I started this blog post awhile back (April I think), but didn't have the right words, I still don't to be honest, but still wanted to share. It's a bit of rambling so hang with me.
Today I went from just one son with Autism to two. Two boys, not very apart in age, but worlds apart in the timing of their diagnosis and worlds apart on where they lie on the ASD scale. I think I'm still shock a bit, not over the diagonals per-say, but the timing. The feeling of guilt runs deep, that one son, the oldest, who was just more severe, needed more time and attention, clouded me to the second who, while just as far behind, however didn't have some of the more classic signs, but still had more going on than what met the eye. Behind, just behind, that's where we've have lived for the last 12 years, he's hanging in there, but with some difficulty. My boys lived very similar childhoods, because John was behind, it was assumed that's why James was behind, because his model was behind. They both had speech and OT, they both were in school starting at 3 years of age, both always on an IEP, John just with a diagnosis and James with out. So I know in my heart, and even through the reassurance of those that tested James, an earlier diagnosis most likely would not have changed anything. I did all I could for him with out even the diagnosis of Autism. Just having my heart hold to that truth is a little more difficult.
John and James are two of the most different kids in the world, how could they both fit on this scale? Well I guess that question is actually the answer. This Autism Spectrum is so vast, covering such a difference of people. I've always heard it said if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism, each one so different. Yet as I have two living side by side, it's hard to wrap my brain around. But here we are, two incredible guys, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and one mom trying to understand even just a little of it.
As James has gotten older, we've realized he is having some deep struggles, socially, academically, also with anxiety and worry, etc. It prompted a talk with our pediatrician, who though it wise for us to first fill out the preliminary autism paper work. So we did, turned it in, and because of it's score we were sent to children's hospital for official testing. After a bit on the waiting list (about a year) and actually not much though about it, we got our call back for out appointment which was last week. It was weird, I knew the questions, I've been through the drill, but as a mother of a itty bitty one (John was 5 when he got his official diagnosis) and a mother of a almost teen, is so surreal. It almost feels like two moms, two kids, two different situations, but it's not. It's still me, the one who has for the most of my adult life, understood phases/words like Autism, weighted blankets, ABA, OT, Speech, Cognitive development, IEP, the list goes on and on. Here with another son, in such a different state of life, was draining and continues to be hard to wrap my brain and heart around. During this testing I had to think all the way back to when James was a baby and toddler, his first time in school, all of the programs he was in, and all of his recent actions, things that were concerning but as I talked about them and they got a full picture of who our James is, really already had me thinking they were coming back with Autism Diagnosis, even though up to that point, the thought had not even entered my mind, crazy. So much knowledge on a subject, yet so lost.
So today, today I have have 6 amazing little men to care for, 1 with some academic special needs and 2 with all around special needs. I don't know why, and I don't even begin to have all the answers. Every road the Lord has led me on in my life, causes me to question him with the Whys? I don't get it, I never have, but I guess I don't have to. That's why he's my Lord, my God, my Father, my constant. From all I went through as a little girl, to teenage struggles, marriage broken, new life, new children, new everything, God has been good to me, that I know, even if I don't know anything else!!
And I'm so thankful, and as difficult/bad/crazy/frighting, etc my life has been, I've had more joy, and a knowledge and love of my Lord that I would not other wise had if my life would have been "normal".
Be encouraged with what ever the Lord has given you, what ever path your life has taken, with what ever daily struggles God leads you through. Jeremiah 29:11, still blesses me every day, "For I know the plans I have for you".......
I just got this great shirt based on this verse that says "He knows the plans so I don't have too". Amen to that!!!
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Thy will be done
Ok everyone, have you heard this new song?! Thy will be done by Hillary Scott, AMAZING!! Listen to it!
This song speaks to me so much! As I mentioned in my earlier post it was a hard year in the things the Lord has brought us through in regards to homeschooling and only having 3 of our guys home. This song is exactly what I've been living, it's awesome. And as I've been listening to this song over and over again, I realized something. That bigger miracle we were waiting on, that bigger thing God was doing with the judges ruling, was ME. God has changed me incredibly this last year, he's uprooted things in my heart that needed torn out, he's changed my thinking towards people. He's given me a heart of true love for those in my life that I didn't think I could truly love. I'm selfish, self defensive, mama bear, warrior, and he's told me to let that go, lay it down, just to let him be those things for me, and finally after all these years I'm letting him and it's more of a blessing than I could have imagined. It's changed not only me but also my marriage, my kids, my ministry, God is bearing seeds in those that I now love in his love. He's taught me to let go and let him! That I can gladly sing Thy will be done no matter what! Homeschooling, public school, mother of 6, mother of none, wife of one awesome man, or not. That he is my everything, he can give and take away and I will still raise my hands in praise to him. I never thought I would be that person, I have the flesh of a crazy person, I have doubt beyond belief, I feel like I'm breaking each and everyday, but in those times, I've still held on to my Lord, a true miracle, because on my own, I know I would throw in the towel and walked away, but only in his will, only through his grace am I able to stand with joy and worship him no matter what.
