1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #18

171.  gorgeous weather, not too hot, just enough breeze, low humidity, beautiful blue skies with just a few puffy white clouds

172.  lots of time outdoors

173.  small group Bible study over Zoom, discussing today's sermon (a summary of a sermon series on 2 Thessalonians)

174.  our current read-aloud (a 6-year-old fan's favorite!) ~ Owls in the Family

175.  a list on Goodreads of "Books similar to Owls in the Family"

176.  opportunities to help others

177.  asking others to help us (Jim's cousin who came and sprayed for ants outside our sliding glass door, while Jim was hard at work planting)

178.  picking up a packet of 6 weeks' worth of summer Sunday School lessons, crafts, and snacks (to go with videos we will watch from our church)

179.  picking up the study guide for summer Bible study

180.  this is the week of the hair appointment!!!!!

Camp

Little Guy and I are speed-reading through Ron Roy's A-Z Mysteries.  We have read through N, and reached the end of the e-books available for download from our library.  (A nearby library for which we have a reciprocal card is opening up for curbside service soon, and I have reserved O-Z!) In the meantime we are reading some of the super mysteries (those and the calendar mysteries and the capital mysteries are available to download as e-books from our libary). 

The book "Detective Camp" introduced LG to summer camp - the campground, schedule, orientation, chores, teams, activities, campfire, fun, cabins, bunkbeds, counselors, etc.  As I read page after page of life at summer camp, so many memories came flooding back!

Summer Bible camp, of course, where I spent weeks and months of my growing up years. Nature class, archery, snack shop, cabin cleanup competition, the songs around the tables in the dining room, songs at vespers, nightly Bible quiz, the rolls (aaah!), campfire, ETC!!  And then memories of being on junior staff ... sweeping floors, mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms & bath houses, trying to beat our record for washing dishes. Oh, the FUN!!!

But also:

• Sunday school camp in Japan - I only attended one summer at a seaside town. My main memory is of S'mores on the beach made with saltine crackers, and a comment that it must be so nostalgic for me as an American to get to have S'mores (a bit salty for my taste...).

• my cousins' church camp in Japan - I only attended once for a 2-3 day camp.  Ironically enough, I think it was the same year as the above camp, and at both I was "camp nurse." Thankfully no nursing was needed. Whew!

• my uncle's camp in Georgia - I worked there one summer in college, mostly as kitchen staff (baking bread for 100 diners daily), and one week as a counselor during teen week.  I remember the HOT summer, eating lunch with the kitchen staff (after everyone else) out on the porch, Saturday morning granola bar and banana breakfast on the campfire deck, and how well I slept. :)

• Horn Creek - I counseled there one week one summer in college. It was my first introduction to Colorado and to the Rockies. 

• presbytery family camp in Japan - great memories of attending several summers (once at "mushroom" hotel, once at a hotel near some famous iris gardens, once at the seminary, once closer to Mt. Fuji).  As with all the camps in Japan, this was only 2-3 days.

• InterVarsity chapter camp - I think I only went two years. The setting was my favorite North Carolina mountains with cool mornings and mist hanging below the trees.  Chapter prayer meeting, hands-on Bible study, and mingling with students from other colleges were all great, but singing praises with 100s of college students was powerful.  

I can't wait til LG can begin making his own memories of summer camp!

What memories do you have of camp? 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #17

161.  my second driveway visit of the week

162.  friends with whom it's easy to lose track of time (2-3 hours?!?!) while sitting in a driveway

163.  headed to bed exhausted

164.  It's Friday!! Even though it was a 3-day week (or maybe *because* it was), three days of Zoom classes felt so long!

165.  We got to see Jim twice today ... when we took lunch to one field, and when we gave him a ride back to the farm from another field

166.  Hours of outdoor play by two little people :)

167.  Muddy faces, muddy stomachs, muddy feet, muddy dress :)

168.  Bath Night!!

169.  learning about a recently opened scone shop in a town we sometimes go to :)

170.  another week of God's sustaining grace

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #16

The Out-of-Town Edition,

aka The Caged Birds Set Free Edition,

aka Thank the Grandparents for Keeping this House Over the Years Edition

aka Taste of Normalcy Edition

151.  bubbles & tossing a ball on the deck

152.  running in the backyard

153.  inventing a new game (Soap Attack!) in the bathtub

154.  enjoying the bag of carpool toys spread out on the living room floor

155.  beach - Enough said! :)

156.  hiking on the shorepath

157.  simple meals around the table

158.  fun at the table - read alouds, making slime, and coloring during our homemade Sunday School lesson

159.  golf for Jim

160.  mornings alone for me with my favorite tea & oatmeal bake ~ just not *in* my favorite coffee shop

Summer Shoes

During this time of staying at home, we are missing many things (and mostly people!).  One of my losses I have had to grieve is the townwide garage sales.  But ... read on! 

