Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

We received confirmation that our letter was received about a week ago.  Yesterday, a big yellow envelope arrived in the mail.  I can't wait to sign and return the consent form. It's really happening!  We're really doing it. The most amazing thing has happened since I posted To Test or Not to Test? and Signed, Sealed, Delivered .  People are sharing their stories with me.  Growing up with dyslexia, or having a child or relative who struggled in school and later found out they were dyslexic.  Adults who have struggled with dyslexia their entire lives, but have figured out ways to accommodate their needs so they can be successful in their fields despite difficulties.  Did you know Charles Shwab is dyslexic?  Yeah.  And many other famous people you would never have thought had a difficulty in their lives. Recently, I reconnected with a friend and was told that their school district refused to test her daughter until she was in 3rd grade...

In high school, I had a friend who was a foreign exchange student from Germany.  She told me that church in Germany was only for the very young or the very old.  Many churches were empty, abandoned.  She even told me of a church that had been turned into a climbing center for fitness enthusiasts.  I couldn't believe it!  That sounded so unreal, and that was in the 1990's.  Sadly, this is becoming the norm for many churches in our part of the country.  So many churches are dying and closing their doors. During the summer just before our move, we visited one of the churches my husband went to ask a boy.  It was a tiny country church that his dad pastored when he was young.  Counting our family, I think there were 9 people in attendance.  I had never been to a church that had so few in the pews! After the service, we visited with my husband's old friends, and the wife of the couple pulled us aside.  Tearfully, she explained how...

Sigh.  There they are again.  The dishes. Somehow, if I don't do the dishes for a few days, they pile up. Do you believe that? And if I have run out of paper plates, as I sometimes do, the dirty dishes are piled everywhere! In the sink, on the counters surrounding the sink, on the stove, all over the countertop and the kitchen table. Once we've run out of usable space in the kitchen, I know it's time. Now, I am not usually a person who procrastinates. But sometimes we are BUSY doing other things.  More enjoyable things.  Traveling, having a picnic, going to an amusement park, or enjoying the warm weather (because we know our good weather is limited). This week, my lupus kicked up and drained my battery down to almost nil.  That means I did even less in the housekeeping department than usual.  And so, this afternoon, when my energy returned, I did it.  I knuckled down and spent an hour and a half cleaning up the kitchen. Wh...

This week, I have tried to include a lesson or story about Easter every day during breakfast with my kids.  I have read Bible stories, shared detailed devotions, and personal stories of what I thought Easter was when I was a child. The goal of this time together is to share the Great News about Jesus Christ with my kids. My almost 8-year-old, who asked Jesus into her life at age 2 1/2, was drawing Easter pictures today.  I was so proud of her recall and artistic ability as she diligently depicted the events leading up to Easter on construction paper eggs.  We were making decorations to hang in her Sunday School hallway, and she is always willing to draw pictures, especially if they will be displayed.  So she drew a picture of the tomb with the stone rolled away and the women who were walking there to take care of Jesus' body on Easter morning.  Oh how precious! And then I spotted the giant purple Easter bunny just down the hill from the tomb.  Here...

This week, while reading Home Sweet Home-school by Sue Maakestad, I ran across a rather remarkable story about a woman in dire circumstances and her prayers to God for help.  I could hardly wait to share it with you! ----- "This is the story of a woman who was stranded in her home during a devastating flood. As the storm pounded the valley, the floodwaters rose higher and covered her front porch.  A man on a horse came by and offered her a ride.  She said no, she was asking God to deliver her from the storm. The waters inundated the bottom floor and she went upstairs and sat on the roof of the porch.  A man came by in a rowboat when the water was at the eaves and told her to climb in.  She gave him the same answer. She had climbed to her last perch on the roof when a guy in a helicopter offered her a lift and she turned him down.  The she cried out to God, 'Where are you, Lord?  I asked you to deliver me from the storm and nothing has h...

Ah...The Game of Life!  Love this game!!  Played it back in the 90's.  Went to college and married, had a great career, huge house, 3 kids, and retired in richy-rich acres, or whatever the wealthy retirement place was called.  Perfect! Did you ever answer that question at a job interview...you know - "Where do see yourself in 5 or 10 years?" I could never answer that question. During my college years, I discovered a verse in the Bible that helped answer why I never had an answer to this question...at least, not a good one.. "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord ’s purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 In other words, "A man tells God his plans, and God laughs," so goes a Yiddish proverb. There you have it. Through all the trials of life, I have realized that I have to hold on loosely to the things of earth.  Certain things are infinitely more difficult to loosen one's grip on, such as my family members.  I th...

When first diagnosed with this autoimmune disease, the question on my mind was, "How can I survive this?"  My own body is attacking itself and I can't do anything to stop it. After reading up about lupus on their national website, I became paranoid, depressed, and extremely worried.  I was worried I would be arthritic, have a heart attack before age 40, lose my vision, have kidney shutdown and a myriad of other problems. It reminds me of  reading the What To Expect When You're Expecting book that every woman reads when she is pregnant with her first child.  A friend of mine aptly renamed it What to Worry About When You're Expecting .  Every possible scenario for what could go wrong during pregnancy is in that book.  The reader begins to wonder which of ten or twenty symptoms she is experiencing might mean this or that awful thing could happen to her and her baby. Recalling this little factoid about pregnancy led me to make the most important first st...