|
|
I have a theory- that God places children with special needs in the laps of the parents that He appoints - because He has given them special heavenly tools to raise them.
Patience, tenderness, kindness, flexibility, and many more. You name it, they've got it.
Within my family, we have children with special needs. Not in my immediate family of four, but within my extended family. It only takes a few minutes with them to see how special these parents are.
Now, I have seen children with special needs with parents that do not do a good job. I don't think it's b/c they don't have what it takes...I think it's b/c they don't use what is given them.
They choose to parent by their own standards, and not laying down who they are and picking up the cross of Jesus and following Him by selflessly serving Him.
The best manual for parenting is the Bible. Period. That's the best manual for LIFE.
And if you don't think so, perhaps you should dig a little further into scripture.
It's there, I promise.
To be a good parent, you must step back and selflessly see and meet the needs of your child before yourself. To be a great parent, you do these things in the guidance of our Heavenly Father. You seek His plans for your children. Not your own.
Which is difficult, especially when your plans are so different than His.
How disappointing it can be when you are holding your baby- thinking, dreaming of their wedding day, what will their profession be, will they make their mark on history?....only to realize later that these dreams of yours may not be in the plans of our Father.
That perhaps this little one may never understand relationships such as marriage.
And you "lower your expectations." But I think when lowering your expectations, you are not really "lowering" anything but your own will and kneeling, bowing and backing away as you realize it's not about you at all. It's about God.
And somehow in the midst of it all, there is glory given to God. There may not be anyone else that sees it, but the glory is given.
Sure, perhaps it's easier for me to write this b/c I don't have a child with special needs of my own. But I see amazing things happening when my family members take on the task of parenting these children with such amazing patience and finesse. And I can't help but to think that God granted them extra patience and extra understanding and extra everything to do what they do, b/c they do it so well.
And so perhaps they will be given a set of wings when they reach heaven, and the rest of us will join as the Throne room bursts in applause.
Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.
|
| |
| |
|
|
So there is a group of animal activists whose goal is to protect the lives of animals.
If we see a story of someone who has neglected, beaten, killed animals, many of us are upset and angry at that person who created such a violent, brutal act against animals- who I will go so far as to say are innocent.
I am not allowed to hurt or kill my dog, Sampson- especially if my reason was because it is more convenient for me to get rid of him.
I own him, he's MY dog--shouldn't I be allowed to do what I want?
No, it is cruel, it is brutal, it is harming not even someONE, but someTHING.
So rightly so that we should get upset over cruel and violent acts.
Even if the animal is the possession of the owner.
But what about the harming of the someONE's?
Why do we, as a nation, not get upset with the cruel, violent, torturous act of abortion? I understand the argument that it's the woman's body and we shouldn't be able to tell her what to do. I don't agree with it, but I understand that argument.
"It's MY body"
well, sure, "It's MY dog" but that doesn't mean I have the right to take an act of violence to it.
I also understand the whole rape aspect of it.
But really, after going to college and seeing exactly how many friends were raped and how many had abortions over convenience, I feel I can say with confidence that most abortions are done b/c of convenience.
But even so, yes, it is the woman's body. But, shouldn't the fact that it is brutal, violent, and murder override that? You can't tell me a fetus doesn't feel anything. As early as 20 weeks, that baby responds to what is happening on the outside. Spicy food? It feels it. Loud music? It feels it. It FEELS it!
Someone who kills a pregnant woman gets two counts of murder, it doesn't add up!
And so we, as a nation, sit back and allow it to happen b/c we are afraid, and we don't care enough.
And Jesus Christ was innocent. He was violently and brutally murdered.
If you don't think so, check the scriptures, physically, technically, it was TORTURE.
And babies are innocent. In their quiet, private, dark, SAFE place in the womb, they are PULLED apart, BURNED, or whatever method is used. To kill something that is alive is painful. Period.
Not to mention the fact that they never had a chance to voice THEIR opinion of THEIR life.
And that brings us back to the animal activists. They are the voice for creatures who can't speak.
And we listen to them.
Sad, truly sad that we see lives as animals as such a priority, and not the lives of babies.
Truly sad.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
So why can't we make credit cards safer to use and prevent fraud and theft?
Why can't a credit card have to be used with a driver's license number?
It's not impossible, let's make it so a sale would have to have that driv lic number as its code to go through.
When you swipe it, enter the driver's license number, just as you would a pin...
and if you are using it with a clerk, they'd have to check your license and key in the number.
That, to me, would prevent many credit card theft and protect many people.
"They already have something in place."
Sure, you can write "see ID" on the back. You can have your picture on it.
But when do stores EVER check that?
Almost never.
But to have to SEE something and actually KEY it in.
Hmm.
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
David, a man we have to respect with such high honors, was loved by God.
But, when you read in first and second Samuel, you begin to see the story of a man who was truly a man. Truly human, full of sin, full of mistakes, full of experiences that he wanted to erase from his "book" of life.
He was annointed, he killed the giant, Goliath with a slingshot and a stone while a armies with large numbers stood and watched. He won Saul's heart, he was servant to the king, and eventually became king, himself.
He also sat back and did nothing when his son raped his daughter. He had Bathsheba brought to him so he could sleep with her, and she was a married woman. He had her husband killed in battle and took her as his own wife.
And on and on, read it yourself, it's all there, the good and the bad.
I have to be careful b/c I start to lose respect for him when I read all the bad stuff.
He was totally worthless, a sinner with dumb, stupid, catastrophic mistakes that cost him dearly.
But God loved him and placed the crown on his head. God continued to love on him. Sure, he punished him, but don't miss the love story in Psalms poured out to God and God's love poured out for David.
And so David is made worthy, ONLY by the hands of the one true Holy One.
Would I like the book of my life to be written for all to see? No way. My story may not be as dramatic as David's, but I have my share of dumb, stupid mistakes. But in my book would also be the part where God loved me so much that He died for me, and not only that, called me in to His Kingdom. And my book should reflect that part where I pour out my love for my God. My songs of praise, confusion, my songs of total honesty before my God.
I am worthless, but because of Christ, I am made worthy. |
|
| |
| |
|
|
"Take the Wheel" is a great phrase for "you drive."
But what happens if you have never heard that before.
I love it when kids are so literal. Here's what happened.
I took Carrie to the Nashville Adventure Science Center.
Great place, lots of fun for all ages.
There is this donated ambulance there that the kids can play on. Carrie loves buttons and steering wheels, so it's perfect for her. There was a kid already at the steering wheel pretending to drive so Carrie politely waited her turn at the passenger seat and played along.
The boy turned to Carrie and in their pretend play they have to help someone, so he told Carrie, "Hurry, take the wheel" and he was going to move to the back to help whoever was "hurt."
Carrie, never hearing that phrase before, and ever so happy that someone is playing pretend with her, says, "Ok," and gets out of the ambulance. She then quickly scurries over to the side of the ambulance and starts to grab the actual wheel of the ambulance. It wouldn't budge, so she figures it is still pretend play, so she yells back, "got it!"
I had to help her- so I went over and explained what he meant so that she could take her turn in the driver's seat and the pretend play could continue.
But how funny!
Which reminds me of another time when we were driving somewhere, and the kids were so loud Jeff and I could not hear each other.
So Jeff slows down and scolds them, "Hey! You guys are screaming at the top of your lungs back there and Mommy and I can't hear each other, now quiet down!"
It gets quiet for a second. Two seconds.
Then we hear, "Daddy? What are lungs?"
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
0 comments