Be encouraged, sing this out, not matter what you have going on in your life, HIS WILL BE DONE! He sees you, he hears you and he will work it out for good!
This song speaks to me so much! As I mentioned in my earlier post it was a hard year in the things the Lord has brought us through in regards to homeschooling and only having 3 of our guys home. This song is exactly what I've been living, it's awesome. And as I've been listening to this song over and over again, I realized something. That bigger miracle we were waiting on, that bigger thing God was doing with the judges ruling, was ME. God has changed me incredibly this last year, he's uprooted things in my heart that needed torn out, he's changed my thinking towards people. He's given me a heart of true love for those in my life that I didn't think I could truly love. I'm selfish, self defensive, mama bear, warrior, and he's told me to let that go, lay it down, just to let him be those things for me, and finally after all these years I'm letting him and it's more of a blessing than I could have imagined. It's changed not only me but also my marriage, my kids, my ministry, God is bearing seeds in those that I now love in his love. He's taught me to let go and let him! That I can gladly sing Thy will be done no matter what! Homeschooling, public school, mother of 6, mother of none, wife of one awesome man, or not. That he is my everything, he can give and take away and I will still raise my hands in praise to him. I never thought I would be that person, I have the flesh of a crazy person, I have doubt beyond belief, I feel like I'm breaking each and everyday, but in those times, I've still held on to my Lord, a true miracle, because on my own, I know I would throw in the towel and walked away, but only in his will, only through his grace am I able to stand with joy and worship him no matter what.
Be encouraged, sing this out, not matter what you have going on in your life, HIS WILL BE DONE! He sees you, he hears you and he will work it out for good!
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Disneyworld 2016 or bust!
Hello everyone! A few people have asked what and how I got our Disney World trip planned/booked, so I figured one blog post would do it.
Let me also say this is for Disney World NOT Land, which are very different trips. I can post on Disneyland later as we have taken the boys there twice. But really in my option it's way more worth it to go to Disney World for not as much money and you can get tons more bang for your buck! Like staying on property (way more options at all budget levels, than Disney Land, Free dinning and other promotions, More to do for almost the same cost, etc.
First step, PLAN! We've been planning since last September and really even before that. I like to pay cash for all of our trips, so budget and saving has been a big part for years. Since there are 10 of us going this time, we really didn't have all the funds, so my wonderful mother in law and father in law are putting in some money as well. I will be totally transparent and share our whole budget with you for this trip, so you can see for a family of 10 for a 10 night/6 day park hopper with water parks and more trip, how much it costs.
Side note, Shawn and I have been to Disney World with just the two of us, twice, so we know a lot of the places to eat, ride lines at this time of year, cost for two, on property vs. off property. Not that we know everything, but since we've been twice it gives us a good idea how it will work with all the kids too.
Ok I guess the basics first, best time of year to go. We always go in September, it's less busy, is cheaper and they have great incentives like free dinning. Yes this way you do have to take the kids out of school, but that means everyone's in school and most people won't pull their kids for a trip like this. This I think is a huge time and money saver. Plus it's still plenty warm to do the water parks, but not so horribly hot at the same time.
Second, always look for the incentives, biggest one free dinning. You will find much info on this online, reasons to do it and reasons to avoid. My simplest suggestion, if you are a large party, with large/growing kids, or two adults only wanting to splurge on your trip, then get the free dinning promotion. We didn't get any discounts on our hotel or tickets, but were able to add this, knowing how our boys eat and wanting to really spoil them with the great food/treats at Disney World this was a no brainier for us. I did all the math, a room discount and then us paying for food, would not have worked in our favor, forgoing the room discount and getting 2 meals, 1 snack, and a refillable mug for each person, each day, we knew that was much more worth our while. My only concern and something I've had to let go of, is that there most likely will be food we throw away, as Disney's potions can be pretty big and with a few picky eaters, we may waste a little. But even with that concern it was way more in our budget than paying out of pocket for all of the food.
