There's Not a Lot Going On, So Why Am I So Busy?

Hi everyone, 

It dawned on me yesterday that I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, I'm in a season where it hasn't even crossed my mind. Yet when I think about everything I've been doing, it's not that much!

Looking through my phone for photos to share I realized I never showed you my classroom. We have a sensory room for kids who find our typical Sunday school classes overwhelming. The swing is the newest addition.

I snuck a picture of Beth at our coffee bar on Sunday. Every week she buys the same thing, a hot chocolate with soy milk and a fruit snack. 

I have an azalea in the backyard that has grown so much! We had a dog that used to pee on it when it was much smaller and it killed that part of the plant. I thought it was a goner. But then the dog passed away and now - it's probably been 10 years - it's gotten so big! I took this before it had bloomed completely. My watering can is there for reference.

Let's see... Diana sent this picture of Adelaide, they were going on a hike.

She's growing so tall! We get to see them again in August and I can't wait! First we have a family reunion in Iowa in... wait, next month! I was going to write 'in a few months' but no, it's next month. We're going in June.

Ummm, what else? We're having fantastic weather: blue skies and temps in the high 60's to low 70's. Speaking of which, I think I'll close this, head outside and get some Vitamin D! 

Do you have any vacations planned this year? Been on any hikes or walks? Do you have a garden?

Take care!

So Much Fun, So Little Time

There's so much to write about, but so much happening around here I haven't had time to write.

I guess the first thing is that Beth and Chuck are both feeling much better. Still a tiny bit congested but they're back to their regular routines.

My visit with my sister was so much fun. She had always wanted to go skydiving but due to a knee replacement, and minor back issues her doctor advised against it. So my niece and I surprised her with indoor skydiving! She was shocked! Our plan worked perfectly! This is when she first realized what she was going to be doing - 

She had also wanted some nice photos taken so my nieces daughter did her make up and we headed outside for a fun photo shoot.

Then we headed out so she could learn to fly!

Each person got to go twice if they wanted to and she did! I thought she'd be too nervous to go at all but she wasn't. I'm so proud of her. At 70 years old, she 'flew' by herself. You can see in the second picture the trainer isn't even holding her.

Then we took her out for a family dinner at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. She was overwhelmed. It was a great day!

We went for a walk at a local park, watched her tortoises eat lunch, (that pan is the size of a large pizza) and spent a lot of time just talking.

It was exactly what we both needed. We decided next time I need to spend a week there because it just went by so fast. We're the only two left of our original family of five. 

Back at home - I'm gearing up for Sunday school. The Leaders Handbook is finished, I've been working in the classroom, and I even had a wonderful assistant help me with the bulletin board on Wednesday.

And Diana and Adelaide arrive tomorrow night. I filled my car with gas, I'm getting the den ready for them, putting out toys, baby-proofing the house... I'm beyond excited to see them! So if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'll be  chasing a two year old around the house! And loving every minute of it!

I'll get back to visiting your blogs soon, I promise!

Afraid We'll Pick Up Right Where We Left Off

 Hi,

It's been a very quiet week around here. I looked through my phone to see what pictures I could post. I have:

Dirty linens that were delivered to us at work from the rental company. I need to take care of that on Tuesday.

Our garage roof. It's a flat roof and I have to get up there a few times a year to clean off the pine needles from our neighbors tree that clog the drain.

New instructions for how to turn the house lights on in our Sanctuary at work. They got a new light board and there's no 'house lights' button for cleaning. 

So, no real pictures to show you. But I do have these - 

Seeing the news stories about President Carter building houses after he left the White House was amazing! Made this even more special - 

And then this one -

We had a Kids Ministry Training Lunch yesterday, where we all eat together, then break off into our teams: Preschool teachers, 1st-3rd grade teachers, etc. And I met with the amazing Special Connections Leaders. Each of them have a heart for kids with special needs and are excited to get started.  I've created the leaders handbook with topics like What is a Disability; Characteristics of Disabilities, De-escalating Potential Situations along with basic information about check-in procedures, snack time... I've sent it off to our Media/Communication team and should get it back in a couple weeks. 

