Can you imagine me with almost $600 million dollars? What would I do? You know I would work on emptying out as many orphanages as I could...I'd be busy funding families who were adopting! One of the big factors in adopting is the finances or the lack of finances... I'd be sponsoring kids who did not have a family come for them. I'd give to so many mission projects....when you go to Bible College you end up with alot of friends who are missionaries and they all, always need money! I'd fund eye research and set up a foundation for families to come to the US for eye surgery....in general I'd do alot of the things I'm doing NOW but on a much grander scale!
Wouldn't that be fun?????? But it didn't happen:(
In honor of no one at church winning the lottery, I requested the old hymn "Mansion Over the Hillside" since that is the only mansion I'll ever have. We were all laughing about it good naturally but we should always remind ourselves of eternal things...ALL this world will one day pass away. (btw I do not know if anyone actually played the lottery....just that no one won it LOL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZ3qyYnzJ0
You can watch the song sang by the Gaither's.... Love this old song!
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Today after church Sam was quite annoyed with waiting to leave to go eat!!
he wanted Shad, Sarah and Steve to "come on"
We waited for Selah to get her breathing treatment
Finally out to the van!
Selah did ok last night. She actually slept from about 9pm till 5:30 am but then had a small storm. She recovered within a matter of minutes and was alert all morning. We took her to church and she was moving her head around and again bringing her head back up by herself some.
However this afternoon, her heart rate is up higher and not too responsive to the meds. She is border line with it. It seems like if we sit her up in bed, and bend her at the waist, it helps her relax and her heart rate will go down. She is a bit red and her temp is around 99 F. It is just so worrying. We know we are doing everything they'd do at the hospital and she has had every test the hospital would run and she is on a strong antibiotic. This just has to run its course for her to get better. I thought by today she'd be ok. Very thankful for our day nurse and our night nurse! If we didn't have nursing, she'd be in the hospital for sure. I wouldnt' be comfortable dealing with this on my own!
Please keep Selah in your prayers and Sam too, he is acting like his bad eye is bothering him again. It's been tearing up some and he has been a bit grumpy!
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FYI
Our church is in the process of starting some new ministries. One that we want to start is a ministry to Special needs kids & adults and their families.
We know many families do not feel their child with special needs is accepted in many churches. In visiting churches we have felt the same thing. God forbid if you take the child to the nursery, the workers act like they have no idea how to handle the child, even if you stay with them or they ask too many probing questions. We've often gotten strange looks in various churches or conventions....it does not make us very happy! In fact I get very sarcastic and angry at times. SO.....knowing there are other families facing the same thing, we want our church to be a place where the children and families are welcomed.
Through a process of many things and situations, Jon & I have come to a belief that it is best for children to be in church with their families and not sent off to a "children's church" We base this on research on why our young adults turn away from their faith. In the research we have read, it seems to point to young people not feeling connected to their church. And that often points to the practice of sending kids to children 's church, then youth....it disconnects the family. This practice of splitting the family up during worship is relatively new (since the 70's) and since its advent, the rate of young adults leaving the church has just skyrocketed...coincidence? We think NOT!
So to start a ministry to special needs families, it takes us some time and probably needing to be flexible with how that will work and be done. Some children and adults with special needs may need their own space. Usually my children sit through the service with no issues but today Sarah could not be quiet. She kept making her happy noises....on the top of her lungs:) I removed her to the church office so I could still listen and so could the rest of the congregation:) So we are not sure how this all will work but it is something we'd like to do. If you live in our area and are interested in either working in this type of ministry or if you have a family member who could benefit from this, please feel free to contact the church at 352 567 6208. We'd also like to start a support group for families.
I had to stop attending church when Ellie was three, after she had "gone away" into Autism. As a baby and young toddler I kept her with me in the meeting. As the Autism took hold, she started getting noisier, making a lot of involuntary sounds. Some people found it too distracting, so I tried to leave her in the nursery.
ReplyDeleteThey were uncomfortable with her Cerebral Palsy as well as her Autism. If my Grammy was there, she stayed in the nursery with Ellie and did Sunday School (she was MY Sunday School teacher a llifetime ago, too). If she wasn't there and I tried to go hear the message, Ellie would scream bloody murder and could be heard quite well in the auditorium. The regular nursery staff did not do anything with the little ones, anyway, except let them play. No lesson. They were also adamant that Ellie go into Junior Church on her fourth birthday, but there was no way she was going to be ready or capable.
