Thursday, March 16, 2017

Bella-the-Labrapanda's First Hair-Cut

We had a good day today. Jim took Joshua to his Therapeutic Recreation. Bella had an appointment to get two booster shots, and an appointment with the groomer...so we left our house at 8 a.m. and headed to the Vet.

I've been to the Vet twice now. Last time was her first time to go...and this was the 2nd time.

They put us in a room, and Bella was going NUTS. About the time I got her settled down, the groomer girl came in to talk to me. She wanted to know what i wanted, as far as grooming goes.

WHAT DO I WANT?

I want her hair cut, is what I want.

I had no idea that there were so many services offered...FOR A DOG. I told her we weren't fancy people, and she wasn't a fancy dog. She's just a dog I thought would be a nice, calm, inside dog...but she's turned into a dog that wants to be outside rolling in the mud.

(sigh)

I looked at the list of options. I said, "I want everything shy of the SPA TREATMENT."

What the WHAT?

SPA treatments? For DOGS?

If anyone in our family is going to the SPA, it for dang sure ain't gonna be the dog!

The best part of the whole thing was that they took her at 8 in the morning...AND THEY KEPT HER ALL DAY. Seriously...I got SO MUCH DONE today. I feel like a new woman! Not really, but she is a handful at home. She has a TON of energy. She goes and goes and goes and goes...and then FINALLY she goes to sleep at night.

We have to watch her CONSTANTLY in the house. And, when we put her in the backyard, she somehow finds a way through, under, or over the fence...almost every time. She's like a jello Houdini. And do you know what is super fun? Chasing a very large puppy that looks like a panda bear...all over the neighborhood. Because she won't just come to you when you call her...she thinks it's a big game.

Ohhhhh...that's fun.

I was able to wash/change sheets, and clean out two downstairs rooms that have been housing Christmas stuff (I'm embarrassed about that, but it's gone now!). I had taken the rest of the Christmas stuff upstairs, and it was just sitting on the landing...waiting for us to put it in the attic. Jim has offered to do it many times, but there's a method to my madness, and I prefer to do it myself.

Hence-the-putting-up-of-the-Christmas-decorations-in-March.

Also, I didn't want Jim rummaging around in the attic, because the first thing he would say is, "we have a lot of junk." And we do. And the second thing he would say is, "we need to get rid of a lot of junk." And we do. And the 3rd thing he would say is, "with all of this Christmas stuff, WHY would you EVER need to go to Hobby Lobby?" And I don't have to tell you that Hobby Lobby is my JAM. Even if I don't need or want anything...even if I don't buy anything...I just love looking. So, NO SIR, that is not happening.

I vacuumed, and folded clothes, and straightened up in Clark's room. Now that he's in college, I don't go up there much...but he is coming home this weekend, and so are Logan and Morgan...so I wanted their rooms to be clean and fresh and inviting! Not that THEY care. They don't. But I do.

And then Holly called, and asked if I wanted to watch Rhodie for a bit, while she ran a couple of errands. Ummmm...YES, please!

And then I had to go pick up Joshua from TR. I didn't get back to town until nearly 4 p.m., and we both went to pick Bella up at the Vet.

The staff said they were all in love with her. They said, "she looks adorable...wait til you see her! She has two bows in her hair!"

TWO BOWS?

I didn't know they were going to do that!

Before Bella, we only had Labs, and they always stayed outside. We gave them rabies shots, and that's about it. No baths, no haircuts, no bows in their hair.

They put us in a room, and we waited. Finally they brought her to us. Bella looks so cute! She's what's called a "parti-Labradoodle," so her natural coat is black and white. With her hair being 5-6 inches long, her coat looked muted and kind of dull.

NOW? You can see all of her patches and spots! So pretty! And she is very soft!

She was pretty worn out from her big day...and that is a good thing for the rest of us!

I realize that many people take their pets to the groomer on a regular basis...but we aren't those people.

But we might be turning into them...very soon!

"Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after [ag]their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after [ah]their kind”; and it was so. 25 God made the beasts of the earth after [ai]their kind, and the cattle after [aj]their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1: 24-25

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

INSPIRE Conference 2017

This past weekend, I did something I haven't done in a long time: I went to a women's conference.

Back in the day, different things would come up...Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, etc...and a group from our church, wherever we were living at the time, would go. We'd get the church van, or we'd all pile into cars and caravan.

