It's Gonna Get Messy

We have a local barbeque franchise whose tag line is: "It's gonna get messy" and the unspoken completion of that statement, is 'but it is so worth it.' I sometimes think that is the way it is on my journey of attempting to live my life as a fully devoted follower of Christ.  It can get messy.

In the second chapter of Mark we read the story of the four young men who were determined to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus.  When they could not get through to him, they undid the thatched roof and lowered him down to where Jesus was teaching.  I've studied this passage in Sunday school and heard many sermons about it, but they all focused on the determination of the friends and the mercy of Jesus to heal.  I read this again the other day and was struck by the thought of the roof.

I love to have company come over and I try to do my best to clean the house and make everything look presentable and comfortable for my guests.   My husband says he likes to have company because that's the only time I cook--which is not true!  I say I like to have his family come to visit so I can get some of the things on the 'honey do' list completed.  The kids usually moan when I mention guests because it means their rooms need to pass inspection.

 So I was thinking about the woman of this house.  Knowing that Jesus was coming over, I am sure she went to a lot of trouble to prepare for him.  Had I been in her place I am sure I would have been hysterical when those friends started tearing apart my roof!  Can you imagine the mess that would make, and she didn't even have a Dyson!  I am sure I would have done everything in my power to get those men to stop, and of course had I been successful I would have missed not only a  huge blessing, but I would have missed being an eye witness to a miracle.

I wonder how many blessings or miracles I have missed in my lifetime because I didn't want things to get messy.  I am comfortable with order and predictability.  I like to plan ahead and set short range and long range goals.  I need to remember that messes can be cleaned, and miracles sometimes come unexpectedly.  It sometimes is gonna get messy, but if God is in it, it will be so worth it!

Reflections

Sometimes I am so filled with gratitude I can hardly hold it in.  Today is one of those days.  The sun is shinning on a gorgeous, crisp, and clear Georgia day.  My precious little boy is in the back yard doing one of his favorite things--playing with his dog.  As I sit on the sofa in my bedroom, in a house this is far nicer than I ever thought I would own, I am grateful  Grateful for a fenced yard, grateful for a dog is lets her master tie her to a wagon and lead her all over the yard trying to convince her she really is a sled dog.  Grateful for a child who innocently plays in his imaginary world with seemingly not a care in the world.  Grateful for a husband who supports his family well and loves us despite all of our inadequacies.

And then there is our daughter.  I can hardly believe that she will soon be 17 years old and preparing for her senior year in high school.  She recently had pictures taken by a local photographer who made her some cards to distribute to her friends in school in hopes of acquiring more business.  One of the pictures was used in a magazine to advertise for the studio--she is stunning.  Of course I think so because she is mine, but several people who have seen the ad have called to tell me so; it is validated.  The pictures show her outward beauty; I am grateful to also know her inward beauty.  She is stunning because she has a contagious smile that can light up a room, and a heart as big as all outdoors.  But her love for others and her willingness to give of herself is what really makes her special.  Today I was so proud of her as I watched her go up on stage to pray for a sixth grade girl from the small group she co-leads at church who was baptized at our Family Birthday Celebration.  She is an amazing young woman that daughter of mine, and I am so grateful to be her mom.

Then there is our church.  I know there are many wonderful churches and I am not trying to suggest that ours is superior to any of them, but I am so grateful to worship with such an amazing group of people.   Today I was especially grateful for my 5th grade team.  We have two greeters who not only efficiently check in over 65 regular attenders each week, remembering most of them by name, but who also greet an average of 10 visitors each Sunday and make them feel welcome and safe.  I was also grateful for small group leaders who met with their students, engaged them in conversation, and opened the Bible and shared truth from their hearts.  It was an awesome day and I am so grateful to be a little part of that ministry.  Most of all today I was grateful for a small group leader who travelled many miles, at personal expense, to be there for the boy from his small group was baptized today--what commitment; I am awed at such dedication.

I guess most of all I am grateful for a loving, forgiving, and merciful Heavenly Father who loves me and showers me with incredible blessings.  I am grateful for His precious Word that gives meaning to my life and reminds me of all I have for which to be grateful.

I know there will be many days when I am frustrated by the many things in a day that make my life difficult, fail to meet my expectations, and generally tick me off.  But for right now, I am just feeling grateful--it's a great feeling!