Other incentives are the room discount you can get, and/or staying off property, also discounted tickets. Do your math for your family, your eating habits and the benefits you want to figure what discount is best for you.
Read others info, I follow two sites pretty closely when planning our trips, well ok really I read their sites multiple times a day, plus I check out every book at the library and read it cover to cover. I'm a major planner and I want to know as much as I can! This can be bad, don't over plan, but be prepared.
Tom Bricker has the most fantastic site called disneytouristblog.com.
I have to say I LOVE this guy and all that he posts, follow him if nothing else, he has such great info!!!
Also https://touringplans.com/
Ok our trip:
We plan to fly out end of Aug., come home Sep. 11 night trip
We are doing a 7 day park hopper with water park and more option added for each person (this means that we get 7 days in the 4 parks able to move from park to park in the same day, plus we get 7 fun passes that can be used at their two water parks, mini golf, sports center, and arcade in Disney Springs). It was less to add this bonus than it would be to pay for only one day at the water park, so again more bang for your buck!! We did build some rest time in our trip, because Shawn loves to have a no schedule day.
We are staying on property at a moderate resort (Disney Caribbean Beach Resort) I excited for this, Disney World has some different tiers for on property (value, moderate and deluxe), I've read reviews on each. Value is the cheapest, we stayed away from this mostly because I feel like it's the super 8 option and reviews say it's a bit loud because that's where all of your families stay. We too are a family, but we have such great boys and 4 adults who don't want to hear screaming kids all day everyday for our vacation, so we picked moderate. Also this resort offered 5 people per room, so that's perfect for our 10 people vacation only 2 rooms, which saves a bunch of money.
I lave a lot to say on this topic, so bare with me. Shawn and I have stayed off property and on property and will now hands down always stay on property, the benefits out weight the bit of the price difference in our opinion. I will lay out the pros and cons or options here for you.
On our first trip about 4 years ago we stayed off property, got a great deal at costco travel and didn't spend too much money. It was nice because again it's a cheaper option, plus we were able to stay in a super nice hotel, away from disney hustle and bustle. They had shuttles that took us to the park which was nice, we didn't need a car. We did have to pay for an airport taxi to get us to our hotel which was $120 round trip, not great in my option, plus we were on their schedule on when they picked us up and took us back.
The second time, last year, we decided to stay on property, and frankly we just fell in love! Pros: You drop your luggage off at the departing airport and don't see it again until it's in your room waiting for you, awesome! So as soon as you arrive in FL, you head to Disney's transportation center and they load you up on a bus to take you to your resort. Once there you are greeted by name (which I just loved) and shown to your room and they answer any questions and welcome you home. I felt rich and famous, it was pretty cool. :) Then you have your magic band loaded with everything you need, so you don't really have to carry anything with you to the parks ever, nice since it's so hot, we do take a fanny pack but that's it. Then their shuttle schedule runs so regularly you barely have to wait to get anywhere. It can at times be a bit tricky to figure out when you are trying to get to other resorts, but other than that it's awesome. Then when you leave, you give your luggage to the front desk and don't see it again until you arrive back home at baggage claim. When it's time to leave you just load up on the bus and head back to the airport. We loved this for just Shawn and I, but with 6 boys this will be a dream to not lug our stuff everywhere!
You also get extra park hours by staying on property, it's an hour here or there, but I like that I can get in a few rides before the official opening.
I can do a whole separate post on our trip last year later, the cost, resort, etc. so I'm not going to go much into detail on that.
Ok I guess that's all the general basics, I can answer any questions you have if I didn't touch on it above. Below I will post our specific trip details.
Budget:
(I always over budget, so you will see that here if you do the math, ie. flight actual cost $2000, budget $1500). Went over a bit here because I couldn't get the super cheap rate I was hoping for.
Flights $1500 (9 trip southwest hopefully at $73 each person, each way, my father in law will not be flying with us, as he's a pilot and go from work straight to us). Southwest has the best prices and no cost for luggage which I love. We do have a voucher that we hope will bring the price down on these, but didn't calculate that in yet to give me a buffer in case our flights are more.
