Today's Crafting Quickie…..Peace of Mind

One of the things that keeps me sane in our crazy life is my love of crafts and painting.  I haven't always been a crafty person.  In truth I was the anti-Martha Stewart for most of my adult life.  It wasn't until I realized that I needed to take sometime for myself that I realized I liked make things with my hands.  I am by no means a great artist, but I love the things that I do make.  My next project is going to be making paper flowers.  I came across a wonderful book, in the April edition of Martha Stewart, Living.  The book is called: The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers  A Guide to Making Unbelievably Realistic Paper Blooms

You may find it online at:  http://www.abramsbooks.com/Books/The_Exquisite_Book_of_Paper_Flowers-9781617691003.html

I hope you take the time to check this book out.  The book, as well as the flowers in it, are beautifully made.  I can't wait to get started!

TGI…..Today

Today started out as one of "those" days.  A day when everything seemed to go wrong before I 8AM.  Before I gave my life to Christ a day that started out this badly would only proceed to get worse.  Once my attitude was soured it was wise to avoid me for the rest of the day.  My oldest daughter used to asked me:  "Mamma, did you have your coffee today?"  "You seem awfully grumpy!"

Thankfully, Christ has been instrumental in changing my life.  He has placed wonderful churches, pastors, and Godly women in my path. Several years ago I was fortunate to have attended a bible study class on a book written by the Christian author, Max Lucado.  The name of the book is "Everyday Deserves a Chance".  

This book taught me that every day has the potential to be great.  No problem, issue, or embarrassment, should be given the power to ruin an entire day.  I learned that it was and is possible have a do-over any day of the week.  Almost no problem was big enough to ruin my day.

So, is it really possible to turn your day around?  My unequivocal answer is "yes"!  Psalm 118:24 tells us that "This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."  Each and every time I feel as if I am falling into a pit of  self doubt, self pitty, or down right anger I reflect on those words.  Psalm 118:24 reminds to think about the glories of God's creation.

Today was a day that I needed to think of Psalm 118:24 and the words of Max Lucado over and over again.  I had many reasons to give up on my day:  a child who felt the need to hide so long I was ready to phone the police, this incident lasted so long I left my house 30 minutes later than expected, I drove and hour to a doctor's office who refused to see me because I was late, all before 10:30AM.

After my doctor refused to see me I had a choice to make.  Be unhappy and pout the rest of the day or be happy and enjoy the sites and quiet time I had in the car.  I took the high rode and enjoyed my ride while doing the rest of errands.  I even stopped to take some pictures of God's glorious works.  This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!

Apples and Oranges

Last year, in a heated conversation, a misguided individual told me that she knew "exactly what I was going through" with my children and family life.  As I think back over that conversation I wish that individual could spend a day in my home.  As a matter of fact I think it would be beneficially for many people I have been acquainted with to spend a day in my home. Oh, if wishes could come true!

My husband and I love both of our children dearly.  Our youngest daughter Paige, who is adopted, has been a challenge since the day we welcomed her into our home.  As adoptive, foster parents we knew the child we would likely adopt would face many trials.  Our daughter's bio-parents have histories of drug and alcohol abuse, mental health diagnoses, and criminal behaviors resulting in incarceration.  Not much else could go wrong.

Paige's DNA was the perfect storm of bad genes.  Unfortunately, bad genes were not the only card this child was dealt.  Abuse and neglect further shaped the child she is today.  In the almost 4 years she has been in our home, we have waited for "her next year to get better".  As we approach her 6th birthday we are facing more problems than ever.

Since her second birthday we have traded developmental problems for serious behavioral, intellectual, and psychological  problems.  We have traded a single pediatrician and neurologist in for a developmental pediatrician, a "regular" pediatrician" and a team of psychiatric professionals.  We are a family on high alert, always vigilant so Paige does not get into something, steal something, inadvertently harm herself,  her sister or our dogs.  We can never completely relax nor take time away unless my parents drive down from CT 12 hours away.

Now, as for those people who thought they understood our lives, "y'all" got it wrong.  A child, with ADHD, born into a loving home can not be compared to my child.   My family life can not compare to anyone else I know because you do not have a child like our Paige.   I can not be the person  most people expect me to be because I have nothing left to give.  My life is devoted to raising 2 so called normal children.  One child who was fortunate enough to be born into a loving family and one child we are striving to give a normal life.

If I had my wish I would love to have my detractors spend a day in my life.  Christ has given us the strength to fight this battle for Paige.  Although we are often tired, sometimes frustrated, and more busy than I like to be, we have a good life.  It would be nice to have more understanding friends to support us on our journey, but that is not God's plan.  At the end of our life we will look back on these days with love and fondness, forgetting the stress and trials.  Until that time we will pray for peace and patience, and maybe even some understanding.

In My Own Backyard

Sometimes in life you have to own up and admit when you are wrong.  As much as I hate to admit it, I have been wrong time and time again since moving to NC.  Despite many hours of thought and planning, my ideas about how life should be have been ended up disastrous.  Fortunately for me, God and my family have shown me grace, love and, unconditional support.

Even though I am 45 years old I still believe in fairy tales.  God has blessed me with far more than I ever deserve.  I have a wonderful husband,  2 beautiful daughters, and everything I could ever want in life……and yet something was missing.  Our family had become an island, we were connected to almost  no one in the small town in which we live. 

So what does a good Christian girl do when she is looking for some company?  I started looking for a new church.  Not just any church, a big church.  A church with all the bells and whistles a church could possibly have.  It wasn't long before I found "the church".   This was going to be great, all of our needs were going to be met.  “Wow, I am good.”

Well, my enthusiasm, and that of my family was short lived.  I did not take into consideration that our new super church was almost 40 miles from our house.  That meant getting up at the crack of dawn, driving 80 miles round trip for Sunday morning service, and driving another 80 miles for evening classes.  Worse yet, while we were willing to drive to "the church" none of our new friends would return the favor.  We were still a lonely island in our small town. 

Frustrated and exhausted I had to admit I made a mistake picking our new church.  What good was a great sermon when I slept through it?  I knew I needed to make a better choice for my family.  My prejudice against small town churches had to be set aside.  Just because I life in our small town had not been all sunshine and roses didn't mean that our little town couldn’t have a good church.

God is good!  Despite my pride and prejudice we found a great church.  We also managed to find some really great people who host a church, community group 1 street over from our house.  It has taken us, mostly me, 3 years to be comfortable in our own back yard.  I have let  personal feelings cloud my judgment on the town in which we live.  Another mistake I had to own up to.

Despite my hopes, my fairy tale dreams crashed and burned not long after we moved to NC.  I may have been let down by more than one person in our new life, but God has introduced a new cast of characters.  God does not want us to be islands unto ourselves.  We are meant to be part of a community of the faithful, we are also meant to open our doors to strangers in need.  The next time I feel the need to go searching for something I know I won't go so far.  I now know that their are many hidden treasures in my own backyard.