For His Service

 I wish I knew Jesse's mom's name. She did  a great job explaining what it is like to be a parent who has a child with NF.  There is always Hope in Christ... for God says over and over that HE is slow to anger and abounding with Love.  For that, I am thankful. Many thanks to Toan from Go Inspire Go who sent John-Michael this super Hero cape! A Tribute to the Parents of NF It all began with “coffee” marks on my precious new baby’s otherwise perfect skin. When the doctor said Neurofibromatosis, we entered a new world. We didn’t ask to go to this new place. We didn’t buy plane tickets or Mapquest it. But we got there nonetheless. ...In this new world there were things we’d never heard before. There were bone abnormalities called dysplasias, bowing, pseudoarthrosis, scoliosis… There were tumors called plexiforms, neurofibromas, gliomas, astrocytomas… Learning disabilities and developmental delays opened us up to things we knew existed, but never th...

Sorry this blog has been silent.  We are moving a few towns away and moving my father and mother in law in with us.  This means decluttering, donating items, packing up items, painting walls, having showings, looking for a new house for all of us, etc.  All while parenting and teaching our three kids and living the crazy life that eveyone lives.   So, in a few weeks we will settle in here.

I have been studying through Thessalonians for the past several months.    1 Thess 1: 2-9 says...  We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly [ a ]   mentioning you in our prayers, 3  remembering before  our God and Father  your work of faith and labor of  love and  steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.   4  For we know,  brothers [ b ]  loved by God,  that he has chosen you, 5  because  our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and  in the Holy Spirit and with full  conviction. You know  what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.   6  And  you became imitators of us  and of the Lor d , for  you received the word in much affliction,  with the  joy of the Holy Spirit,   7  so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8  For not only has the word of the...

Happy New Year!  2015 is here!   I have a few resolutions for the new year, things to shoot for to make an even better 2015.  I want to  practice  an attitude of gratitude and make a conscious effort to find things to thank God for.  None of us are going to have perfect lives this side of Heaven, but we can still be to be thankful.   I am going to focus on the good and let go of the bad. I am not going to compare myself to others.  God made me ... He knit together my "in most being" ... my personality.  I have to be me. .. and not worry that I am not as neat and organized as other moms, that I am not as pretty as another, that I am not as smart as another, etc.     Comparison is a thief of joy because comparison tells us that we have been cheated.  However, we are not walking in their shoes.  We really do not have a clear picture of what their struggles are... even if we are facebook friends with them. ...

  There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. Sir Winston Churchill Churchill was right.  That's why my family wants to see more children have time  with horses of all sizes.  If you google programs for a children and horses, thousands will come up.   What makes Stable Moments  different?   Several of the board members are adoptive families and have witnessed the power of horses in the lives of our own children.  Our niche is working with foster and adoptive families. .. providing resources to all of the family members, especially the parents and the fostered or adopted children.  Services start as young as 2 ..working with Pistol Pete, a miniature horse... and Gigi, our blonde miniature horse.  Even Farm cats are great cuddlers.  Pistol Pete with John-Michael Why horses with kids?  Due to trama of being neglected or aban...

John-Michael has wanted his own dog for some time.   We already have two dogs,  Olivie; , a deaf, loud Papillon poodle mix and Dirk, an old schnauzer poodle mix who doesn't like other dogs.   I thought we had to wait until Dirk passed away from old age, but at 12 he is still active and healthy.  So, we started the puppy search.  So Enters this face: We thought instantly that he looked like WolfMan Jack.  We call him Wolfie for short..    With all of his doctor's appointments and all of his surgeries, we knew a cuddle bug was needed.  He fits the bill.   We love Wolfie. Welcome to the family.  He was born in June and has been a part of our family since early September.  He is finally potty trained.  Now if I could get him to stop chewing on shoes and on the furniture.  Ideas?

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 ...