I can count on one hand the number of pairs of new shoes I have purchased for my children.  Garage sales (when towns could have them), online sale sites, and consignment stores serve us well.

But every summer I buy Little Guy one pair of brand new shoes - Keen waterproof sandals.  And he lives in them.  And they still have resale value.  (Or if we had two boys, they could be passed down.) He can wear them to play. He can wear them to church. He can wear them in a creek. 

And usually twice a year I can find them about half-off.  During one sale, I purchased ahead (which is dangerous), and bought Little Miss her first pair.  Size 8. Beautiful fuschia color.  And when summer came around, they were too small for her.  So, I sold them (at a loss). 

This week I have seen multiple ads for the sale.  This morning I found the size chart, got out a measuring tape, and was ready to order ... when I stopped. 

I went to the closet and pulled out the box of shoes I have purchased ahead at garage sales ... and found a pair of girls Keen sandals (in excellent condition) with the tag: "Size 10 $3." 

They fit LM perfectly! 

God provides!  (Even when there are no townwide garage sales!)

Invisible

On the last Sunday that we were with our church family back in March, Jim and I served on a panel about Parenting Special Needs Children.

We were invited to be on the panel because of Little Guy's hearing loss.  Granted, that has defined our life for the past 2.5 years of commuting to a school 65 miles away.  But, in reality, that's the easiest part of our special needs parenting.

We were grateful for the opportunity to talk about hidden special needs.  Our children do not have any diagnoses, but many children who are adopted or are/were in foster care have hidden special needs due to early trauma. 

Even if the birth mother had a stress-free pregnancy, and the adoptive parents were in the delivery room, the child still experiences trauma from the separation from the only heartbeat and voice it has known. 

We do a lot to compensate for our children's hidden special needs (including Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy).  LG's school provides amazing invisible supports, because all children with hearing loss experience early trauma (and a large proportion of them are multiply involved - meaning the hearing loss is not their only diagnosis or special need). 

But when the invisible special needs result in visible differences in abilities with peers (which usually means their behaviors or abilities do not meet the expectations that others have of a child their age), it is tough.  It happened again recently through an innocent comment on social media when a friend mentioned that one of our children could surely do x.

I (like most everyone else) usually only post the good moments on Facebook. But today I was reminded that even our good moments aren't necessarily normal for children this age. 

Before the day of the panel, the other mom and I met to compare notes.  She spoke of how having a child with special needs has opened her eyes.  One thing she realizes is that in the various Sunday School and Awana groups she has served in, looking back she can see that some of the "problem" children had invisible special needs.  She just wasn't aware, as that was before her special needs child was born. 

I hope that I will be sensitive to the people (even adults) whose paths I cross.  And instead of wondering, "Why can't they do such-and-such? Surely they can!" I will consider that perhaps they have invisible special needs due to trauma or whatever reason I'm not privy to, and that I will give them grace. 

If you or someone you know is parenting a child or children with special needs, I commend to you the Special Needs Ministry of Moms in Prayer.  

Cross-cultural daze

Daily life these days is like an adjustment to living in a foreign country.

Except there is no one who has been here a few years longer to give you tips.  And there are no friends "back home" who are not going through it also.

The early days in a foreign culture (and sometimes the later on days, too!) leave one's brain muddled.  It's like thinking through fog.  Everything is overwhelming.  Daily life tasks take two to three times longer to complete.  I have heard it said that people need an extra hour of sleep their first year in a new culture. 

Books have been written on the emotional responses that people have while experiencing culture shock.  And books have been written about reverse culture shock also.

In my experience, reverse culture shock is harder.  You're returning to all that is familiar and normal, so you expect a smooth re-entry.  But now you see everything through the lens of your other culture, and many things are jarring.  The fact that they are jarring and that your expectations do not fit with reality can be very disturbing to some. 

My theme verse during reverse culture shock has always been:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail. 
 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

It might be a good time to meditate on that and pray for our dependence on his compassions for whenever we experience our reverse culture shock when we return to "normal."

God was with me, and God helped me

Today was my hardest parenting day yet (and that's saying something).

I'm still on the verge of tears.

Tonight Little Miss chose one of the Read-Aloud Bible Stories for her bedtime book.  We read the story of Joseph.  This particular version focuses on happy & not happy.  Joseph was happy when he received the special coat. His brothers were not happy.  Then on each page when he is in Egypt, it asks, "Was Joseph happy? No, he was not happy. But God was with him. And God helped him." 