After spending several weeks sitting in the nursery with Eother on Sunday mornings, doing nothing worth being there for, and seeing how uncomfortable people were with me and my child, I realized I could do a better job at home and sleep later, too. And then, of course, we learned that Sunday is the wrong day, anyway, so we celebrate the Sabbath ON the Sabbath (Friday dusk to Saturday dusk).
My kids know more about Christ and the Bible than any other 10 kids (besides yours) their age that you want to stand them against. And nobody looks at us askance, or makes snide comments.
We didn't win (not that we live in Pasco). I had some great plans (of *course* your family was at the top of my list!). I keep thinking, doesn't God know all the great things I would do to help people?? Ah well.
ReplyDeleteLots of prayers for Selah and Sam. I was wondering if she could be on some type of preventive (my son is on singulair to help him not get sick so easily to avoid problems with his asthma). We also have a lot of herbal/vitamin supplements we use as preventives--maybe that is something you could talk to her doctors/nurses about?
I think that's wonderful the ministry you are talking about. Me, I never mind "joyful noises unto the Lord" :) But I knew a family who had lots of bad experiences with their daughter who has severe CP. It makes me angry that people act that way. I loved to hear her "happy voice" when there was a hymn she loved, or a reaction to the choir, etc.
And I'm totally with you on keeping the family together. I didn't understand at all why churches did this--I only experienced it when I married and moved to a different church. How are kids supposed to learn to sit in church if you never let them? My daughter decided when she was 4 she'd had enough of that and chose to stay with us lol.
I pray you have a good week--and that the person who won is someone you know and loves you too :)
xo
LOL! So funny! The first thing I thought this morning was "I hope the Clanton's played the lottery last night!" The Lord would NEVER let me win the lottery! LOL! But it sure is fun to think of all the wonderful things you could do with all that money and all the people you could bless. Constantly praying for your family! SO happy to read about Selah's progress. Love you! Cindy
ReplyDeleteOur church has a little room at the back of the sanctuary that is soundproofed somehow. The sermon is piped in and there are rocking chairs and some books. It is sometimes used by families with children with special needs and more often by parents of very young children. We do still have a nursery and children's church but parents can have their kids wherever they want them...
ReplyDeleteThey recently started a ministry of having volunteers available to spend time with children with autism during the service in addition, as there is a little boy with Down Syndrome and autism who has outgrown the nursery (he was in there until 6 and kids without special needs get transitioned out around 3) and there may be other families who need that as well in the future... don't know if that's helpful to you.
We call ours "Gems and Jewels" at our church:). Love them all!
ReplyDeleteLOVE that name!!!!! Do you think we could use it too??? Would you ask someone for me?????? LOVe it1
DeleteNo need for permission from anyone, the Lord had already laid it on our Pastor's heart and he preached at another church that had "Gems and Jewels".... (We have several special needs, including Pastors granddaughter whose daughter is a good friend of mine.). We reach out to assisted living homes and other families as well. We are also beginning a deaf ministry:). Can't wait to see what God has in store for you, your family, and church!!
DeleteWe call ours "Gems and Jewels" at our church:). Love them all!!
ReplyDeleteTried to post before but couldn't get it to work, but it is today for some reason...lol. we had a daughter die in a drowning accident ten long years ago now when she was 2 1/2 yrs. Old. Very devastating. She had a traumatic birth and we almost lost her then and the doctors told us she woukd be in a vegetative state the rest of yer life, but boy, they didn't know my God!! She survived with only a few delays in speech and stiffness the first year, but was perfect in our eyes! A year and a half after her death, I started having panic attacks after a miscarriage just out of the blue so I completely understand:). I pray for you and your family everyday!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you the church is stepping up in this area. I have two special needs boys myself. Between the two there are diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, possible Autism Spectrum disorder and ADHD and Dyspraxia, as well as a diagnosis of Global Developmental Delays, and Hypotonia. We have been shunned by a couple of churches do to their special needs. I was told my son could not be taken to the pre-k room (3-4 yr olds) because he was not potty trained. Broke my heart that because my child had no control over his body he was not accepted. We attended an amazing church now that fully accepts my children for who they are. Even though there is a small gap in the special needs department I feel so comfortable there. We are getting a new Childrens pastor who has a child with special needs and am sure this area will start to blossom for it. She is also the pastors wife =)We continue to pray for Selah and your family daily. God Bless =)
ReplyDelete