Category: Thankful Thursday

Dear Weary Mom….They Grow Up Far Too Fast!

Posted on by Mary

Oh goodness and this is coming from a mom whose 4 kids range in age from 8 down to almost 4…..and just in case you are wondering, no none of them are twins!

But tonight as I stood at my washer and dryer folding my third load of laundry today…..I held in my hands  a few shirts and pairs of pants that have MIRACULOUSLY made it through all three boys.  I can so clearly remember each little monkey as I pulled the shirts over their heads, tickled their tummies and kissed their noses *SIGH*. Sometimes life is so busy, it almost seems to be foggy. One day blends into the next and before you know it the last kid is almost ready to move into 5T!  Oh Boy!

Then the kids (and the adults) have been so busy with school and church and chores and and and…..

THEN A BREAK! Sadly there used to be a day when such a long break overwhelmed me .  But this break…

This Christmas break has been very different.  And I don’t think it’s the kids either.  I know it is me.   It was my attitude.   My attitude  has changed so much over the last year!  God has taught me to love my little sinners for who they are…not who I want them to become.  I have watched my kids  bounce back from some damaging stuff last year, and over the last few weeks realize that my kids are growing leaps and bounds in their faith/reliance on God!   

In some ways they are growing into the very tender hearts I have prayed for, and as they do that they are growing up as well!  Bigger Cloths, more district likes and dislikes,  budding talents and their own very unique personalities.  My kids are as distinct as their favorite colors……my home is a rainbow of differences!  Differences we embrace.  I am so curious as to what God is going to use my rainbow for!   So I encourage you, watch your kids, enjoy your kids, and embrace the rainbow that  is your kids

This Post was inspired by HOPE FOR THE WEARY MOM

Thankful Thursday 1/2/2014

Posted on by Mary

It’s funny…..I have been watching all afternoon as my dear hubby has dismantled my kitchen…..and yet I’m not upset that things aren’t back to normal yet.

For the last two weeks I have watched toys creep hither and yon all over my house and yet…..I’m not aggravated.

I have found writing on my wall……and yet I’m not mad!

In each of those three areas I have great things to be thankful for.  

I’m thankful that my dear hubby is waging war on our mouse population.  I am glad he is adding cabinets, shelves and making my kitchen look even more finished than ever before!   I am glad that my husband has MAJOR skills when it comes to using tools and fixing things.  And I am sooooothankful that he hates mice even more than I do and that is quite a feat!

I am thankful that my kids love to play.  Though play can be messy at times, it shows me my kids are happy and enjoy their home.  I am thankful that I have kids.  After nearly loosing one at birth….and that same one is autistic…..and for nearly two years wondering if we could even have kids, God has taught me to not sweat the small stuff!  This is only for a short time.  Then there will come a time when there are no small children….(though I can’t ever miss stepping on Legos , I will miss seeings dolls, matchbox cars, Star Wars figures and light sabers scattered on the floor!

I am sooooo thankful for the little boy who brings such challenges to my life.  The one who has taught me more patience, more love, and more grace than I ever thought possible.  I am thankful for 3 therapists who work with him, a teacher who could get him to do things no one else could and an aide who cares for him while he is at school!   I am so thankful he is learning to read and to write and though my woodwork and walls are not my first choice for his writing practice it is a daily reminder that he is soaring far higher than we expected him to. 

So yes some walls need some attention but I’m almost afraid to remove it, for I know not what tomorrow brings.  Each days is a precious gift with each of my children and my husband.  I want to remember these successes though they didn’t occur in my desired way.  

The walls may have smudges, the floor may have toys and tiny socks, the windows and glass might have fingerprints for the one hundredth time, but they all serve as reminders that children truly are a blessing from The Lord !

adventures in Hospitality…..or Lessons in Flexibility……or One of Those….Months?

Posted on by Mary

Sorry for the weird title, but i just couldn’t decide!  It’s really been that kind of week! So I am very sorry for the silence on here!   I wish I could say that It was going to get better, but October is jam packed!

So , here are somethings God has done this week in his amazngness!