I was always excited if I got to go, because, I'm just sayin'...having 4 kids in school...one with special needs, who had therapies and homework and stuff after school...and three others who had sports or other activities after-school...my times away were rare.

Fast forward to now. Joshua is the only one at "home" with us, since Clark is in college, and the other two are married.

And, guess what? It's still hard to get away.

But I pulled up the conference sign-up on-line, and filled it out...and then I took a big breath and pushed "finish."

There. I was registered.

Early Saturday morning, I left Jim and Joshua at home, and I met a group of women in our church parking lot. We all got into one car and headed out. There were 6 of us. One girl I knew pretty well. Two others were people I kind of recognized and said, "hi" to at church...and two others I had never seen before in my whole life.

The conference was really good. I loved looking around the room at all the women...all different ages and backgrounds. I was only a tad bit jealous of the groups of friends who came together...and just for a second. Because my next thought was how our lives are really all woven together. Moms, daughters, sisters, co-workers, Aunts, Grandmothers, friends...WOMEN.

This is how it will be in Heaven. Women and men...believers all together...hands raised in praise to Jesus.

I can't wait!

Our main speaker was Rachel Lovingood, and I highly recommend going to hear her if you get a chance. She was engaging, and super funny, but also serious. I totally could relate to her in many ways, but mainly because she's a mom, like me. She talked to us about worship, and being authentic, and how we all need each other.

It was a great day. I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a MINUTE. I met some new friends. AND, I got to take some people off of my "pretend internet friends" list...and put them on my "I met them in real life" list. :)

I'm convinced that God does not want us to live our lives alone. The hurt and the hard things that come to us in life are way too heavy to bear on our own. And the joys we will experience need to be shared with others.

Who are your people? Find some to join you...or be someone else's.

We need each other, y'all.

"Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters..." Hebrews 13: 1

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Speak Life

So, our daughter, came over the other day, and she said, "Mom, I HAVE to tell you something."

Now, normally, when someone says they "HAVE" to say something...or they "NEED" to say something...it's usually on Facebook. They start their post with something like, "I just need to say this..." and then they proceed to say something that they really didn't need to say.

Anyone?

Maybe that's just my experience.

But Holly said, "I HAVE to tell you something," and then she proceeded to tell me about this internet site she found that is completely dedicated to blog-bashing.

And it hit close to home.

What in the world?

She started to read some of the comments, but I stopped her. I mean, seriously? I have no room for that negativity in my life.

AND FROM COMPLETE STRANGERS.

I don't understand why people have to be so nasty. In our home, if there's a movie we don't like...we don't watch it. If there's a book I read that I don't like or agree with...I won't recommend it. If there are blogs I don't like for whatever reason...or if they post things I don't agree with...do you know what I do?

I don't read it.

There.

Plain and simple.

I am a pretty easy-going person. I talk nicely about most people. I like most people.  I have connected with so many wonderful people on YE OLE INTERNETS, and most of them have been a blessing to my life.

But I am over this other type of thing.

OVER.IT.

I am over people tearing each other down. And I am over women not supporting each other.

So, first of all, blog-basher people behind your computer screens, you don't know me.

Second of all, this is my blog where I share about my family, my experiences raising a child with Down Syndrome, and my faith.

If you don't like it or me or what I have to say...then move along.

There's nothing for you to see.

"Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Colossians 4:6

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A Crazy Dog and Tornadoes

Well, last night was interesting!

First...let's back up...

I had the baby all day yesterday. Joshua was a big help to me with the dog and the baby.

When I took Bella-the-Labradoodle to the Vet last week, they sent her home with several different medicines...for kennel cough, for a hook worm, for fleas, for heart worms. The only thing she has out of those 4 things is the hook worm. Those pills are supposed to be taken every 12 hours until they are gone.

Like, one week's worth.

Well, little Miss THANG is too smart for her own britches. I tried putting the pill in her mouth, and then holding her mouth shut until she swallowed.

Or, until I thought she swallowed.

As soon as I took my hand away, she opened her mouth, and dropped the little pill on the floor.

Grrrrr...

So, I covered the pill in peanut-butter, and put it in with her regular dog food. She ate all the food, LICKED OFF THE PEANUT-BUTTER, mind you...and left the little pill in the bottom of her bowl.