Hotel/Tickets: Caribbean Beach Resort, 7 day park hopper and more ticket
Room 1: Mom, Dad, 3 boys 4632.19
Room 2: Grandma, Grandpa, 3 boys 4632.19
Let me also so we are doing all adult prices, no kid prices, because of the ages of our boys when we go. So if you have younger kids, this cost would be less.
Food is included: with the free dinning promotion, we get the reg. disney dinning plan which is: 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, and 1 snack per person, per day, and one refillable mug per person. Since we won't get three meals a day, I am packing oatmeal, poptarts, granola bars, a case of water, throw away supplies like bowls and spoons and apples with peanut butter to give us plenty of food with out paying crazy prices for those things at disneyworld. Yes it adds weight to our luggage, but since we are flying southwest we can do 2 bags each for free, so that offsets the weight problem. I spent about $50 on the items I bought here that I'm bringing.
Memory Maker $149 (this is their photo taking, purchasing option). So basically anytime you ride a ride and it takes your picture or anyone of their photo people take your picture, you get it. You don't have to pay for each pic, you get everything to share with whom ever for this price. Since my in laws are going with us and also want copies of all the pictures, plus ride pictures are always so fun, we decided to add this to our trip.
Gifts/Souvenirs $1000, we will never spend this much, but I like to have again a buffer for anything. The boys each receive $25 for a souvenir from us, and Gabe and his wife Melissa gave them each $25 Disney gift card for Christmas (best gift ever, we were so blessed/surprised by this) so they have $50 total for anything they want to buy. I also will be taking a $100 in cash from this expense to pay for hotel maid tips, and other tips as needed.
Tipping for food and any other misc. food times needed/wanted $1500, tipping is not included in free dining so you have to be ready to pay this expense that you might not have thought of, plus if we want an extra snack or special treat this will cover that. We do plan on eating the kitchen sink ice cream treat, so that will come from this budget.
Total cost: $13913.38 not bad for 10 people, 12 day vacation. About $1391 per person or $116 per person per day. Plus if you get the disney visa card you can earn statement credit and also bonus money on your purchases so that can off set the expense just a bit.
Another savings tip, is to bring tons of meds with you. Our first year I did not do this and had to pay $5 for two advil and I was so upset! So now I bring any and all meds that I can think of for any problem we might have so I don't have to pay my vacation money for something like that.
I do have our daily schedule planned out and reservations for the restaurants we knew we wanted to hit, plus what food credits we will use as each meal, if you want that info as well, just let me know.
Happy Planning and Vacationing, I know we are so excited and can't wait to have this huge memory with the boys!
Just a little more than 20 days till we leave!
Let me also say this is for Disney World NOT Land, which are very different trips. I can post on Disneyland later as we have taken the boys there twice. But really in my option it's way more worth it to go to Disney World for not as much money and you can get tons more bang for your buck! Like staying on property (way more options at all budget levels, than Disney Land, Free dinning and other promotions, More to do for almost the same cost, etc.
First step, PLAN! We've been planning since last September and really even before that. I like to pay cash for all of our trips, so budget and saving has been a big part for years. Since there are 10 of us going this time, we really didn't have all the funds, so my wonderful mother in law and father in law are putting in some money as well. I will be totally transparent and share our whole budget with you for this trip, so you can see for a family of 10 for a 10 night/6 day park hopper with water parks and more trip, how much it costs.
Side note, Shawn and I have been to Disney World with just the two of us, twice, so we know a lot of the places to eat, ride lines at this time of year, cost for two, on property vs. off property. Not that we know everything, but since we've been twice it gives us a good idea how it will work with all the kids too.
Ok I guess the basics first, best time of year to go. We always go in September, it's less busy, is cheaper and they have great incentives like free dinning. Yes this way you do have to take the kids out of school, but that means everyone's in school and most people won't pull their kids for a trip like this. This I think is a huge time and money saver. Plus it's still plenty warm to do the water parks, but not so horribly hot at the same time.
Second, always look for the incentives, biggest one free dinning. You will find much info on this online, reasons to do it and reasons to avoid. My simplest suggestion, if you are a large party, with large/growing kids, or two adults only wanting to splurge on your trip, then get the free dinning promotion. We didn't get any discounts on our hotel or tickets, but were able to add this, knowing how our boys eat and wanting to really spoil them with the great food/treats at Disney World this was a no brainier for us. I did all the math, a room discount and then us paying for food, would not have worked in our favor, forgoing the room discount and getting 2 meals, 1 snack, and a refillable mug for each person, each day, we knew that was much more worth our while. My only concern and something I've had to let go of, is that there most likely will be food we throw away, as Disney's potions can be pretty big and with a few picky eaters, we may waste a little. But even with that concern it was way more in our budget than paying out of pocket for all of the food.
