Deja Vu

We've been here before... Miss Maia has decided that she does not like to stay in bed after being tucked in at night. This has been a recent issue (and was when she first came home). I calmly escorted her back to bed five times tonight. She let me know how unhappy she was about that - lol! Guess I should just be thankful that she is able to get out of bed by herself again. Sigh...

Thankful Thursday

Many things come to mind this evening...
- First, I am thankful for blogs out there that I occasionally happen upon by "chance," that speak so personally to me. God reminds me of His ability to touch my heart in many ways.
- Recently, I blogged about a little girl named Susanna who needed a forever family. It is with great joy that I share her family has been found. They share an amazing story on their blog of coming to Susanna and her soon to be brother "Will." If you have time, I encourage you to check it out http://theroadtopeacefield.blogspot.com/2013/03/here-i-am-year-after-my-last-post.html
- Susanna's dad shared something that I needed to hear today and I am thankful for that. I think I have blogged about this before, too. Anyway, he said that God doesn't always give us what we want, but He does give us what we need. So true and how often I forget.
- It's exciting to share that we will be moving in a couple of months. We have found a small acreage about 5 miles from here that will provide space for Matthew to explore and burn off energy (which was our #1 priority), keep the kids in our current school district ( #2 priority), give Maia a bedroom on the same level as ours (#3 priority was to have a main floor bedroom for her so this is almost as good), be in a location that would not add any time to my commute or require changing churches (we LOVE our church family and these were other important criteria for our new home). So even though it is not my dream house (yes, we found that too but it wasn't in our school district), God has provided what we need and I am thankful for that! And on a cool note? We know the current owners (had no idea it was their house when we went to look at it). They are godly people and I can just feel that peace in the house.
Finally tonight, I am thankful for the promise of eternal life that comes with this Easter Sunday and pray that you find joy in this as well!

Have you ever??

Had one of those moments where God just convicts you? This morning was one of them for me.  He reminded me that I am often so busy grumbling that I forget what is most important - thanking Him in ALL things. Just because life doesn't look like I think it should doesn't give me the right to whine and complain. It gives me the opportunity to trust a Heavenly Father whose plan is perfect - and to remember that I don't need to see that whole plan. My road map is written in His word and that is what matters.

Texas memories

Finally getting around to sharing a few pics from our fun vacation in Texas. For those of you who are friends with me on FB, some of them may be duplicates.

We started out at Morgan's Wonderland -

a theme park specifically designed for those with special needs.

 

There was a time when I wasn't sure our sweet girl would ever walk again,

let alone be able to climb steps.

 

We also visited SeaWorld

 

Next stop - Wildlife Ranch, wish I had video capabilities on the blog. You could see me getting attacked by an emu who was unhappy that Mark quit feeding it and was looking for food in the car. I had a nice bruise on my wrist from it attempting to get my watch. Matthew's backpack was also prime target - lol!

 

 

Matthew's favorite stop was the Children's Museum. Here he is inside a bubble.

 

 We visited a state park in hill country and enjoyed the river.

 

During my conference, we stayed on the Riverwalk which was beautiful

 

as well as entertaining. Pretty sure this is a gentleman's club with space for lap dances. We ended up here by mistake when our restaurant hostess told us to take the elevator to the wrong floor (she was taking the stairs to meet us on the upper level of the restaurant - since Maia couldn't do the steps).

 Pretty princess ready to come home.

 

It was so nice to get away together and tough to come back to the cold weather and snow.

Thankful Thursday

It's past my bedtime and I really need to get there soon, but I don't want to neglect my Thankful Thursday post.

• First, I am thankful for our wonderful time in Texas. Vacation with Mark and the kids was a blessing. And my conference was great, too. I learned so much that will help me as I care for some of my more challenging patients.
• Mark and I are both very thankful for kind neighbors who took care of our kitties while we were gone and cleared our driveway and sidewalk from the deep snow drifts. We were able to  pull in to the garage without any difficulty which was a huge blessing arriving home at midnight on Tuesday.
• Today was my first day back at work and I am thankful for co-workers who covered for me while I was away. It will take me a little while to catch up, but things were not as crazy as I anticipated.
• Thankful to be back in my comfortable bed (most hotel beds just don't quite cut it).

I'll share vacation photos in my next post, promise!

Susanna

I was just checking the blogs I follow quickly before heading for bed (our last night in San Antonio) when I came across a post that hit me personally. Take a look at this picture.

This is Susanna.

 

 

 

 

Susanna is 6 years old, just a year older than our sweet Maia. Like our precious girl, Susanna has hydrocephaly and spina bifida. Two conditions that require urgent surgical intervention, but CAN be treated. Unlike Maia, Susanna has not received the medical care that she so desperately needs. Instead, she has lived her entire six years in a lying room in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. For those of you who don't know, a lying room is basically a big room filled with cribs that children are NOT allowed out of. They spend 24 hours/day in their cribs with no opportunity for affection, physical activity, growth, and development. These beautiful girl has no family to love her and advocate for her, no one to fight for the treatments that will bring so much benefit to her life. Look at those eyes. Do they pierce you like they do me? They could just as easily be the eyes of my beautiful daughter. My heart aches and the tears flow to think that Maia could have been the child in that crib, waiting for her forever family. I am so thankful that God called us to bring her home. Perhaps, He is calling you to bring Susanna home. Please, please consider... And visit Linny's blog here to see more pics and for contact information regarding this angel girl!

Thankful Thursday

Ok... I know, I've been awful about blogging lately. Call it writer's block or something like that. I'm hoping that it leaves soon and I can get back to sharing here more regularly. I do miss you guys! And writing here allows me to chronicle a bit of what happens in our lives. So today, I've got a few pics to share for my gratitude list.

•  We are blessed to be on vacation right now. Mark and the kids traveled with me to Texas for a conference I'm going to be attending a conference in San Antonio. We left early to have a few days here for fun.

 

• San Antonio is home to Morgan's Wonderland - a one of a kind adventure park specifically designed for those with special needs. We spent the day there yesterday. I think both kids (oops, all three - lol) enjoyed it!

 

• Thankful for the progress Maia has made. If you had told me last August that we would see our girl being this independent with mobility, I'm not sure I would have believed you. But, progress it is and we praise God for it!

• Today, we went to SeaWorld. Matthew was eager to see the dolphins and a bit bummed because he couldn't get in the water with them.

 

• Thankful for time together as a family. We needed this break from our day to day life, time to relax, laugh, work on attachment, rejuvenate.