Brandon Heath sings a poignant song, Give Me Your Eyes. The chorus is this: Give me your eyes for just one second Give me your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me your love for humanity Give me your arms for the broken-hearted Ones that are far beyond my reach. […]
Bethany, disabilities, down syndrome, God's love, inclusion, perspective, special needs, treasure
Dazzlers is the dance group Bethany has been privileged to be dancing in for the past seven years. A beautiful picture of inclusion, Dazzlers ends each session with joining hands in a large circle, praying and after the Amen- they spell- D-A-Z-Z-L-E-R-S. We might have missed the chance to be included. I expect inclusion […]
Bethany, celebrate, dazzlers dance, disabilities, downs syndrome, encouragement, identity, inclusion, thankfulness
Hustling into the bedroom, determined to “hurry” Bethany along so we could get to school on time, I stopped abruptly. Bethie was sitting in the middle of the floor, still in her pajamas, sporting a blonde wig. “Beth- you need to get dressed for school.” “This is what I’m wearing today mom. I decided.” “Well, […]
behavior, Bethany, consequences, down syndrome, obedience, parenting, rewards, special needs
I’m Alive and Counting…. 1,734,959,517 seconds. 28,915,991 minutes. 481,933 hours. 20,080 days. 2,868 weeks. 1,434 fortnights. 738 lunar months. 647 months. 215 quarters. 55 years thank you God for the gift of life! Alive and Counting I cannot live a perfect life, but only strive to know To seek and find my Savior and by […]
I feel crummy. Moriah is stressed out in her college Biology class and I wish I could have a redo. While I still am convinced home schooling was the better path for our children, ONE of the weaknesses I had in home schooling was not giving enough written tests. In this sense, in this “assessment […]
Christian family, down syndrome, God of Grace, home school, joyful journey, retreat
Advocate- one that defends or maintains a cause or proposal Wouldn’t it be nice if things would automatically work out for the best in our lives? But since they don’t, 🙂 I’m raising the praises today for Bethany’s many advocates! Without her team of supporters, she would likely be pigeon-holed by low expectations and lose […]
advocate, Bethany, intercede, Jesus, perspective, school
I am a Special Needs Parent- that makes me a Rope Walker. ~ Sometimes, just 1 THANG- (you know the word”thang”- it’s a gargantuan THING) breaks me down, open my floodgates and I begin to cry. I am a rope walker. When I look down I’m afraid of falling. How do I begin to explain […]
Bethany, disabilities, downs syndrome, perspective, prayer, rope walker, special needs, special needs parent, transformation
The Tower of Babel via Genetic Engineering is rising again to the heavens. People blindly come and worship at the scientific DNA altar as Doctors routinely pressure (cough- offer) prenatal testing to “help” parents make a decision about the desirability of keeping their offspring. (aka children) w Down Syndrome testing was an easy beginning […]
abortion, choose life, disabilities, DNA, down syndrome, genetic engineering, God's love, living between the trees, love, perspective, prenatal testing
[Tweet “Each of you should look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. #compassion Phil. 2:4”] “Mom! I love my new classes! I have Mr. M____ for keyboarding! I’m going to learn a ton, Mom. A TON! That’s a lot.” Not pausing for a breath, Bethany continued, […]
Christian Famiily, God of Grace, joyful journey, special needs parenting
We can’t stop every “Word Bully”- but we can teach our children about the power of words and how to overcome! There will always be word bullies. Sometimes it’s because “Hurt people, hurt people.” Other times, people have evil hearts that crave hurting others. What ever the case – we need to be prepared BEFORE […]
Bethany, bullies, Jack Sparrow, life between the trees, overcome, overcomer, perspective, victorious, word bullies
“Mommy! I SAY…… I want to work at the hospital.” d “MMMhmmm. I know.” I murmured. 100 times of hearing that sentence in the last 24 hours had me scrambling to think of anything to get Bethany Re- Directed. d s Bethany gets “fixated” “stuck” “embedded”- Focused on what she wants- She keeps talking about […]
Bethany, Christian family, down syndrome, God of Grace, joyful journey, re-direction, special needs parenting
d I tailor make a lot of Bethany’s reading books because there are some very specific things I want her to know. The first book I made was a catechism of sorts titled “Who is God?” It asks questions and then gives simple answers. ie- Who is God? God is my Creator! Who is God? God […]
Bethany, Christian family, Christmas, down syndrome, God of Grace, joyful journey, special needs parenting
Snowflakes and people are a marvelous mathematical miracle. Both are designed with intricate information with infinite potential for beauty and design. [Tweet “Snowflakes and #people are #miracles of intricate #design and #beauty. #treasuresOfSnow”] Sunny, windy, blustery Lawrence, Kansas got a “kiss” of snow last week. We’ve had the warmest (45-70!) winter thus far so this cold snap […]
Christian family, God of Grace, joyful journey, special needs parenting
* * M *Miraculous * A Arrival * * G * God * * I * Incarnate* C * Celebrate * [Tweet “The #magic of #CHRISTmas is in His #presence- #gloria #InExcelsisDeo”] As C. S. Lewis so eloquently […]
Christian family, Christmas, God of Grace, joyful journey, magic, special needs parenting
In the movie, “Facing the Giants”, we’re told there are 365 scriptures urging us to “Fear Not”– that’s 1 for every day of the year! But I can’t help wishing we could wake up each morning and audibly hear His voice, saying- “FEAR NOT. I’ve got everything under control.” As I’m sinking my roots down […]
Christmas, encouragement, Fear Not, perspective, transformation