"You can't complain. You just do the best you can. You have to do what you have to do for your family and move on. Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get going."
 
These are the words of Mom of the Month, Kimberly Byrd. And she should know. Byrd has had more than her share of challenges in life. But with each one, she has always been able to rise up, regroup and move on.

Byrd is mom to 7-year-old son Darian. She left a marriage and started a new life for her and her son, who was just 5 months old at the time. She set out to work on getting their lives back on track.

Byrd is an actress. She majored in theater at Wright State University in Ohio and grew up wanting to be on "Saturday Night Live,'' which, she says, "would have been my dream job!" Out of college she was able to get a job in a traveling theater group, and she also performed at Sight & Sound Theatre in Lancaster County. She thought returning here would be the fresh, new start that she and her son needed.

She was right.

Looking back, Byrd says that time in her life was "ridiculous." But it all worked out. She worked "crazy" hours at Sight & Sound and slowly started to rebuild her life for her and Darian. She also met her second husband, Daniel, at Sight & Sound. The two have been married now for just over a year. Byrd also credits "a wonderful Amish lady" who lived next door with helping her with child care when she worked. It wasn't long before Byrd was able to get back on her feet.

But more importantly, Byrd credits God for getting her through. Sight & Sound produces live shows dramatizing scriptures from the Bible; Byrd says God works through her as she performs on stage. She has been in such shows as: "Noah,'' "The Miracle of Christmas,'' "Ruth'' and "Behold the Lamb." Currently, Byrd is in Joseph, "a very meaningful show about forgiveness."

While on stage Byrd said she knows, "We are ministering to the audience, but I get more out of it than them. I am doing this for a reason." It's for this reason that Byrd says with each new production she doesn't care what part she gets to play,  though she says she does have more fun and has more creative freedom with the smaller parts.

Byrd was especially touched while performing in "Ruth.'' "It's a story of restoration, of second chances. That's what I had gone through. I was broken. I was a mess and God has restored me."

Throughout her life, Byrd also has had her share of health problems. When she was pregnant with Darian, she almost died from an unrelated medical condition. Had she not been pregnant, doctors would not have discovered it. Byrd said Darian saved her life and calls him her "special angel from God." She has also struggled with a blood disease, and Darian has had to have ear surgery. But through it all, Byrd has always relied on God to help her and He has always come through, she says.

Incredibly, through all the physical and emotional challenges Byrd has had to endure, she still manages to help others. She has "a passion" to fight against domestic violence. "I am dumbfounded that this is happening in my own backyard," she said. Byrd also volunteers at Darian's school where he is in second grade.

Byrd said she has learned that you can't control other people, and you can't control outside circumstances, but with God's help, you can control your reaction to them and make a better life. Byrd is definitely not a quitter and is a fighter. "I can't just lie down and suck my thumb. People count on me."

Byrd's husband, Daniel, nominated his wife for Mom of the Month. He said, "She has been through more roadblocks in life than most of us could even imagine and never complains about any of them. She would give anyone anything, whether she had it to give or not. I wish I could put down on paper everything she has done for others."
 
 
More on the Mom of the Month
 
Byrd's favorite actress is Betty White. "She is so funny and her comedic timing is amazing. I learn a lot from her."

Byrd loves to dance and sing.

Darian, Byrd's son, loves to watch his mother perform at Sight & Sound. Sometimes he talks about working there one day.

She is originally from Ohio.

She volunteers by helping with publicity for North Star Initiative, an organization that works against human trafficking.