia" href="http://trinityumcrome.org/" target="_blank">Trinity United Methodist Church</a> in Rome, Georgia. She loves to speak to groups of mothers and to tell stories to young children.