Other incentives are the room discount you can get, and/or staying off property, also discounted tickets. Do your math for your family, your eating habits and the benefits you want to figure what discount is best for you.
Read others info, I follow two sites pretty closely when planning our trips, well ok really I read their sites multiple times a day, plus I check out every book at the library and read it cover to cover. I'm a major planner and I want to know as much as I can! This can be bad, don't over plan, but be prepared.
Tom Bricker has the most fantastic site called disneytouristblog.com.
I have to say I LOVE this guy and all that he posts, follow him if nothing else, he has such great info!!!
Also https://touringplans.com/
Ok our trip:
We plan to fly out end of Aug., come home Sep. 11 night trip
We are doing a 7 day park hopper with water park and more option added for each person (this means that we get 7 days in the 4 parks able to move from park to park in the same day, plus we get 7 fun passes that can be used at their two water parks, mini golf, sports center, and arcade in Disney Springs). It was less to add this bonus than it would be to pay for only one day at the water park, so again more bang for your buck!! We did build some rest time in our trip, because Shawn loves to have a no schedule day.
We are staying on property at a moderate resort (Disney Caribbean Beach Resort) I excited for this, Disney World has some different tiers for on property (value, moderate and deluxe), I've read reviews on each. Value is the cheapest, we stayed away from this mostly because I feel like it's the super 8 option and reviews say it's a bit loud because that's where all of your families stay. We too are a family, but we have such great boys and 4 adults who don't want to hear screaming kids all day everyday for our vacation, so we picked moderate. Also this resort offered 5 people per room, so that's perfect for our 10 people vacation only 2 rooms, which saves a bunch of money.
I lave a lot to say on this topic, so bare with me. Shawn and I have stayed off property and on property and will now hands down always stay on property, the benefits out weight the bit of the price difference in our opinion. I will lay out the pros and cons or options here for you.
On our first trip about 4 years ago we stayed off property, got a great deal at costco travel and didn't spend too much money. It was nice because again it's a cheaper option, plus we were able to stay in a super nice hotel, away from disney hustle and bustle. They had shuttles that took us to the park which was nice, we didn't need a car. We did have to pay for an airport taxi to get us to our hotel which was $120 round trip, not great in my option, plus we were on their schedule on when they picked us up and took us back.
The second time, last year, we decided to stay on property, and frankly we just fell in love! Pros: You drop your luggage off at the departing airport and don't see it again until it's in your room waiting for you, awesome! So as soon as you arrive in FL, you head to Disney's transportation center and they load you up on a bus to take you to your resort. Once there you are greeted by name (which I just loved) and shown to your room and they answer any questions and welcome you home. I felt rich and famous, it was pretty cool. :) Then you have your magic band loaded with everything you need, so you don't really have to carry anything with you to the parks ever, nice since it's so hot, we do take a fanny pack but that's it. Then their shuttle schedule runs so regularly you barely have to wait to get anywhere. It can at times be a bit tricky to figure out when you are trying to get to other resorts, but other than that it's awesome. Then when you leave, you give your luggage to the front desk and don't see it again until you arrive back home at baggage claim. When it's time to leave you just load up on the bus and head back to the airport. We loved this for just Shawn and I, but with 6 boys this will be a dream to not lug our stuff everywhere!
You also get extra park hours by staying on property, it's an hour here or there, but I like that I can get in a few rides before the official opening.
I can do a whole separate post on our trip last year later, the cost, resort, etc. so I'm not going to go much into detail on that.
Ok I guess that's all the general basics, I can answer any questions you have if I didn't touch on it above. Below I will post our specific trip details.
Budget:
(I always over budget, so you will see that here if you do the math, ie. flight actual cost $2000, budget $1500). Went over a bit here because I couldn't get the super cheap rate I was hoping for.
Flights $1500 (9 trip southwest hopefully at $73 each person, each way, my father in law will not be flying with us, as he's a pilot and go from work straight to us). Southwest has the best prices and no cost for luggage which I love. We do have a voucher that we hope will bring the price down on these, but didn't calculate that in yet to give me a buffer in case our flights are more.
