Balance

In the daily grind and the busyness of life, we can tend to miss the joy and fun in each day and even miss actually "being" with our kids.  It struck me today, that I focus so much on school with my 12 year old, health issues, behavior issues and my desire to "train him up" well, that I am really missing out on getting to know him.

Today I had the opportunity to take my son on a field trip, just the two of us.  I enjoyed time to talk to him without any interruptions.  It was fun to see his extreme joy when he saw the "Google" logo on the building as we were approaching.  Then I heard him say, "Oh, I have always wanted to see this place".  He had a blast and he participated well.

It changed my perspective and caused me to reconsider what is truly important.  There needs to be "balance" in our lives or we can miss out on so many of the special moments with those who are closest to us, especially if we are so busy or focused on the detail  that we miss what is in front of us. 

After today, I am determined to stop more often and enjoy this sweet boy who is in my life and spend some time one on one doing things that are fun and just getting to know each other more. This could be just what he and I need so that our learning becomes more enjoyable.  After all, he is my miracle from God and an answer to a deep longing that I had over 14 years ago to be a Mom.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. 

Delight yourself also in the Lord and He WILL give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord.

Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. 

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. 

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 

Psalm 37:3-7a

Oh Mr. Sun...

I heard something utterly delightful this afternoon that truly blessed me!  While I was clearing the table of all the school books,computers, markers and clutter leftover from the school day, to get ready for my child to start setting the table, I hear the most beautiful music.  It was my sweet little 5 year old singing "Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun please shine down on me" as he sweetly sauntered around the house.  Oh, how that warmed my heart!

To some, this may not be a big deal, but if you knew where this boy was a year and four months ago (not talking, not able to communicate, had severe meltdowns, seizure episodes, just to name a few) you would be amazed and understand my delight at hearing him sing freely as he played.

When he saw how delighted I was, he kept singing it and laughing and we had a good old time singing about Mr. Sun.  It was so fun to be enjoying our silly time together and making memories.  Oh, how different that life can look when we stop and find joy in something, right where we are in our life. 

Free Give Away-check it out!

 

http://thecraftyclassroom.com/blog/2011/03/28/toy-boxes-more-giveaway/

 

 

Check out this website and enter for a FREE giveaway at the link I have included above.  They have some great wooden toys.  I saw some great things for pretend play and building vocabulary or working on speech for those with little ones who may be delayed.  I was thinking my little guy would love the rocket ship and the people they have.

 

 

R-R-Rejoice!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks;

 for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

My little guy came home tonight with this cute little craft that he made in his Royal Rangers group.  I couldn't help but take this picture to capture the joy in his face and he sure looked CUTE!   It caused me think about the joy that this little guy brings to us. 

We have had challenging issues with him over the last 3 years; delayed speech, test after test and evaluation after evaluation, behavior issues, potty training, seizure episodes and changing to a gluten free, casein free, soy free diet.  However, he is such a sweet gift from God.  Through this experience we are learning to:

REJOICE ALWAYS: on days when things are difficult and even overwhelming, when we are exhausted and feel like we can't go on.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING: because we can't do it without the strength of the Lord.  He can heal our child, He knows our children better than we and has a plan for their lives.

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS: even when he has written all over the walls, plugged up the toilet, hit his sibling for the tenth time today, and has melted down one to many times.

FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS! Amen..we are the parents that He has chosen and the Lord doesn't make mistakes.  He will guide us and give us what we need to raise this child.  He doesn't promise it will be easy, but we can be sure that He will be with us and guide us in all our decisions...we just need to ask Him for help.

R-R-Rejoice!

Doorposts for your House

http://www.doorposts.com/

Last night, my pre-teen boy decided to stay home from church with me.  We began a study of Proverbs together.  This study is part of the biblical character-based training from the book Plants Grown Up Published by Doorposts.  It is a great tool to guide us in giving our sons the spiritual and biblical training that they need to be godly men. It gives bible studies, activities, discussions and projects to work on over the years to train our boys in different character qualities.

It was a joy to spend one on one time with him, reading the word and studying it together.  So blessed to be a Mom and so blessed that there are godly families like the Forster Family that the Lord has used to be an example and share the joy of living for Him.

I hope you will take some time and browse their website, I know you will be blessed.

I Can't-Part 2

"To persevere or not to persevere that is the question"

Our family is in a place where we have had to persevere in many areas of our own personal lives and as a family.  This time of testing is what our Heavenly Father says will happen so He can mold us and make us into what he wants us to be.  It doesn't feel good and it can cause us to be fearful and discouraged when things don't work out, when things are hard and feel impossible, or when we feel like we just don't have the energy to go on.  The situation can be as big as unemployment and as small as a 6th grade math problem.  No matter what the situation we can choose to persevere despite the obstacles in our way.

What does persevere mean anyway? (According to the Websters Dictionary)
"to persist in a state, enterprise or undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition or discouragement."

What does it mean to persist?
"to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition; to remain unchanged or fixed in a specified character, condition, or position"

So if I am feeling discouraged or that my situation is too overwhelming, I can choose to give up or I can choose to "resolutely or stubbornly remain fixed, on what lies ahead or on the other side, of this situation in spite of the opposition, counter influences or discouragement that I may be experiencing." 

As a believer (in Jesus Christ the Son of God) I have a hope, and I have His Word that He will be with me and will never forsake me.  He has given me examples of other men and women that have had faith in Him and have persevered through various situations or trials so that I know I am not alone and that I CAN persevere through faith in Him. 

If you also know Him, you have the same hope and can rejoice in the fact that you CAN also persevere through faith in Him.  If you don't know Jesus, you can know Him and have this same hope.  First, you can meet Him by reading through the book of John in the Bible, and then making a decision to turn from your ways and follow Him. It will be the best thing you will ever do!

Blessings to you as you persevere through the situations that you are going through today!

Schedules

During the last week and a half, we have tried a new schedule and strategy with our 6th grader, in an effort to train him to be more responsible with his school day,  and work to become more organized and able to work independently.  Out of all the schedules we have done for him over the years, this is by far the best one.  It has worked out so well!  

Several things that I discovered this time is that the size of the font and color are very important to my son.  He is a visual learner, so I should have figured this out sooner.  He says that the color is just more fun, but I believe that the words stand out more and make it easier for him to distinguish on the page.  We coordinated the color of each subject title on his daily schedule with his weekly assignment sheet that details each subject and all the items that need to be completed in that subject on each given day.

When creating the schedule, we evaluated the following:

• pre-scheduled events for the day 
• topics that my son can work on independently
• times when I need to teach a topic or assist older son with his work
• times when I need to be available to work with my younger son.

Taking all this into account, we came up with his schedule and it is wonderful.  It helped this week when I was sick and my husband had to step in to help out.  My son was able to accomplish all the tasks that he needed to do so we do not have anything we need to catch up on.  That in itself is a true "delight" for me!

I have attended many seminars and read many more articles on the topic of "scheduling the school day", but until this point nothing had worked as smoothly.  I'm glad we finally found something that is working for now.