Thoughts on Others

One of my friends who is a great writer posted many months ago why she doesn't blog regularly as she used to.  This is part of what she said:

Anyway, the second and probably most influential reason I haven't been able to pick up my blogging pen much is that it's just not as easy to blog about older kids. Dare I say they don't do things so cutely anymore? That's not to say my joy in sharing life with them has in any way been diminished; in fact, I am enjoying them more now than ever. ......

. I have such a love/hate relationship with any media that falls under the social label. It's hard enough being a patient homeschool mom to four kids and a loving wife to a traveling husband without being barraged by daily reminders from photos and status updates about how incredibly awesome other moms are, what supermoms they are. Of course, they probably think the same about me; we tend to post the highlights of our lives that we think others will admire. It's more difficult to be real and thus vulnerable in front of others. I know from experience that the devil uses this to cultivate a culture of comparison with a huge dose of feeling like you can never measure up.

So it is with us all.  

Vulnerable means capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon.
It is a scary thing, but it is a necessary thing if we want to live an authentic life.   I too have blogged less for the same reasons she noted.   It is very easy to get sucked in by Fakebook, I mean Face book, :) ..  and think that Sue, Jane, and Mary are perfect moms and we all stink at motherhood.  However, we have to remember that everyone toils on this earth.  Everyone has struggles.  There are no perfect lives on this side of heaven and that's exactly why we need to continue to reach out to others.



Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

God made us to need others.  He designed us to sharpen one another, to encourage one another, to spur one another, to bless one another..... We can't do that if we aren't present.   And, we can't be present if we aren't vulnerable.


Two of my three kids are in high school, so I am in the 4 year count down into launching them into college.   No teen is easy.  It is developmentally normal for them to fight for independence and debate with authority.  As a parent who wants the best for their child, and has more life experience to know what it is best, this can be a challenge.  We have to figure out which things we can concede and which things are nonnegotiable.  You might not agree with me, I am might not agree with you. Do you know what? That is ok.  God gave us different kids with different needs.  We have to assume you love your kids more than I love your kids and I love my kids more than you love my kids. We have to assume that God knew my kids needed me as a parent adn the kind of parenting I would provide. We need to learn to trust each other and encourage one another.  That is the only way we can be "others" to each other.   Messy?  Yes.  Hard?  Yes.    

Sometimes life is like this cartoon... sometimes we feel like Jesus carries us, and sometimes we feel like Jesus is dragging us to the place we need to go but are unwilling to go. 

So, my friend, please blog.  We need each other.   .. and I will listen to my own advice and try to blog more often. ..knowing community is needed.

So what has happened since I haven't blogged lately.

John-Michael’s MRI was on November 5th. The radiologist told us that Dr. Williams would have the results the next day and we would likely receive a call the following day. After no word from him, we called on November 10th, and then again on Nov. 11th. His nurse called me late on Nov. 13th to tell me that Dr. Williams took John-Michael’s results to the hospital with him and she was certain he would call me soon. Russell called Nov. 14th and left a message and later I received a call back from the nurse saying, “Dr. Williams promises to call you over the weekend.” You can imagine how difficult it was not to think of all kinds of crazy scenarios as we waited. Finally, on Nov 17th, we heard from the surgeon. Dr. Williams said he took so long because he wanted to consult with the radiologist who took the MRI images in person and make sure they were all looking at the same area. Then, he brought another radiologist over to go over the results to get his opinion. The conclusion? The growth has gone down in size... on its own. Neurofibromas don’t do this. Chemo does nothing. Radiation does nothing. There is no medication that stops the growth and when surgical removed, they come back 95% of the time. Therefore you can imagine, Dr. Williams surprise. He never gets to report that the plexiform fibroma had reduced in size, which is one of the reasons he took so long. He didn’t want to tell us an untruth. Now, John-Michael goes back to see him in 6 months. If things still feel ok, he will have a scan in October, and we will go from there. Thanks for praying for him. We feel God’s favor.

 So what is life like?  Like this!  Our master bath at the moment....

 How do teens act in my house?  A picture's worth a 1000 words.  MVP not wanting her photo taken.... Lol..  

before

Madeline  has a birthday and is now 14.  Straight A student, loud, hyper, and talkative ( just like me).   She wanted to get her hair cut and now she looks so grown now.  

She loves riding horses.. 

after

We fostered a dog for a little while.. let's just say 4 dogs in the house is kind of crazy..

Tito, the foster dog

I spent month's preparing for an art show.  30% of the proceeds went to women and children in need. Here are some of my paintings..

I am giving one of these two paintings below (your choice) to random person who likes our nonProfit, Stable Moments on Facebook. We will randomly choose the name on Dec. 22 and ship it to you for no cost.  Spread the word.  Stable Moments is a free program that partners foster/adopted children with trauma in their past with horses to offer then a stable relationship, sometimes for the first time in the child's life. Time and time agai...n, we have seen a foster child or adopted child believe the reason for their abandonment, neglect or abuse is "it must be me." We at Stable Moments give our time and our hearts to help these children, through the therapeutic nature of horses, to realize that they ARE safe, they ARE worthy, and they ARE loved.

 

Pistol Pete is one of the Mini's a Stable Moments that is a friend to the children in the program.

I am off to serve lunch to my three kids.  Call a friend, text one, ... continue to reach out to others. We need each other.