1. God really has provided  the perfect one on one aid for our autistic son.  First off she is a believer in Jesus, so this makes all the difference in the world!  Secondly hubby and I got to sit back and watch her interact with him on a field trip.  She is exactly what we had prayed for!

2. Flexibility, patience, and perseverance.  Those were the things God reinforced this past Tuesday, as we got home from the afore mentioned field trip!  We got home after a brief trip to the craft store for some candles (more on that in the next point)  and within 10 minutes we had no power….at all!  Not normally a big deal BUT I had 8 people scheduled to come for dinner! We waited an hour, checked the electric company’s website…it was scheduled to come back on at 5:45, a whopping 45 minutes before everyone was to arrive!  Do I reschedule?  Do I relocate?  Now what?  So I made a few calls and we relocated to our church.  30 minutes before we left the power came back on!  Now we move it back to our house, no everything was already packed to go!   What a blessing!  It was so much fun getting to know 2 of the newer families in our church!  I could have been stressed out and I could have been worried about all the details but God had it all under control!

3.  I was reminded of God’s protection, not just for our family but for the person in a wheel chair!  Between the field trip and the dinner we stopped at a local craft store that was having a sale on jar candles.  We got what we needed and left.  We were in our Ford Excursion (it’s bigger than a Suburban) and we had a green light.  Hubby was turning onto a  ramp to head home.  I yelled , “STOP”   My husband was frustrated that i shouted, but there was a person in a wheelchair/scooter that never  looked before crossing the road.   I covered my face because they disappeared.  I wasn’t sure what happened.  I told my husband about the person and looked out his window, they were fine, but they were trying to race our truck.   They had sped up.   I am so thankful God protected them!  And us!

4.god’s Peace….after our crazy schedule i needed to get away, not just for my sanity, but for my family’s as well.  Girl Time.   God knew that! And yesterday, i got such time!  And God knew what I was going to come home to.  A super agitated autistic child!

5. A gift of love….so what happens when you have an agitated, screaming, out of control autistic kid?  How do you calm them down?   Well last night I used a weighted blanket.  Now all of this being  said….we didn’t buy it, they are super Expensive but a lady from our church saw an advertisement for a free pattern for one.  She called me immediately and asked if this was something we could use, to which I said YES!  Two weeks later, we have this beautiful blanket that he LOVES!

This is just a fraction of what has gone on in the last week!   And an even smaller fraction of what will go on in the coming weeks!  Some of it has been hard, some of it…eh…but a good portion has been rich blessings from above!

I could choose to focus on the tough stuff, but instead I am deciding to be thankful!  

Can you list some “God Sightings” from your life this week?

Thankful Thursday- Blessing

Posted on by Mary

All over the state of New York yesterday thousands of kids started school. Two of our children were no different! It is exciting for me as a mom to see my children start school each year and love it. But this year was a little different. Not because of school but because of what came before school…..a bus ride.

I used to ride a bus. It was really no big deal, but i rode with my age group, and when i switched to the local Christian school my senior year we had our own mini bus that the public school provided for the Christian school and the Catholic school to share. But since we have moved. We now live within the 15 miles required by a school district to receive bussing for our kids , which would be great…….BUT our kindergartner and first grader would have to ride with high schoolers from the public school district we live in. That concerned me…A LOT!

So i prayed…A LOT! Well it all came down to yesterday. We had talked about riding the bus and do’s and don’ts. One problem though….we hand’t heard from the school district about when the bus would arrive. So we got up early and waited and waited and waited some more….from 6 am to 7:10 am when hubby called the bus garage to see if he could figure something out.

What we found out brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart! The school district had enough students to our local Christian school to warrant their own vehicle with no extra transfer point at the high school. All along i was praying for God to protect the hearts and minds of my children. I never asked Him once for their own vehicle. God did just that he protected their hearts and minds the best way possible, which was totally outside my line of sight. I serve a big God in whom I love!


– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thankful Thursday-“Moving” Forward

Posted on by Mary

Greetings to all of my Thankful Thursday friends….As my hiatus from blogging has come to an end I am so thankful to get back into the blogging saddle.  I have missed it and am grateful for this “freedom”

 

I am also grateful for the encouragement I have received through thankful Thursday readers and I am looking forward to the future conversations with these women!