Was I happy today?  No, I was not happy. But God was with me.  And God helped me. 

Joseph's story is written. Mine is not yet fully written. So I have hope.  God will continue to be with me.  God will continue to help me. 

Just before the meltdown started this morning, I received a text: "I have been praying for you this morning after having a vivid dream about LG & LM having one of those rare-form days." 

Y'all! I don't receive texts like this.  But I did today. God was with me. And God helped me.

And tonight, Jim brought the past several days' of mail home.  I received a Mother's Day card from someone very special with the Numbers 6.24-26 blessing on front.

Y'all!  I don't receive Mother's Day cards from anyone other than Jim and the children.  But I did today.  God was with me.  And God helped me.  

And tomorrow?  God will be with me. And God will help me.

It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. ~ Deuteronomy 31.8

Online shopping

It's like we're dependent on the Sears Roebuck catalog. If you can't order it from home, you can't get it!

I have ordered fresh flowers in my Walmart order ... and birthday balloons, construction paper, watercolor sets, sidewalk chalk, and water blasters.

I have ordered running shoes over the phone and had the bag brought out to my van in the parking lot.

I have ordered corn meal and cake mixes from Bob.

I have ordered yeast from a restaurant many states away.

I continue ordering pull-ups and wipes from Sam's (free shipping).

I have ordered magic root cover up gray concealer spray (ahem!) from Amazon, in addition to: games, puzzles, books, trash bags, pasta, granola bars, Easter basket toys, peanut butter, and a night light.

Although we have bought used books (Check out Orphans Treasure Box), we have NOT bought the A-Z Mysteries (currently we're on L), thanks to e-book downloads from the library!!

What new or different things have you ordered?

Today

... started with a later morning, thanks to a bedtime bubble bath with lavender!!  Bedtime baths are not a part of our life, but may be now! Haha!

I was dishing up breakfast at 8.50. Granted, that won't work on school days when we have a 9 AM Zoom class.  But it was nice today. And it goes with one of the questions I asked in a Moms group the other day, "What are you doing to differentiate the days, especially the weekends, and especially Sunday?"  Two of Little Guy's teacher asked him last Monday, "What did you do this weekend?" Um???

Today we went for an hour ride in the van.  Car seats.  Audio book.  Snacks.  Toys.  Sunshine.  Scenery.  Check! Check! Check! Check! Check! Check!

We made a loop, south, northwest, east, and south ... picking up child-size mask clips (from a 3D printer, so LG's mask straps don't have to share his ears with his hearing aids), dropping donations off at a thrift store, picking up Mother's Day lunch at a local tea room, and home.  It was so good to get out of the house and drive around... while lunch cooked in the crockpot.

We are late to the "Rest time in your room" game, having spent the past 2.5 years on the road 11 months of the year.  Thankfully, despite a rough start (&, if I'm honest, daily verbal reminders that no one under 10 likes them), everyone is adapting.  A basement find of a CD player is even providing Little Guy with the opportunity to do his favorite thing - listen to books - and a regional library (for which we have a mutually reciprocal card) is opening up for curbside pickup next week, so we have opportunity to acquire more than our one book on CD. :)

I love that hour of quiet alone time in my bed, with my books, my writing, and my music (if I can find my earbuds). 

What has your day been like?

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #15

141.  another week of school is done :)

142.  the amazing support of Little Guy's school

143.  the transitions director working tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare for his upcoming IEP meeting

144.  six cancelled Zoom classes for LG in the next two weeks, due to his teachers needing to participate in various IEP meetings (a mini-vacation as we press on toward the June 24th end of school)

145.  Little Miss's language explosion - so cute! And it makes her seem so grown up!

146.  some sunny days

147.  some human interaction with people outside these four walls ...

148.  ... even if it is catching up with LG's speech therapist for the last few minutes of his Zoom speech therapy, with the iPad propped on the kitchen island while I throw a casserole together - Good times!

149.  some new meat in our rotation (pork chops & boneless skinless chicken breasts)

150.  lots of strawberries this week

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #14

131.  The Lord's Day

132.  online children's Sunday School & corporate worship

133.  hymns - Take My Life & Let it Be, How Sweet & Awful is the Place, and Is He Worthy?

134.  Cracker Barrel lunch!

135.  Mother's Day lunch already ordered (from a local tea room)!

136.  Daddy & Little Miss special time while going to pick up Cracker Barrel :)

137.  Mexican Train and Story Cubes for Mom and Little Guy while they were gone :)

138.  Little Miss's language explosion & the stories (true or not - ha!) which she can now tell

139.  swings, chewies, hard work, and resources to help us meet OT & PT needs

140.  the amazing success of speech teletherapy!