I wrapped the pill in cheese. Same thing. Cheese gone, pill left.

I pushed the pill down into a piece of ham. She ate the ham...spit out the pill.

WHY DOES THE VET HATE ME?

When Jim got home, I told him all about it. He said, "well, OF COURSE, she's not going to just take the pill...you have to hide it in a piece of ham or something."

OH GOOD. DIDN'T THINK OF THAT.

(sigh)

So Mr. Smarty Pants took a piece of ham, and made a little slit in it, stuffed the pill down in there...and then gave it to Bella. He was so smug. I didn't say a word. Bella chewed for a minute, and then hung her head over her bowl.

We heard, "pleenk," as the pill dropped out of her mouth, and into her bowl.

Oh so you're little slitting-of-the-ham suggestion didn't work?

Yesterday, she was supposed to have the heart-guard pills, and the flea guard pill. They were chew-able pills, and she took those just fine.

But, last night?

She lost her ever-lovin' mind.

She was so antsy...whining and panting and scratching herself all over. She went to every door, whining for Jim. He was out-of-town, and she.was.beside.herself. I told Holly about it, and she said I could have one of the pills they give their dog when there's fireworks outside.

I almost did that, but first I hit up The Googles, trying to find out if I could give Bella a Benadryl. I finally figured out that I could. I figured out the amount, and then I had a panic attack thinking of what all could go wrong...would it kill her? UGH. I finally just gave it to her. It took a while for her to calm down...but she was finally was settled enough to get in her crate...and we all went to bed. I was worn slap-out from keeping the baby...and from dealing with Bella...and I was asleep in about 3.5 seconds.

Our meteorologists had called for bad storms in the night, so I told Joshua he could sleep downstairs in our guest room (Logan and Morgan's room). It ended up being a good thing, because at 1-something in the morning, we had our first tornado warning...And then at 3, we had another one.

And do you know what is super fun? Trying to get an 118 lb dazed and confused young man...up and in a closet...in the middle of the night.

And we were trying to do it all without waking the minion of lord voldemort, who was some how sleeping through it all in her crate.

I had the TV on in my bedroom, so I kept going back in there and watching their report. If I know there's a chance of bad weather, I will have out everyone's coats and shoes before we go to bed. So, Joshua had his shoes and coat. I went and got his Bible and his phone...and then he was all set. At one point, I noticed him reading his Bible. I don't know what passage he was reading...I'll have to ask him...but it was the sweetest thing ever.

Even the most innocent and childlike mind knows that, come what may, our hope is only in Jesus.

"Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.Then He said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:3

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Weddings and Birthdays

We had a whirlwind Saturday.

Jim had a "deacon retreat" on Friday night, until Saturday morning. I was really tired when he called me on Friday night. He's just been gone a LOT lately, so I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal around here. Anyway, I said, "if you tell me you guys are sitting out around a fire, over-looking over the lake, and eating steak or roasting marshmallows...I'm just going to cry.

No, but really.

He got home, showered, and changed...and we headed to a wedding. Truthfully, he didn't want to go...I made him. :)

In my defense, it was a pretty big day: two of the FRIENDS in Joshua's Therapeutic Recreation group got married.

GOT.MARRIED.

Yes, ma'am.

And if you think that didn't fire up all the FRIENDS, well, you'd be wrong. Because now? Now all the FRIENDS want to get married.

All of them.

The FRIENDS been excited for months...and even more as the weeks progressed.

This couple was married in a church about 50 minutes away from us. Jim, Joshua, and I put us on some weddin' clothes, y'all...and off we went! I mean...it's not every day.

Right?

The ceremony was sweet. Short and sweet. The bride was beautiful, as she walked down the aisle. Both the bride and the groom were very attentive to the minister during the ceremony. This is not something they just decided on a whim to do. They have full and complete support of BOTH of their families, because both the bride and the groom have some challenges of one sort or the other.

They will be living in a little cottage next to the groom's parent's house.

But first? A one month long honeymoon with family.

After the wedding, we decided to grab an early dinner. Jim and I hadn't eaten lunch, so we were pretty hungry. It was during our meal that we realized we would not have time to make it home before we had to head to a surprise birthday party for another friend of ours.

Oopsie!

So we headed to the birthday party, which was in ANOTHER town. It was really fun, and she was so surprised.

I thought about our day. How different it was...how different these two events were.

