A new Year

A brand new start. Happy New Year.! A new beginning.

To quote a line from Anne Of Green Gables, “Tomorrow is a new day without any mistakes in it.” When we begin a new year,  we feel like we are getting a fresh start. We set goals, make promises to ourselves, and plan.

Then it is Jan. 2^nd and here we are in the same old routine. Actually that routine is a good thing. We have security in routines. Children thrive on routines, especially children with special needs, who have trouble with “changes”. No matter what day of the year it is, if something isn’t working, by all means change it.Make a new routine. Just be consistent.

As, years go by things and people change, and with that comes the need to change our routines. Children grow and become more independent. They need us less. (that is a good thing , right?) Maybe not less, but in different ways.

We listen more and try to encourage them in their good decisions, and help them learn from the bad ones. It is hard watching our older children make mistakes and get hurt. But through their mistakes they learn to lean on God.

Though we too are only human, and have to admit when we are wrong or when we let our anger or frustration lead us to unkind words or actions.We need to repent and ask forgiveness. Children (and others) learn more from what we do than what we say. This is a big responsibility, and one we cannot do with out God.

Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Do our children see us lean on God?

As we begin a new year, or day, or week, or month, or job, trust God to direct your path. My and my husbands life verses are: 

  Prov. 3:5-7 ,

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

Without God’s help and guidance, we can never be what we need to be to work with children and others. It is only by seeing others through Christs love that we can encourage, teach, and help those we come in contact with.

The next time frustration fills your heart, remember how patient Christ is with us! It is never to late to start over. Have you had a new start with Jesus? Is He your Lord and Savior? He will save all who call upon Him.

John 14:6 (KJV)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Remember “Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it.” Have a great day.

The UNWANTED Gift

The UNWANTED gift

We in modern day America are very materialistic. The older I get the more I appreciate being with people I love.Yes, we all like to give and receive gifts but they are only temporary joys. Some gifts are not what we expected or wanted, but God can make them a blessing.

 As I teach my youngest who has ADHD I am reminded that he is a gift from God and I wouldn’t change him.He is a true gift and blessing to so many.

You may deal with a disability or sickness, a hard job or situation, that others see as a bad thing, but God gives more grace when the burdens grow greater. I am reposting the following from a friends facebook page, it is long but well worth the time to read it.

WHEN GOD'S GIFTS AREN'T WRAPPED AS YOU HOPED

"Life has a way of handing us unexpected and unwanted packages.

Too often, the package delivered with your name on it isn’t a present you want.

The first Christmas was wrapped in an unusual set of circumstances: Joseph and Mary having to make a difficult journey in the last trimester of her pregnancy…and then to have to give birth in a stable.

But the way Jesus chose to come reveals that the “surprises” in our lives that look so foreboding to us truly are unusual packages of God’s grace.

So what do we learn from the first Christmas about what to do when life hands us unwanted packages?
Trust God’s Providence

Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem was no accident. It was the fulfillment of a prophecy concerning where Jesus would be born.

Seven hundred years before Mary and Joseph began the difficultly-timed journey to Bethlehem, God had instructed the prophet Micah to record, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).

Life is full of unavoidable circumstances. We can expend our energy in futile efforts to change them. We can spend our time stewing in bitter resentment over them. Or we can trust God’s providence in the midst of them.

Although we may not see God’s hand of providence for years to come, we can trust that anything out of our control is filtered by the hand of our loving Father. He will not allow into our lives anything through which He cannot fulfill his promise in Romans 8:28.
Showcase God’s Grace

The presentation of Christ to this world was not the way we would have planned it. And I think we can safely say it is not the way Mary would have planned it either. (What mother wants to lay her newborn in a used feeding trough?)

But, with the enabling grace of God, Mary’s response to the unusual package of the manger magnified God’s grace, rather than opening it up for question.

Mary could have complained. She could have become angry toward God. “God, first You make me travel ninety miles when I’m great with child, and now this?! Couldn’t I at least have a comfortable room and clean surroundings in which to give birth? Why would You do this to me?”

Because Mary and Joseph received the incredible gift of Jesus—with no expectations of how He should be delivered or presented to the world—they deflected the attention from themselves to the manger.

And the manger became a showcase of grace where shepherds knelt in worship of God.
Wholly Surrender to God’s Will

Why did God choose Mary? The complete answer to that question is known only by God. But it is significant that Mary was willing—truly submitted—to receive this unusual, and in some ways heavy, gift.

Sure, there was great cost involved for Mary. But she yielded to the Lord, bore the cost, and cherished the gift.

God isn’t looking for the strong or searching for the famous. He gives His most precious gifts to those who will simply yield their wills to Him.

Our problem is that we see what looks to us like distasteful wrapping, and in our selfishness, we plead with God to take back His gifts.

Not so with Mary. She simply said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
What To Do with Your Gift

What about you? Are you staggering under the load of an unusual package—one that you never would have chosen, but have no way to release?

Are you struggling to understand the unavoidable circumstances that have come into your life?

Are you disappointed in the harsh realities of failed expectations?

Tiptoe to the Bethlehem stable. Gaze on a weary young mother, required to travel far in her last month of pregnancy—only to find a barn in which to give birth. See a crude manger. But don’t look solely at these wrappings. Peer beyond, into the manger, and see the face of God!

Yes, Christmas is a gift. And sometimes God sends His greatest gifts in the most unusual packages.

Trust His providence.

Showcase His grace.

And wholly surrender to His will.

In time, you will learn that God gives the best surprises." P. Chappel

CHRISTMAS LOVE

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. So many things are done in preparation for Christmas. We hurry and rush, get frustrated and impatient. A few days ago we were going in Walmart when I noticed a lady holding a child’s hand and walking toward the store. The girl was maybe 3 or 4. She had cute furry boots on and was stomping with each step,enjoying her own little world. I heard the lady say,”STOP Stomping”. It made me think of all the times we tell our children to stop. We so often squash their joy of life because we are in a hurry. Take time this holiday season for the really important things.When I saw this adaptation from 1^st Corinthians 13, it really spoke to my heart and new I had to share.

1st Corinthians 13--Adapted for Christmas.
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at a soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug your child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss your husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the children to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.
~ Unknown.

Merry CHRISTmas 2016

Christmas is about a baby, baby Jesus! He grew to be a man, led a sinless life, and died on the cross for me and you. Through Him we can have eternal life in heaven.

I truly believe children are a gift from the Lord. In this day of easy abortion I am reminded that they are precious in His sight. Since I was a young girl, I have always loved babies. All babies ,children and animal babies! But we will save my love for fur babies for a future time.

As I pondered the idea of writing a blog, I wondered what I could write about to encourage other’s that has not already been written. Then I knew, my life’s passions are children,adoption,homeschooling, special needs, and serving in children ministries. They are precious in His sight and mine.

My hope is to encourage anyone who is trying to make a difference in a child's life. Whether it is as a parent, teacher, adoptive parent or a church worker, friend or neighbor.

I am a christian wife and mother of four adopted children, one with some special needs. My husband and I have been happily married for 35 years. I have home schooled all my children and now am homeschooling my 2 grandchildren along with our youngest son.

We live on a family farm in rural West Virginia. As I share our journey through our adoptions, homeschooling, serving the Lord, victories and defeats, I hope you will follow along and be blessed.