As we get closer to re-opening I found myself getting really nervous. I can't believe it's been a year since we closed the class! I realized that I was afraid we'll pick up right where we left off, with kids biting and kicking and throwing things... I confessed it to the Lord and poured my heart out to Him. Then I started to come across things like the one above and was reminded that He's right here with me. This is His ministry, His desire for our church and He's already got a plan. There's nothing to be afraid of, I trust Him completely.

Deuteronomy 31:8 - The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid.

John 14-27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  

 

So, we reopen on February 16. We've got a team of seven leaders so far but we're always looking for more. We'll only have class during one service to start and when we get a few more leaders, we'll be able to open the class for both services each Sunday. That's our goal and I know that'll meet a huge need. The 16th is comin' up fast!

So Thankful

 

Linking up with Rebecca Jo 

This week I'm thankful for: 

Seeing a video of my dad

A day of gorgeous sunshine!

Looking forward to a long weekend

Getting outside and working in the yard

Finding my debit card after about 4 days!

Having some quiet time down by the water

Lots of volunteers for our Sunday school class

My Thankful list being so aesthetically pleasing!

I hope you're having a great week!

From Student To Leader

In the fall of 2009 I felt led to start a Sunday school class for students with special needs. It's been slow growing; none of our pastors have kids with special needs so it's not something they even think about.

To be honest, I didn't think about it before Beth was born. The 'world of special needs' didn't really exist for me except when I saw someone at the mall or the grocery store. Then it was just a fleeting thought before I went back to my own little world.

But of course once Beth was born, it changed everything!

I find it interesting that once my girls were grown and our youngest had graduated from high school, that's when the Lord put it on my heart to begin a special needs ministry at my church. Not while I was busy raising them, but after. I hadn't even considered a special needs ministry before, even while Beth and our girls were growing up there. 

The past two weekends we've had a Volunteer Fair and a Serve Catalog that listed all the places you could volunteer at our church. We had a table set up along with all the others and the first weekend we didn't have one single person stop by the table. No one even glanced in our direction!

During the week I had the idea to get some fidgets (toys and gadgets that help calm and focus the students) and I put them on the table. LED lights, a timer that looks like a lava lamp and a fidget spinner. I turned on the LED wand and immediately people were drawn to the table! We had a constant stream of people and had more than 4 express an interest in volunteering in our class!

Beth has been in the class since day one and has always been considered one of the students in our class, even though she helps support the teachers and gets some of our supplies, etc.

 

She recently started praying with the teachers each week before class and has just changed the way she interacts with the other students. So I made the decision to make her an official leader. Badge and all! We'll give her a few more responsibilities and I'm sure she'll rise to the occasion!

Was there a time you found yourself in a leadership position? 

Were you ready for the challenge?

Mirrors; Seats, Autism, But Not in That Order

I recently bought some new things for my Sunday school classroom. I'm sure the younger kids will love this stuff, the problem I have is finding things that Middle and High School boys like to do.

I've purchased a tablet and put a few games on it, I have a CD player with headphones and some music... but nope. They just want to hang out. They all have autism so if you have any ideas of what 12-20 year old boys with autism like to do, please let me know! I've asked them but all they want to do is veg out. I've asked their parents but English isn't their first language. Help!

Our church has just about finished remodeling our Sanctuary. It's been going on for a month and we're so grateful to the men and women who have been working so hard to lay carpet, rebuild the platform and put the seats back in. 

This is the view from the balcony with the old, orange carpet. Now everything is blue/gray. Cool colors. 😎

Sharaya and Allie recently went to the Seattle Art Museum to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit. It's done with mirrors and it looks amazing! They had a great time.

I've been away from the computer for a week and I really missed you. I thought about all of you a few times and wondered what you'd been up to! I hope you've all had a great week!

"They Remind Me of Me"

Our Sunday school class was really full this passed weekend, we had 6 students and 4 teachers! We had one 5 year old and the rest were 12, 15, 20, 21 and 30.

