The Week in Words - Friendly Fire

I've been reading the book When Bad Christians Happen to Good People by Dave Burchett. It is an interesting book that deals with a very real  problem. Even though we are Christians we are human and sometimes we hurt each other.

I'm only on page 27 but already I appreciate the fact Burchett not only addresses the fact that sometimes we do hurt each other but also that we sometimes try to use that hurt as an to excuse to run away from other Christians and from Jesus. It is our responsibility to find our for ourselves who Jesus is and what He means to us.

Here are some quotes from his book.

"If we can spend hours, days and weeks finding the right retirement investment portfolio, dabbling in hobbies, or developing our own bowling form, then we should be able to squeeze out a little time when we get up in the morning to understand Christ's claims and what they mean, regardless of our experiences with other Christians." (page 4)

"Most of us Christians have been wounded by "friendly fire" somewhere along our journey. Whether that fire is intentional or not, the scars are real." (page 4)

"This book has been written for the person who has been jurt by a judgemental or unfriendly church. . . . . This book is also intended for Christians who inflicted these wounds. Would it surprise you to learn that there is probably a significant overlap between these two audiences? (page 4)

For more of what others have been reading this week click the button below.

Also linking here.



Multitudes on Mondays - Blessings 117 - 124

A sweet little boy who says "I want to help, Mommy."

Seeing the children joyfully practice for the Christmas pageant and then enjoying the presentation. I couldn't get a good picture of the actual pageant because of lighting.

My sweet Wednesday night class at church.

These flannel Christmas trees are still fun to play with.

Happy playing kids

My music lover . . .

. . . dancing.

Happy companionable bean bag construction

  

~ Linking Here ~

 

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Gentle Knocking



credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me.  ~ Revalation 3:20

This is such a beautiful verse. There is gentleness and grace here that touches my heart.

This verse does not a carry a tone of judgement or condemnation. Instead there is the just the sweet image of Jeus, knocking at the door, ready to come in and fellowship with those who will let Him in .

What an honor to open that door and let Him in.

Monday Blog Hops

Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: The God Given Good Life

Two points stood out to me from the sermon and I've been thinking about them a lot. 

1. It's time to look beyond what God says is wrong and begin to believe in what God says is right and brings life.

There is so much that God said is good and right and beautiful. And yet in so many Christian conversations and sermons the focus is on what God said not to do. We talk about what we need to avoid and rant about how the country and the world are going wrong. And in no way should we forget that what God says is wrong, is truly wrong. But neither should we forget all that God said is right.  Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethren, whatsover things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

2. The only things that God wants to take from you are those things which rob you of life.

We sometimes get the idea that if we follow Christ we have to give up a lot of things and our lives will be miserable. But nothing could be further from the truth. God stands ready to give us  a life so much better than we can ever make on our own. There is no giving up, there is only moving up. Moving up from our miserable little existence to the life God created us for. Sounds like a good trade to me.

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Jesus the Creator, Light and Giver of Life

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

John 1:1 starts with the words "In the beginning."

As he was telling the story of Jesus coming to earth, I think it was important to John for us to realize that Jesus was not just an ordinary man. Jesus was not a newcomer on the scene, he had been here since the beginning. In fact He was the Creator (verse 3) of this world he was now coming to in human form. In John 1:4 he goes on to say "In Him was life, and the light was the light of men."

So in the first four verses of John we find out the Jesus was there in the beginning, He is the Creator, He is the giver of life and He is the light of the world.

What a beautiful gift, and yet incomprehensible gift we are given.

Wordless Wednesday - Soggy Wet Day, Happy Dry Cat

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Frugality Is Free, 3 Princes and a Princess 2, The Education of a Stay At Home Mom,

Verena Schone Welt, Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, Say “Cheese” at It’s a Blog Party, A Beautiful Mess, Live and Love Outloud, Wordy or Not So Wordy Wednesday, Baba’s Farm Life, Nanahood,



Please Pray for Manny

Please for this precious little boy and in his family. He is a special little guy who has defied all odds to get where he is. God has worked so many miracles in his little life. But he is suffering now, and in the ICU with life threatening infections.

Please read his story and pray for him and his family today. You can read his story by clicking on the picture above or here.

Flannel Christmas Trees

I've seen these flannel Christmas trees all over the place and knew I wanted to make some for the kids here to enjoy this year.

After our hectic day yesterday I knew I wanted to do something fun today and this was the project I chose. I cut two trees from green flannel.  I then cut out two stars for tree toppers and lots of colored circles for ornaments.

The kids loved decorating and redecorating the Christmas trees and I got the therapy I needed for free. I call that a win-win for all of us.

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Check Out These Christmas Treasures (Pictures Are Clickable Links to Amazon)

Bean Bags from Field Corn

So what do you do when you have lots of field corn that you gathered yourself and spent several enjoyable evenings shelling. . .

. . . . and lots and lots of green fabric that you bought with your own money?

You make bean bags (corn bags) of course.

And then practice your throwing and aiming skills by throwing a bean bag (corn bag) into an empty coffee can.

So much fun!

~ Linking Here ~

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Michael's Physical Therapy and Speech Evaluations

Today were Michael's evaluations to see if he needs physical therapy and speech therapy.

So after getting everyone up and fed this morning and then taking one child to preschool Michael and I headed across the mountain to Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center. We stopped on the way and bought a second breakfast at Hardees, which is a rare treat for us. Since our appointments were at 11:00 and 12:30 and there is no place right there to eat I thought we'd both do better with some food before we got there.

