Coasting

This morning as I awakened, my mind drifted into a peace that it hasn't felt in eleven days. My children are home! Last night they arrived with the stories of a wonderful vacation shared with their grandparents. Souvenirs were displayed, stories were told, and hugs exchanged. Great. Big. Bear. Hugs!

There is nothing quite as comforting as waking up knowing exactly where your children are- because their heads are lying only feet away from you. Whew...I can breath a little deeper today. Thank you God.

So this morning I am coasting. Happy to have my children in one place, under my own roof. Happy to have a few weeks left of summer to be lazy and carefree. Coasting...

Looking back, I realize that this has been an entire year of coasting for Sara Ashley and her learning differences. Unlike the years leading up to this one, we have had an almost pain-free normal year of school, friendships, extracurricular activities, and academics. Actually, we have had a stellar year. With her award winning essay, Character Award, interest in horseback riding, and several new friendships formed, it has been a groundbreaking year. This coasting thing is becoming very comfortable. And that makes me nervous.

When things are going so right, do you begin to wonder when they will inevitably start going wrong?

This is called fear and it has the power to altar my perspective tremendously. 

Fear is nothing new to me. It's something that I'm not proud of and I work hard every day not to let it control me. But it still rears its ugly head on more occasions than I would like to admit. Faith, courage and love are the antithesis of fear. Upon discovering that this year of coasting is creating fear in my mind, I have begun to pray for faith and courage. Prayer can provide answers. The fruit of my prayer and what God has asked me to remember is found in these verses. 

A Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for 
every event under heaven-

2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time 
to uproot what is planted. 

3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and time to throw away. 

7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together. A time to be silent and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. 

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time.  


This is our time for coasting. 

So today I try to remember to celebrate. This is a wonderful season for my daughter. She is thriving. She is growing and learning. She is happy and beautiful. She is my heart. This is her time. 

Does that mean that tomorrow won't be her time too? I have to erase that fear. Troubles will come, like the changing winds of the seasons. But, like the wind, the Holy Spirit stays with us throughout our seasons. 

Loving us.
Guiding us. 
Empowering us in our journey. 

I am determined! I will not be afraid! I will allow myself to be free to enjoy the seemingly effortless coasting of this glorious season. 

And I will thank God for the fruit.

How about you? Are you coasting these days too? Or perhaps this is a season of storms for you? Let us pray for you. Please leave your comments or Message me so that we can pray for you or celebrate with you during this part of your journey.

Jehovah Rapha~ the Lord our Healer

Life is not predictable. Especially yesterday. And I'm glad for it because I would not want another day like yesterday any time soon again.

Yesterday I learned that a precious friend has been diagnosed with cancer. This Godly woman, not yet 30 years old, with two sweet girls under the age of 6 and an adoring husband, has a fight in front of her. And she has so much to live for and so many praying for her and pulling for her!

Most of my day was spent in utter disbelief. How could this happen to such a young, strong, Christian woman? A woman who is devoting her life to God and to teaching children about His love. My mind is screaming with outrage as I try to process this information that is completely UN-processable.

And like the tides of the ocean, just as I think I've reached a place of calm, another wave knocks me down again. Each wave that lead to yesterday's storm a piece of the puzzle becoming as clear as the deep blue sea- the months of illness, the indomitable and joyful spirit that she showed as she pushed her way through planning a recent family wedding despite her pain, the striving to fulfill the duties of a new and demanding job taking her home late many evenings, the sheer exhaustion setting in...and now, this sickness, trying to take over her family, her life...I'm knocked down again. Wounds stinging with the salt and sand of each unrelenting wave.

God's love for her is a comfort to me.
Her love for Him is a comfort to me.
Her steadfast faith for His steadfast love.
He is Reliable.
A Strength in times of trouble.
The One who is always the same.
The waves may toss us, but He is and always will be the great I AM.
Jehova Rapha~ the Lord our Healer.
Truly.

Psalm 46:1-6

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.



Dear friend, we are all praying for you. I love you!

May God continue to hold you in the palm of His hand. And may you feel His overwhelming and comforting love for you through a peace only He can bring.

"Don't fear, because I am with you; don't be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand."

Isaiah 41:10

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Thanks so much for your prayers and messages yesterday! Sara Ashley woke up at 3 am with a fever of 104. We dosed her with ibuprofen and her fever seems to have broken. I'll be calling the doctor back today. This is the 15th day of school my sweet girl has missed this year and I am not happy with it. I'm going to request to have some blood work done so we can make sure there's not more going on than the obvious.

Yesterday I shared with you some of the complexities of dealing with adhd. You also got a glimpse of the pain and frustration I often feel about this disorder. It's real. I have a love/hate relationship with it.

Today, I have been digging in my archives. I came across this devotion that I wrote a few years ago. The timing was good. I needed to read this again to help me realize that it's not all bad. I thank God for His help in giving me a new perspective and I thank my friends and family for their support when I inevitably experience anger and grief.

It's all about choices. Thankfully, with Him, JOY can come in the morning.

Devotional written 2/2011. God was already preparing my heart for this journey...

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.                                                                 Romans 12:6-8

Sara Ashley 2011

My daughter, a dark haired beauty, has an incredible talent for art, an athletic build for swimming and a heart of gold. She is known for her giving spirit and her sweet nature. She also has the “gifts” of adhd and dyslexia. And ALL of these combined traits make her the wonderful person that she is.

This hasn’t always been so easy for me to profess. And admittedly, I sometimes still have trouble accepting the issues that surround her diagnoses, but, through the grace of God, I have learned to look at the bigger picture and it is mighty big!

During one particularly trying period of time, I begged God to take away her differences and make her “normal”, like most every other child we know. Couldn’t He see that her adhd made it difficult for her to remember things, difficult for her to sit still in her seat and even kept her from being able to concentrate on the daily tasks at hand? Didn’t He know that her dyslexia meant that she had to suffer through endless hours of phonics tutoring, difficulty with reading comprehension and just plain difficulty with reading in general? My mind screamed, “Isn’t this cruel and unusual punishment for a little girl??” My anger would often get the best of me and I would implore for God to “cure” her of these differences that sometimes make life difficult for her.

It was during one of these challenging times that my husband came to me with the words that I needed to hear.

“Honey, all of these things make her who she is. And she is so very special just the way she is.”  A few simple words that made such a tremendous impact on my way of thinking.

The same hyperactivity that makes it difficult for my daughter to sit still in her seat also gives her the energy to endure challenging swim meets. And the same issue that makes it difficult for her to decode words gives her the ability to look at things differently and with a unique and artistic eye.

God has made my daughter wonderfully (Psalm 139:14), His workmanship created her to do good works for Him (Ephesians 2:10). She is not defined by her differences or strengths, rather these combined traits give her the ability to lift, serve and teach others, glorify God and to just be the special person that she is.

May we each remember this about all of our special children!

v  Lord, You are the perfect Creator. Help me to remember the many gifts that you bestow upon each and every one of us. Amen

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:1-16