We had a teachers meeting last night and one of the things we talked about was possibly needing to split the class into two, younger and older. There are 2 other preschool / Kindergarten aged kids plus a 5th grade boy (I'm SO thankful they all didn't show up on Sunday!) so separating the students would give us two relatively good sized groups.

One of the teachers asked what Beth thought about having such a diverse group each week. I'd never thought to ask her so this morning I did. She was eating her bowl of Cheerios and I asked her if she liked having the different age groups in our class. She said no, that she only liked having the little kids. When I asked her why she didn't want the older kids in our class, her response surprised me. She didn't hesitate in her answer, "They remind me of me."

I'll admit I was a little stunned. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind and then Chuck asked from the living room, "Beth do you like the little kids better because you feel more like a teacher with them?"

"Yea."

"And with the older kids, you feel like you're just a part of the class?"

"Yea."

At that point her bus arrives so I wasn't able to ask her any more, but I've been thinking about this all day. They remind me of me. I wonder if it's like watching yourself in a mirror as you go about your day, seeing everything you struggle with played out right before your eyes? Like when you watch yourself in a video and see all your inadequacies?

Do any of the other kids feel like this? What can we do to change it?? I've got to find a way to help them see themselves the way God sees them, amazing, caring, beautiful people with gifts and talents that He wants to use to bless others.

Dumping

I'm sorry. I know this blog has been completely neglected lately. Things have been, well, unusually busy. For us anyway. We're typically not your average busy family with therapy appointments and school plays and soccer practice and IEP meetings... but lately it seems life is just dumping on us. Not necessarily all bad just... full.

We had a change of plans this week due to our son-in-law ending up in the ER. He's back home and doing okay. Not out of the woods yet though.

Our church hosted and we volunteered at a pastors conference on Thursday and Friday where Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) spoke about the need to wake up the church. Thursday we had over 3000 people attend, a lot more than we were expecting! A good problem to have but we were exhausted by the end of the night. We had to be back very early the next morning and when you factor in the 45 minute drive each way, it didn't leave much time for sleep! A lot of pastors re-dedicated their lives to the work of Christ and many of them spent quite a while in the altar, praying and seeking the Lord. It was truly an amazing two days that changed the lives and hearts of many. God is so good.

The good news: our Sunday school class is going well.
The bad news: our Sunday school class is going well.

We often have 6-8 kids in class each week and as thankful as I am to serve these families, we've been doing it now for more than 3 years without a break. It's getting to the point where I barely pick up my feet when we leave. I'm so, so tired and basically drag myself out to the car. Even today, I'm embarrassed to admit this but I thought I smelled smoke during the first service and my thought was, 'Maybe if we hear the fire alarm, we won't have to teach Sunday school!' Yea, not good. I definitely need a break. There are two other teachers who have stepped forward to volunteer and I'M SO GRATEFUL!! They've been helping in the class for the last few weeks, getting to the know kids and the routine.

This week is just beginning and it's going to be busy as well. I'll really try to post more next week.

I know, I think I said that last week...

Somewhat Quiet

We had a somewhat quiet weekend. Got to sleep in on Saturday, eat a casual breakfast and watched a movie. Beth had choir rehearsal in the afternoon but it only lasted an hour.

This morning Chuck took Beth to church early because when the choir sings in the service, they have to be at church at 8 AM for one final rehearsal. She did so good. Singing the songs and truly worshiping the Lord. It sometimes overwhelms me when our youth lead us into the presence of the Lord. I didn't accept the Lord until I was 19 so I didn't have that solid foundation when I was growing up.

The second service we go downstairs and teach Sunday school. Our class is called Special Connections and we teach kids with special needs. We have a total of 8 kids in our class but they rarely all come on the same day. Today we had 7. One with a seizure disorder, one with Down Syndrome, one with Autism and 4 with Aspergers. We decided our classroom is too small. :) We played outside, acted out the story of the Triumphal Entry, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. We had snack, watched a movie and the kids were still bored part of the time. Hard to imagine with two playground balls thrown over the fence and one clogged toilet. It was so great to bless all those parents and allow them to attend church as a family but we sure were exhausted at the end of class!