Our appointment with the physical therapist was first. Michael was not in the mood at all to cooperate with her. His answer to nearly every request was "No." No he would not stand on one foot, no he would not try to walk on the balance beam. No, no, no. He did move around enough though doing anything except what he was asked to do at the moment that the therapist was able to get most of the information she needed. One thing of concern that she showed me is ankle

clonus in both ankles. While overall he is certainly in the functional range she did feel he would benefit from some physical and occupational therapy. So after the holidays we will be going once a week for those appointments. We will also be given things to do at home. Our initial plan is to do this for eight to twelve weeks and then see what we need to do from there.

We were finished with that appointment around 11:45 and the appointment with the speech therapist was not until 12:30 so we had some time to fill. One thing I love about KCRC is the playroom they have for children to use while waiting. It is full of fun toys, lots of huge windows, and there is often music playing. Sometimes there are volunteers there to do crafts with the kids if they are interested. I meant to take more pictures of the playroom today but Michael was everywhere while we were there and I was busy keeping up with him. But I did a couple of him playing at the kitchen set.

Even though Michael enjoyed the playroom I was really glad when the speech therapist came down early and said she could go ahead with Micheal's appointment. She was really firm with Michael and the evaluation went really well. She was not mean in any way but she made it clear from the beginning that she was in charge. She also gave him little breaks to do what he wanted after he completed what she asked of him.

We were referred for speech articulation concerns but his scores there were in the average range for his age. His understanding of speech fell in the low average range and expressive speech below average for his age. We have the option of starting speech therapy (if insurance will pay for it) or she said she could give us some things to work with him on and let us do it on our own at home. We're thinking at this point we are going to work with him at home and see if we can make some progress.

Having this day completely out of routine really threw Michael for a loop and behavior was a major issue all day. I'm looking forward to a new start tomorrow with a normally scheduled day to help him get back on track. I hope we don't have to deal with this much upheaval every time we go back when weekly therapy starts.

Oven Scrambled Eggs - Revisited

While grocery shopping yesterday I came across boxed deli meat ends and odd pieces. I immediately thought of this oven scrambled egg recipe and how good it would taste with the variety of meats in it. Then I found the boxes of odd pieces of cheese, cubed. And my mouth started watering.

So tonight I made Oven Scrambled Meat, Cheese and Eggs and they were awesome!

The variety of meat and cheese made each bite a new adventure in taste.

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Raising Awareness for Children's Mental Health Needs - DECEMBER by Shadows Down



Official "DECEMBER" Music Video by Dexterdelfinproductions.com from Dexter Delfin Productions on Vimeo.

New Coupons from Coupons.com

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Follow Up Visit with Pediatrician

Yesterday was Michael's follow up visit with the pediatrician. Since Michael's last visit to him we had an evaluation at Kluge Child Rehabilitation Center and a medication change.

I feel like there are small changes in Michael's behavior that make life easier on all of us, but we have a long way to go. Of course I am watching gradual changes and sometimes they are harder for me to see than for someone who has not seen him for a month. Dr. J (as the kids call him) said he saw a big difference and was very pleased. Michael was a lot more cooperative in the office this time than the last time we were there. But when we stopped in the rest room on the way out Michael was everywhere, completely fascinated by the touchless water and paper towel dispensers, running them repeatedly and fighting me when I said it was enough, then turning off the lights in the bathroom on the way out. Then on the way home he threw open the van door. Thankfully we were stopped at a traffic light when he did that, but it scared me anyway. I guess he's going to have to sit out of reach of the door handles from now on. I found myself thinking that I wished Dr. J could see him now and wondering what he would say if he did.

But, I do have to agree that over all we are seeing some gradual changes for the better. Making the decision to go the medication route was hard for me and I pushed it off for a long time, maybe a little longer than I should have. I'm not against using medication if needed but I had to know it was definitely needed. So now we're on 18 mg. of Concerta in the morning and .10mg of Clonidine and 3mg of Melatonin at night. The night time medications are so he (and I) can get some sleep at night. Most nights are much better so far although he did have one night this week that he was awake a large part of the night.

Our next appointments are with speech and physical therapy. Those appointments are on Monday and I'm looking forward to the results of those assessments and any recomendations they can give us.



Christmas Countdown - Online Advent Calender

credit: digitalart

It's hard to believe it's already December 1. Ready or not the Christmas season is upon us. It's a fun season but also a very busy one for many of us. One of the most important parts of this season is the time we share and the memories we make with our families as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

When I saw this fun collaborative project at A Mom With a Lesson Plan this morning I knew I had to share it. A group of 24 creative bloggers is providing one activity a day from Dec. 1 through Dec 24. These activities will be geared toward spending quality time with your family during the busy month of December. It looks like a lot of fun and a great resource this Christmas season. 

This and That

Here are a few pictures of random fun things we've been doing over the last couple weeks.

The "boys" got out the Christmas lights and after inspecting them to make sure they were working properly put them up on the front porch.

CJ helped some of the younger children make turkeys. This was a craft he prepared and set up for them on his own with very little help from me.

We've continued working on the old mantel.

 

When Michael saw me cutting celery to use in Savory Poultry Dressing for dinner this he got a plastic butter knife and helped.

CJ has been working on shelling corn to feed to the birds this winter. He has a big bowl full shelled already and a couple plastic grocery bags filled with unshelled corn yet to work on. 

 It's just life as usual at Walnut Acre.