And yet, they were kind of the same.

The bride and groom...and the birthday girl...completely unrelated and unknown to each other...were all shown so much love. Family and friends came together to support the young ones just starting their lives together, and family and friends came to celebrate one who has been a part of their lives for 60 years.

Such a sweet day.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15

Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Gift of a Day: Keeping Rhodie at Millie's World

I gave my daughter a gift today.

I gave her the gift of a day.

I keep Rhodie on the days she works. I watch him when she has a hair appointment, a doctor's appointment, or if she and Aaron have something to do...like attend a company party, or a wedding, or dinner with their friends.

On the days she doesn't work, they spend a lot of time at our house. Either they will come over here, or I will go over there. We sit around and talk and love on the baby...and basically do little else.

But, earlier in the week, I told her I was giving her a day...a day like a Mother's Day Out day. I told her she could have 5 or 6 hours to do whatever she wanted to do. She could clean or read or decorate or nap or shop or paint her toenails...I didn't care. And I didn't need to know.

I went over to their house, and picked Rhodie up at 9. I had told her to have him ready. I didn't want to get started talking, and take up the time I was giving her. I brought him to our house.

My grandma name is "Millie," and so the kids call our house, "Millie's World." In fact, they sing a little song about it. Do you remember the little jingle from Sesame Street, "la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, Elmo's World?" They just change the name "Elmo" to "Millie."

She told me he was tired, so he took a nap pretty soon after we got home. It was Jim's Friday to work, but when I texted him to say I had the baby...he responded with, "leaving now."

And when I told him he could pick up Chick-fil-a on his way home, he said, "OR...we could take the baby to Chick-fil-a..." which is something we have not done.

So that is what we did. We packed him up like we used to pack up all of our kids...diaper bag, bottle just in case, blanket, hat, coat, car-seat...and off we went. We were like two giddy kids. Joshua was pretty excited, too. He kept saying, "I didn't know we were GOING to Chick...I just thought we were bringing it home."

When we got there, I got Rhodie out of his car-seat. The hat I'd found in his backpack was a black Mickey Mouse "boggin'." It looked precious on him. Jim said, "I'll carry him," and took him right out of my arms. I got the table wipes out of the bag,, because I know that's important to Holly...I grabbed Joshua's hand, and my purse...and headed through the parking lot.

I know why Jim wanted to hold the baby. He's pretty much the cutest baby ever. And as Jim proudly carried him on his arm, EVERYONE stopped to smile or comment on how cute he was.

We got our food, and got seated and settled for our lunch. Rhodie was ENTHRALLED with Chick-fil-a (good boy...gotta start 'em young!). We couldn't even get him to look at us, because he was looking at ALL THE STUFF and ALL THE PEOPLE. I was watching his eyes...they were darting to the windows to the tables to the children to the things hanging from the ceiling. SO MUCH TO SEE.

While we were eating, Holly texted me to see if we were okay,..if she had left us enough milk...if we needed anything. I didn't tell her we weren't home. She said she was "getting out," if we needed her to bring anything by the house. I told her we were fine. And then Jim and I joked that we might see her car in the drive-thru, because SHE likes Chick-fil-a, too!

We saw a young family from our church. The man is on our staff. They sat in the booth behind us. Jim turned around and told him, "Holly and Aaron have no idea where their baby is," which totally made it sound like we had kidnapped Rhodes in the dead of night or something. The man raised his eyebrows, and said, "oh...really?"

We had to do some back-tracking there for a minute...and explain that we did, indeed, have permission to be watching him. That we just didn't tell them we were at Chick-fil-a.

Rhodie was perfect on our little outing. We sat beside the indoor play area, and talked about how, next year, he would be in there, crawling around in all of the dirt and slobber and GERMS of the other kids.

YUCK. I'm not ready for that, because I remember those days...and I remember having to climb up into those tunnel things to retrieve one of my children when they either were refusing to come down because it was time to go home...or they got up there and got too scared to come down. And let me tell you...I'm not as spry as I was as a young mom. I'm pretty sure no one wants to see my old rear-end crawling around in the play yard at Chick-fil-a.

But I'll do it if I have to!