Hotel/Tickets: Caribbean Beach Resort, 7 day park hopper and more ticket
Room 1: Mom, Dad, 3 boys 4632.19
Room 2: Grandma, Grandpa, 3 boys 4632.19
Let me also so we are doing all adult prices, no kid prices, because of the ages of our boys when we go. So if you have younger kids, this cost would be less.
Food is included: with the free dinning promotion, we get the reg. disney dinning plan which is: 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, and 1 snack per person, per day, and one refillable mug per person. Since we won't get three meals a day, I am packing oatmeal, poptarts, granola bars, a case of water, throw away supplies like bowls and spoons and apples with peanut butter to give us plenty of food with out paying crazy prices for those things at disneyworld. Yes it adds weight to our luggage, but since we are flying southwest we can do 2 bags each for free, so that offsets the weight problem. I spent about $50 on the items I bought here that I'm bringing.
Memory Maker $149 (this is their photo taking, purchasing option). So basically anytime you ride a ride and it takes your picture or anyone of their photo people take your picture, you get it. You don't have to pay for each pic, you get everything to share with whom ever for this price. Since my in laws are going with us and also want copies of all the pictures, plus ride pictures are always so fun, we decided to add this to our trip.
Gifts/Souvenirs $1000, we will never spend this much, but I like to have again a buffer for anything. The boys each receive $25 for a souvenir from us, and Gabe and his wife Melissa gave them each $25 Disney gift card for Christmas (best gift ever, we were so blessed/surprised by this) so they have $50 total for anything they want to buy. I also will be taking a $100 in cash from this expense to pay for hotel maid tips, and other tips as needed.
Tipping for food and any other misc. food times needed/wanted $1500, tipping is not included in free dining so you have to be ready to pay this expense that you might not have thought of, plus if we want an extra snack or special treat this will cover that. We do plan on eating the kitchen sink ice cream treat, so that will come from this budget.
Total cost: $13913.38 not bad for 10 people, 12 day vacation. About $1391 per person or $116 per person per day. Plus if you get the disney visa card you can earn statement credit and also bonus money on your purchases so that can off set the expense just a bit.
Another savings tip, is to bring tons of meds with you. Our first year I did not do this and had to pay $5 for two advil and I was so upset! So now I bring any and all meds that I can think of for any problem we might have so I don't have to pay my vacation money for something like that.
I do have our daily schedule planned out and reservations for the restaurants we knew we wanted to hit, plus what food credits we will use as each meal, if you want that info as well, just let me know.
Happy Planning and Vacationing, I know we are so excited and can't wait to have this huge memory with the boys!
Just a little more than 20 days till we leave!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Let Go!!
New wonderful testament to God in my life! It all started with an anchor and two little words "Let Go". In this year, well in my whole life actually, I've been held steady. Not because of myself, not because of others, but only because of my Lord. He has been my anchor from the day I was born until this very moment, all the way until I meet him face to face, and even so then! Even when I didn't know and didn't even feel him holding me steady he has and was. Such a blessing to me to know and something I wanted to show the rest of the world. My Lord holds me, keeps me grounded, safe, secure, unmoving, unchanging, he is my anchor!
Now the words, since this summer I was really hurting with some decisions and roads the Lord was leading us down, not understanding so much, like why the judge would rule against us homeschooling when we had overwhelming evidence among other things. Shawn says a miracle, a miracle like the hardening of Pharaohs heart in Egypt, so God could do something bigger and better. Well I'm still waiting and praying on that bigger and better, but I also learned in all of this, and more to LET GO. Let God, he's got me, he's proven that time and time again. I don't need to hold on to my own life, my husband, my children, anyone or anything. So I've learned in so many things over the past months to just let go. Let Go and be a peacemaker with those in my life that are not always peaceful, let go when situations don't go the way I thought, let go when everything seems to be falling apart, let go when my children are going crazy and I have no idea what to do or how to raise them or even begin to question why I'm a mother at all. Just LET GO! That's my mantra I will be singing every moment of everyday as the Lord leads us on, where ever he will have us go. God's got it, rest in that! Let Go and Let God be your Anchor!
Flower side note, I wanted a full sleeve and didn't know quite what to do, but then I ran across these wonderful non-traditional hippie flowers and fell in love and knew in my hippie heart they were perfect. My artist rocked it and ran with my very brief description and picture. I could not be happier with how the whole thing turned out!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
New times in the Reinsel House! Keep those prayers coming!!
