Saturday Storytelling...

It's 2011, already!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE !!!

We've been spending a lot of time on the road over the Christmas holidays.  I think everyone ought to log in a few hours on "roadtrips".  There are always some good conversations and some good arguments, just as there are good roads and bad roads along the way.

Special needs families can do the roadtripping too - it's just best to plan ahead and try and think of every contingency.  Now that sounds like something you just put on your to-do list for the trip... but in reality it is bigger than anything else with a checkbox beside it. 

Special needs parents will ask themselves a ton of questions about "what could possibly go wrong?", cover most of them by bringing along things or techniques to manage the possible difficulty, but there will be some things that just slip in with no advance warning... and no matter how experienced the parent is with the needs of the child.

Our last trip included travel through snowy weather which we don't usually see.  Snow came down, it blew around, and it stuck... to everything!  The roads weren't the biggest problem, the temperature was!  Brrrr!!   We were tucking everything we could find around our son with special needs, to keep him warm enough so we didn't have to run the heater on high and toast ourselves crispy!   The problem we didn't foresee was that if (did I say IF?) the son developed a leak in his protective-wear, all of these clothes and fleece items were going to get wet and need to be stored somewhere until we arrived safely at our destination... 

It all turned out okay, though.  We located a large black plastic trash can liner and used that for containing everything.   Never have I been so grateful for our family tradition of marking a black trash bag (filled with Christmas gifts ) with the silver-Sharpie words "NOT Trash!!" 

Thankful Thursday

Thankful List, for this Thursday...

I just want to mention again that... every attempt at making this list is just another addendum to the ongoing list,.  I know I will never be able to put into words all that I have been blessed with and all that I have become aware of being thankful for...

My God chose to send His Son into the world that He has made, to save us... to redeem us from all of the unrighteousness we represent, and to cover us with the righteousness of His Son, that we might have a real relationship with Him, through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  Today, I am so thankful for the Bible, for it's timelessness and for the way God has protected it over the years in such a way that now any of us (yes even I) may have a copy of my own to hold in my hands, and to read with my own eyes the marvelous works of our Creator and of our Redeemer. 

"I rejoice at your word

like one who finds great spoil."

Psalm 119:162   ESV

Meal Preparation Boxes

It turns out that our special needs family has special needs when it comes to mealtimes too. I've worked at keeping items "at-the-ready" for my special needs son for years... yet just recently began to get it together for the rest of us.

Check out Kathi's Oak Hill Homestead blog for more on what I'm doing to organize for success in the area of meal preparation.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Colossians 3:17  (NIV)

Stomach virus hits our house...

The stomach bug hit our house this weekend - with great force. Some of us are just making it today, and others are doing better already, although in small measure. Being sick while caring for a special needs family member is a special kind of challenge. And I know I'm blessed to have a hubby who can and will fill in when I need him to.

In the worst of my illness, I was reminded that God cares for me and what I'm going through, even down to when I'm ill and what sort of illness I have, and the challenges my special child brings into this situation. I'm so thankful for having memorized scripture that God brings to my memory at just the right moment, as he did for me on Monday...



"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
(Luke 12:7)

Thankful Thursday

As always I feel overwhelmed by the task of listing a "peek through the window" view of what I'm truly thankful for. This week's list is short aside from the MOST important thing I'm thankful for: God... and all that He is!

The only other thing on my thankful list this week is:

• the way that God chooses to and does use people (that we know or don't know... closest of friends or the ones we try so hard not to like)... He uses people to speak truths into my life, grabbing my attention and pointing me back to Him where I get a directional change for my day, my thoughts, my LIFE!

"Your ears will hear a word behind you,
"This is the way, walk in it,"
whenever you turn to the right or to the left."

Isaiah 30:21   NASB

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful for God's provision for me, for my Savior's love for me, and for the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. Our God is so gracious to me.

This week I am also thankful for:

• people with medical training
• people with patience
• people who pray purposely
• people who smile broadly
• sunshine
• chocolate

"Honor all people,
love the brotherhood,
fear God,
honor the king."

I Peter 2:17 NASB

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The WORD for Wednesday

We're having some of life's ups and downs at our house this week... but no matter what comes, no matter what goes... my heart is fixed on God.

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:
I will sing and give praise."

~Psalm 57:7

Thankful Thursday

I've been sharing my list of things for which I'm thankful, piece by piece, as I become aware (or newly-aware) of them. The list grows far more rapidly than I can record, but once again, on Thursday, I'm posting a bit of the list that is most currently on my mind.

Thankfulness begins with the acknowledgement and recognition of the one true God. There is no valid thankfulness or gratitude without this awareness. So, here goes the list for this week...

I'm so thankful this week...

• that there is a God and LORD over all - I am an infinitesimally small speck, in the big picture
• that He beckons me to come to Him, to know Him -even though I'm so small
• that He alone gives all things - I have nothing that didn't come from Him
• that He grants forgiveness - whenever I ask, admitting failure and turning back
• that He LOVES unendingly- and shows ME how to love, giving me relationships with both loveable and those harder-to-love people
• that He allows me to recognize the blessings of:
  family and friends, "health" and "home", sunshine and rain.

Lyrics Tommy Walker lyrics - Only A God Like You lyrics

The WORD for Wednesday

"The LORD is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in him and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song."

Psalm 28:7 NIV

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Monday Musings...

Today, I had the privilege of witnessing a "complete turnaround" by my son who'd been having symptoms of vertigo. It was amazingly quick, and was not totally expected, so truly filled my heart with joy! I am SO thankful that the dizzying symptoms have cleared up!

Last week and over the weekend, my son with special needs had been too dizzy to stand alone or to walk straight - even with my help. If he were still a 2-year-old or 5-year-old... it would have presented me with different challenges. But my son is a young adult and, at 3 inches taller than I am, presented me with some maneuverability issues.

I've dealt with his strong seizures and with his weaknesses, but this lack of self-balancing reaction was brand new to both of us. I had to learn quickly and also to act forcefully, which isn't my typical "MO". I'm sure that at times my son was probably confused about why this quiet and gentle mother of his had suddenly become so forceful and insistent that he do things HER way. It was not what he wanted, and not what he had come to expect of me... and definitely NOT fun for him.

My son was in trouble. It was dangerous for him to carry on in "business as usual" mode. Left alone he would fall, bump into walls, miss the chair at the breakfast table, and crash into furniture pieces. I know this because he is harder to manage than he appears to be... and these things happened in the last few days.

Actually my son David normally needs my help, but more from a distance... giving verbal and gentle physical inputs to help him carry on his regular day. Only occasionally do I have to swoop in and "rescue him" from some danger or disaster he is about to cause. These last few days were NOT some of his regular days! I was compelled to come to his rescue often, and even forcefully (when, and in ways, he would not choose). I did it because I love him, and accept my role as his caregiver.

So, the LORD has been speaking to me in the silence these last few days - about HIS love for ME. And even more... about His rescuing me, even when I don't feel I need rescuing... and even forcefully rescuing me, when I am totally unaware of the dangers surrounding me. The LORD used this experience with my son David's vertigo to show me that, although I readily agree and submit as DEPENDENT upon Him(the LORD), the truth of the matter is... I have absolutely NO IDEA just how dependent I really, seriously am. And I have no clear understanding, either, of the magnitude of His love or of the joy He feels for my "recoveries".


My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;

He will keep your life.

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in

from this time forth, and forevermore."

Psalm 121 ~ESV

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