I think Rhodie had a fun day at Millie's World. Even tho I keep him one or two days a week, this day was different. For one thing, it was a LOT shorter...and for another thing, Jim got to be here! I can't wait for the warmer weather, when we can spend more time outside! :)

"Grandchildren are like a crown to older people..." Proverbs 17:6

Friday, March 3, 2017

Clark:Health Scare #2

Well, this has been a better week. My husband is back in the country, and my kids, at least at this very moment, are all doing well.

Our youngest son, Clark, had been dealing with some sort of a health issue for nearly 3 weeks. The school nurse sent him to the doctor, after he nearly passed out from the pain of her just feeling around on his abdomen...and the doctor scheduled him for a c/t scan.

I wish I could say I was more advanced in my spiritual walk, but with Clark being sick, and he's NEVER sick...it was hard not to go, in our minds, to the hard places we've already been.

The place called: cancer.

So there were a couple of days where we had that sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs...where we didn't sleep much at night...where it was hard to concentrate during the day.

A couple of days where the only thing I could do was pray, and ask, "please, Lord, not again." 

And, if it IS that, "please, Lord...give us strength."

The c/t showed that all organs were good. PRAISE THE LORD. There were no "masses" or anything like that. After talking to Clark, they figured he must've just strained a muscle in his abdomen. He works out, and lifts weights...so, by a process of elimination, that's what they thought.

They prescribed ADVIL twice a day for the pain. He was in such severe pain. Hurt to sit. Hurt to lie down. Could not sleep.

He said the ADVIL took the edge off the first day, but the pain continued to get worse and worse over the next few days. His friends were so worried about him, they almost took him to the ER one night...but he toughed it out. He would tell me, "I'm sure it will just take time,"  "Don't make it into a big thing," "Don't come down here...I'll be fine."

But last Friday, at 3 in the morning, he called me. And this time he said, "I'm in the ER...please come...NOW."

Jim was out of the country...Joshua was asleep in the next room...I was supposed to keep my baby grandson in just a few hours...and I'm 1 hour, 45 minutes away. What should I do?

I tried texting Holly, but she did not respond. She had been telling me that Rhodie was sleeping AWFUL. I kept texting and texting. I thought, "of ALL nights for him to sleep..."

So I waited...and I prayed...and I texted a few people to pray. Several of my friends responded immediately, and I was so thankful. But my friend, Sherri, she lives in the town where Clark goes to college...she said, "do you want us to run up to the hospital?" I said, "no," about 5 times, before I finally said, "nooooyessss please."

I texted Clark and said, "Mrs. Sherri is coming up there." He said, "Oh, don't let her come up here!" I said, "Oh...she's comin'."

Holly finally texted me back...a few minutes later, she called. She said, "I've called in to work. Bring Joshua over here, and then you go to Clark."

So that is exactly what I did. I took Joshua over to her house, and then I stopped to get gas. I was kicking myself, because I never...like, never EVER let my gas get below half-tank. I just have a "thing" about it. Well, I had 1/4 of a tank, because I was thinking that Jim would probably need it when he got back to town...and we could go together and use up all of our Kroger points.

It's all about using those Kroger gas points.

I was thankful there was a pay-at-the-pump gas station open just up the road. And then I was on my way.

I prayed all the way there, and it's a 1 hour 45 minute drive. K-LOVE was blessing my socks off, with music chosen by God to minister to me while I drove.

Long-story-short: All of Clark's labs were normal, and then did some sort of test to check his stomach enzymes or acid level or something. I'm not sure. But they think Clark has an ulcer, and they are treating him with medication for that. My friend, Sherri, and her husband, Billy, went to the hospital, at 4 in the morning, and they stayed with Clark until I could get there. And they talked to the doctor, and they were there when he was running tests on Clark.

And for all of Clark's belly-achin' about her not coming, he said, "when I saw them walk in, I felt like I could relax...like I knew I was going to be okay."

Yes, I bawled my eyes out when he told me that.

Because he knew that when they walked in...he wasn't alone anymore.

Clark also said, "I'm guessing you activated your 'Mommy Train.'" I said, "what is a Mommy Train?" He said, "the prayer chain of all your little mommy friends..."

Yes, yes I did that.

He said people were texting him when he was in the ER, and he didn't know how they knew.  He was so surprised that I texted my friends, and so many of them responded...when it was technically still the middle of the night. He said, "don't y'all ever sleep?" I said, "Sleep is for the weak. We are strong. We are mommies."