Thank you all so much for your prayers for our family over these past few weeks, please keep them coming! However the time has come to share what you have been praying for. Some of you know, as we have gone to you for advice, and encouragement, thank you for that, it is has blessed us so much! For those of you who have just prayed for us daily without knowing how to direct it, thank you for your faithfulness to just pray, that has blessed us beyond measure!
The boys are in their last week in the public school system. We have made the decision with much prayer, tears (mine of course, as the crazy over thinking mom you all know I am) :), research, and the leading of the Spirit to home school all 6 of our boys. This is not an easy decision or one that Shawn and I have made lightly, trust me. So much has led to this new transition of our family, both good and bad. We are trusting our Lord, and walk in faith in what He calls us to do, even though it seems hard, even impossible, or comes with many questions/concerns, but also with some great encouragement to teach our boys and get the best of them everyday. Our God is a great equipper and we are ready for this new adventure He has called us to. We are all very excited, nervous too, but ready. Please continue to pray as it is a huge transition for all of us. Pray specifically for Shawn and I in our teaching of the boys, our balance of family, school, church, and just life. Pray for the boys as they say goodbye to the only schooling they have known, their teachers and friends that they won't get to see daily. They do get to stay in all of their clubs and the older boys their band class so that is such a huge blessing to all of us! Pray that we all fall into this new routine and that above all we will continue to direct our boys to Jesus in every way and even more so now in their school needs.
And pray for our school systems. We have encountered things we never have before this year in school. Both good and some terribly bad. Our schools, our teachers, our districts, our students, all need so much prayer and love. If your kids are in public school, surround them, ask questions, come along side your teachers, encourage them, go to the district ask for change in things that need changed. Be involved parents do not sit on the sidelines! We at the middle school level have fought, had meetings, been well extended this year and calling for justice in the school system and asking them to step up where they need to and change things that need fixed, all with prayer and love, sadly to no avail and at a point where we are not willing to sacrifice our children's safety and education to keep them in their current school.
We have loved our elementary school, and still do. Those teachers, administrators and staff have poured so much into our family over the last 6 years, it blesses us and makes it so hard to leave! We are so thankful to all of you that have poured into us and will continue to do so even though we leave the school walls. They are not just our boys teachers, or our boys school, but truly our friends!
Thank you again for your prayers, we really do appreciate them and Lord knows we need them each and every day. Prayer is so powerful, don't ever forget that! Our God is so great and we are ready to step into this new journey with Him as our leader as we charge forward in raising and teaching those most precious gifts He has given us, our boys!
The boys are in their last week in the public school system. We have made the decision with much prayer, tears (mine of course, as the crazy over thinking mom you all know I am) :), research, and the leading of the Spirit to home school all 6 of our boys. This is not an easy decision or one that Shawn and I have made lightly, trust me. So much has led to this new transition of our family, both good and bad. We are trusting our Lord, and walk in faith in what He calls us to do, even though it seems hard, even impossible, or comes with many questions/concerns, but also with some great encouragement to teach our boys and get the best of them everyday. Our God is a great equipper and we are ready for this new adventure He has called us to. We are all very excited, nervous too, but ready. Please continue to pray as it is a huge transition for all of us. Pray specifically for Shawn and I in our teaching of the boys, our balance of family, school, church, and just life. Pray for the boys as they say goodbye to the only schooling they have known, their teachers and friends that they won't get to see daily. They do get to stay in all of their clubs and the older boys their band class so that is such a huge blessing to all of us! Pray that we all fall into this new routine and that above all we will continue to direct our boys to Jesus in every way and even more so now in their school needs.
And pray for our school systems. We have encountered things we never have before this year in school. Both good and some terribly bad. Our schools, our teachers, our districts, our students, all need so much prayer and love. If your kids are in public school, surround them, ask questions, come along side your teachers, encourage them, go to the district ask for change in things that need changed. Be involved parents do not sit on the sidelines! We at the middle school level have fought, had meetings, been well extended this year and calling for justice in the school system and asking them to step up where they need to and change things that need fixed, all with prayer and love, sadly to no avail and at a point where we are not willing to sacrifice our children's safety and education to keep them in their current school.
We have loved our elementary school, and still do. Those teachers, administrators and staff have poured so much into our family over the last 6 years, it blesses us and makes it so hard to leave! We are so thankful to all of you that have poured into us and will continue to do so even though we leave the school walls. They are not just our boys teachers, or our boys school, but truly our friends!