Random Thoughts

We had a great Valentine's Day. Edgar and I don't go out on many dates--rarely leave the kids, or should I say Ryan, with anyone. But this year we did, and we had a great time. Amanda, my personal assistant (I love that) came over to sit with Ryan because Rachel was working and we went to dinner at a great little place in Vickory Creek area, Atkins Park. We enjoyed some good food and good to talk without correcting a child's dinner manners. After dinner we went to a play at the Cumming Playhouse, Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers. It is an old play, but very funny and the actors did a great job. It was fun to go out together and know that the kids were in good hands

Friday morning Amanda and I visited the Montessori Academy at Sharon Springs. Taffy and I had seen the school last fall when we did our little market research of area schools and childcare centers, but did not have the opportunity to observe classes in session. Amanda is an education major and personally believe that any college student who plans to teach should at least be exposed to good Montessori. It was a great observation and she was certainly impressed.

Last night we enjoyed good food and great company when one of the family's from church came over for dinner. We ate and laughed and all had fun, even the kids. I am so grateful to have a home where we can entertain comfortably. It doesn't have to be fancy but we really enjoy having people over.

Today Edgar was determined to clean out the garage--we got through several more boxes. Maybe by the time spring arrives and the weather warms up we will be able to fit the van in the garage!! He is happy to put boxes on shelvers where I would prefer to have them unpacked and put away. In this great big house we still can't find room for all our stuff, I know, I know--we have too much stuff, but it is good stuff!!

Tonight Ryan's cousins and our good friends are coming over and we will grill out and he will fix our two PC's. Yes, we do love our apple computers, but the kids still have PCs and yes they are always breaking. Tomorrow we will go to our favorite church, Brown's Bridge Community Church where we will worship and serve. We also have some friends coming for the first time, so I am excited.

Hope you all have a great weekend and an awesome time of worship tomorrow where ever you may be! We are so blessed to be able to worship our Living God freely. May we not ever take this for granted.

This is good news--right??

For those of you who know me personally or have followed this blog for a while, know that we have a very special son named Ryan. He is 8 years old and just terrific. His brain works a little differently and after homeschooling all last year, I realized he wasn't ready for 2nd grade, so we enrolled him in the local public school. God graciously placed him in a wonderful class with a teacher who won teacher of the year this year! She has done an incredible job,and Ryan has made some progress-- Ryan adores her and she loves him, too.

Even with all of this, it has become apparent that Ryan is struggling with academics. We requested testing and yesterday got the results of all the tests. We had an IEP meeting (Individual Education Plan) with his teacher, the principal, vice principal, school psychologist, speech therapist, special ed teacher, and Edgar and I. They had administered many tests, some of which we had requested. We met for an hour, they gave us a lot of information and recommendations. Very little of what they told us was new information, more just confirmation of what we had suspected for a long time. Part of me wanted to scream, "This is what I tried to tell all of you last August", (we had an IEP then, but I was told he had to be in school 12 weeks before they could do further testing). As I have thought more about it I realize that having Ryan have the opportunity to be with his First Grade teacher has been a huge blessing and he would have missed that experience had he been tested the first week of school.

Ryan also seems to have ADD, not hyperactivity, but Attention Deficit Disorder--this was suggested by the clinicians we saw last summer in Chapel Hill. He struggles with staying on task and becomes easily distracted. We requested that he be screened for Asperger's Syndrome, which they did. This is a disorder that falls in the spectrum of Autism and affects one mostly in the social and language areas. Only a medical Dr. can diagnosis this, but the results of the screening indicated a high probability in all areas.

The bottom line is that he qualified for Special Ed across the board. Beginning this Monday he will go to a special class for 2 hours each morning and 2 hours each afternoon with 4 other children. He needs one on one help with reading, writing, math, working independently, and social language assistance. He will still be with his regular class first thing in the morning, and for his extra curricular subjects-- PE, Spanish, Music, and Art. He will also have lunch and recess with his regular class, and then end the day with them. He still needs to have an Occupation Therapist do some screenings so he can receive help with writing.

I know in my heart this will be of great benefit to Ryan, and that this is good news. This validates what I had been suspecting, and he now qualifies for extra services, but I also know that he struggles with change and new environments. So we ask your prayers for a couple of specific things:

1. That the transition will be smooth and Ryan will quickly bond with his new teacher
2. That the children in his new class will be about the same level as Ryan behaviorally, academically, and mentally--he imitates peer behavior so we are hopeful for positive role models
3. That we will make the right decisions regarding possible medication for him
4. That all of this will prove to be effective and through it all Ryan will improve academically andmaintain a good self image.

Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. We are taking things one day at a time and claiming God's promise, "I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future" We know God has a wonderful future for Ryan and we are so thankful He has entrusted him to our care while He prepares Ryan for whatever that future will be.