My friend, Sherri...her daughter works in the NICU with Holly. She called Holly and asked if she could share about Clark at work. Holly said, "yes...there's no such thing as too much prayer." Later, she told Holly that they all prayed for Clark in their morning "huddle" before their shift.

Yes, I bawled my eyes out when I heard that, because God? HE DID ALL OF THIS.

And y'all? How about those friends and family members of mine? They prayed, they called, they texted, THEY SHOWED UP.

Who can YOU pray for? Who can YOU call or text? Who can YOU show up for?

I'm preaching to myself more than anything. I get busy...I get distracted...I think someone else will do it...I don't follow-through with those promptings by the Holy Spirit.

But I am committing to do better.

"O LORD, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down, and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139: 1-6

Thursday, March 2, 2017

On Taking Care of Each Other

My husband spent all last week on the eastern coast of Central America.

Sounds nice, right?

Except for the fact that he was on a mission trip...a CONSTRUCTION mission trip. In the course of a week, Jim and his team, finished a conference center on the missionary compound. They worked from sunrise to past sunset...every day. Such a hard trip...but such a rewarding trip.

And, ya know, we call the team members to the front of the church, and we pray over them before they go. Their names are added to prayer lists in every small group or Bible Study group.

But then what?

I think we sometimes forget that, for every person who goes on a mission trip, there are wives, husbands, children, parents, co-workers, and friends...who are left at home.

And, I can only speak for myself and our experiences, but let me just say this: spiritual warfare is alive and well, my friends.

Jim doesn't travel a lot anymore...but he used to. When our kids were little, he traveled more with his job. Every time he was gone, something around the house went wrong: the pilot light went out, a severe storm knocked out the power, one or more kid got the stomach virus, the car battery died, we had a flat tire, the water line to the ice-maker sprung a leak, and we woke up to water all over the kitchen floor, the garage door got stuck half-way and wouldn't go up or down (this has happened multiple times).

This ain't my first rodeo, so I was prepared for stuff like this.

What I was NOT prepared for was for our youngest child to be sick. What I was NOT prepared for was the call in the middle of the night that he was in the ER in a town 1 1/2 hours away. What I was NOT prepared for was for him to say, "MOM, please come...NOW."

Nope.

Nope, nope.

But people prayed us through that situation, and it all turned out okay. I will write about it later. So stressful to handle on my own. So very thankful.

Jim made it home safely, and I am so very thankful for that.

But it was a hard week. And do you know how many people FROM MY CHURCH called or texted to check on me and Joshua while Jim was gone?

NONE.

ZERO.

Before everyone gets their feathers all ruffled over the lack of concern from CHURCH MEMBERS...or if they think I'm bad-mouthing my church, or 'church' in general (I'm not...love my church), think about the people in your own churches...the ones who have gone on missions trips, and left their families at home; the single moms (or dads) who live day in and day out with little or no interaction from others; the friends or neighbors who travel for business, and leave family members at home.

Do you call them? Do you offer to babysit or go to the store or take a meal or mow a lawn or take an elderly parent to the doctor...for them, when they are gone?

I don't.

Or, I don't always.

Our little group of wives, we checked on each other this week. The main thing we all agreed on was that life was lonely without our husbands. Even those who would say their husbands don't really help much around the house, or with the kids...the fact that they COULDN'T be counted on, knowing that they had the entire responsibility of EVERYTHING on them...for a week? It was hard.

There were car issues, health issues, and one wife was hospitalized with something serious.

And my son was in the ER at 3 a.m.

Check on your people...and on the ones who don't HAVE any people.

We need each other.

"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Spread the Word to End the Word 2017

The "r" word.

"Most people don't think of this word as hate speech, but that's exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and friends." (taken from the r-word.org website)

Here's how I feel about it:

The English language is full of words that bring healing, comfort, and encouragement.

I've never understood why people continue to use a word that brings so much hurt and degradation to some of the sweetest, most innocent people on earth...and their families.

People have told me, "we just can't say ANYTHING anymore, without someone getting their feelings hurt."

And to that I say, "Yes, you CAN!"

Here are some "r" words that better describe my son:

*RESOLUTE
*REPUTABLE
*RUGGED
*RESPONSIBLE
*RESILIENT
*REMARKABLE

Isn't like so much better when we treat each other with RESPECT?

"And the King will answer them, 'I assure you; Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.'" Matthew 25:40