Thank you again for your prayers, we really do appreciate them and Lord knows we need them each and every day. Prayer is so powerful, don't ever forget that! Our God is so great and we are ready to step into this new journey with Him as our leader as we charge forward in raising and teaching those most precious gifts He has given us, our boys!
Monday, June 2, 2014
Special Day
Brothers
Pretty special day around here! John and Ximon graduated 5th grade today! I'm still in a little bit of shock that we have two boys, who are getting so big (Ahh 6th graders). Our first born boys, so far they have come and accomplished so much! It's just so awesome, amazing, unbelievable and about 1000 other things that are swimming around in my mind tonight. We couldn't be more proud of these two! They are true joys to our heart, great big brothers, lovers of Jesus and just plain awesome all around! It was a full day of celebration and saying goodbye, with lots of tears, hugs, and of course high fives! :) I am so proud and honored to be the mom of these two, still wondering sometimes why God chose me, but none the less, blessed to have this role in their lives! Of course with this new milestone, come remembrance of where we have been, what we have come from. Struggle, sadness, fear, and yet here we are, our God is good, great actually. And I am floored each moment I think of these two and what they have overcome in their shorts lives. We are excited for the years to come, the new adventures, and friends, and struggles that will come our way. Praying and knowing that God will lead us in new ways, and grow us more than he already has. Cherishing each and every moment with all of our ever growing dudes!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Life Lessons
There are three major things we need to do in our walk, three things that I fail at everyday.
The first being trust, trusting our Lord for who he is, what he has done and what he will do. I have a major trust problem, I always have honestly. I don't trust anyone, not even myself. People are not trustworthy, even the good ones. It's been proven over and over again in my life, that I can't trust. So when it comes to the Lord, my creator, my everything, I can't even trust him. And that's sad, and shouldn't' be that way at all. My Jesus has NEVER let me down, it's not in his blood, he can't forsakes us, nor does he want to. Even in the hardest times of my life, my Lord has proven faithful, I just have a hard time accepting and believing it. Something that I am praying for strength in, something for the Lord to come in and change in my heart. That ugly nastiness anxious part of who I am. To be made new in him, to see his faithfulness and rest in it, with every new challenge,with every new scary thing, every unsure thing that pops into my life. God is faithful no matter what!!!!!
Second, once we know that we can trust Jesus above all things, we can relax a little, and enjoy where he has us, where he's taking us, etc. This is majorly big for me right now. As I am missing the joy of starting our own church, and my boys growing up (2 are going into middle school), because I am so scared to just trust Jesus and know that he has this!! I don't want to miss the joys of where he has me or where he is taking me. It's big stuff, exciting stuff, scary stuff,yes but not with the trust of the Lord rooted deep in my heart. I want to enjoy life and not just let is pass me by because I am consumed with worry, and trying to figure things out myself. I want to relish in the awesome place the Lord has Shawn and I right now. We started a church, us, unbelievable, Shawn doing what he has always been called to do, with people that we love and want to minister to. I am a pastors wife, again crazy, but a place that I want to shine Jesus in so brightly that people are changed. A stretching place for our whole family, but a place, Jesus himself chose us specifically for, how humbling, how grateful, how awesome it is to be right where our Lord placed us. Crazy steps of faith that wouldn't' even be possible if Jesus hadn't orchestrated them and wasn't leading us. Times in our life I don't want to miss, because they are big, they are exciting and our Jesus is going to be proven over and over again in this adventure, we need to just enjoy the ride and see all that God is going to do.
Which leads us right in to our third item, Taking it to the next level, taking those God size steps of faith, going deeper, being stretched, doing and being all that God has for us, without being hung up on stress, worry, and not trusting. Missing so many blessings, because our mind is so focused somewhere else, consumed with things Jesus commands us to hand over to him. But instead saying Yes Jesus, what ever you have for me, I will go, I will do, I will bring glory to your name. Awesome, to be placed in places you never thought possible, to shine Jesus in ways you never could have imagined and to be blessed and see God's faithfulness day in and day out, as all the work is his, and you can't claim anything in yourself. But that's it's all God, because we are nothing but mere vessels in his hands! Like that song oceans, I linked it for you. It blesses me so much, I think it's a perfect song for this time in our life. We are ready to trust, take it in, and take it to the next level with our Lord in this coming year, and every year to come. I pray you will to! I pray you are blessed today and always, and that you get ready for what ever the Lord has for you!!! We are buckled in and ready for the ride!
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