Pictures

I am not one who is great at taking pictures. There are days that I take a lot of pictures and then I can go spans of time without taking any. Today I took pictures. It was such a snowy day. We just stayed in where it was warm and relaxed. We did some school work and just enjoyed each other.

Today was another really peaceful day.They kids did pretty fantastic. My mood stayed pretty level. Once again this morning I prayed for my children. I prayed for my husband. I prayed for my own spirit. I also prayed that the Holy Spirit have his presence in this house. I asked for a shield of protection over our house. Oh how much prayer can help. Oh how much more peaceful things have been.

We painted. We painted hands. We painted squares. We just had fun. It was exciting. We enjoyed the conversation. We enjoyed the giggling. Oh what a glorious day! Praise to the Lord, King of Heaven and earth. Butterfly Girl also painted. She painted with pudding.

I hope you enjoyed your day. I know that I was blessed. I hope you were also.

Be Blessed.

Dany

Two steps forward, 5 steps back

I feel as two steps forward, five steps back describes my life. For many reasons. I feel as though we get on a good routine and someone gets sick. We get control of the behavior issues in our house and then it's on to the next set of behaviors that need correcting. I feel like I make progress in a relationship with one of the kids or my husband and fight breaks out over something silly and backwards we go. It is so frustrating. How I wish life would go perfectly all the time. I understand my examples may seem small to some. I know people that work hard, but loss their jobs or worse their houses. I know people that love their spouse and yet divorce happens. I know my examples are mere inconveniences in every day life. Some people struggle with more then I do. I am not trying to undermine those who suffer in a greater way.

Today I am just simply saying I am tired. I am tired of feeling like I am constantly falling backwards after having experienced the greatness of what moving forward feels like. I am coming out of a time where I though I could do it all on my own. I am once again coming out of another pit of self pity, of bad behaviors from my kids, of a rough patch within my marriage. I am currently coming out of a pit where I wasn't reading my bible or praying because I was trying to do life on my own strength. Silly Me!!! I lost sight of why we home school, of why we do our devotions every morning. I lost sight of Jesus. Silly Me!!

Once again I was reminded that I can not raise my children, cannot be a loving wife, cannot be a good friend all on my own strength. I NEED Jesus!! He alone can do all things. I was also reminded that it isn't just about reading my bible. It is about LIVING my bible. Praying for my husband and my kids. Praying for their hearts, praying for their needs. I need to be in prayer for them.

Today we are back on the path of taking steps forward. We have had the most peaceful morning we have had in two weeks. As I type the kids are all playing Lego's while the oldest makes lunch. I hear laughter instead of fighting.

What changed? I spent the morning in devotions. I spent the morning praying for my heart, for the heart of my husband, and for the heart of my children. I spent time actually letting God's word sink in my heart instead of making it just another one of those things I could cross off my list. That is what changed. I gave the burdens of my heart to the Lord. I feel lighter, happier, more patient. Today is a great day. It came from the Lord and I am going to rejoice in it.

Be Blessed

Dany

Resting in God

So, Its been a while since I have posted again. Its been hard finding time to blog with Kinsley being sick. Not more then a week after getting out of the hospital she was back to feeling crummy. It started Tuesday with a runny nose and she was pulling at her ear. I knew something was wrong. She wanted to be held constantly and was just plan crabby. Took her into the doctor and my mommy instinct was right. We were put on another antibiotic.

By Wednesday her eyes were all green and drippy. She had pink eye. I called the doctor and they said that because she was already on the antibiotic it would be okay.

Friday morning we were set to go in to the doctors for a Well Child visit. That morning she had woken up no breathing very well. I decided to give her a pulmicort and an abuterol. I didn't worry so much since I knew we would be seeing the doctor. Her nose was still runny and she was still crabby. Once the doctor checked her out it was confirmed that she had an upper respiratory infection. We were to continue the abuterol treatments every 4 hours and to start the pulmicort twice a day instead of once. Then we changed from one antibiotic to another and started orapred. Not exactly what I was expecting. I just want my sweet baby to be healthy. She's been through so much. We were also advised by the doctor to keep away from germs if at all possible. These means we pretty much feel like we need to live in a bubble. It is so hard.

So while getting up every 4 hours leaves me tired. While holding, snuggling, and listening to a crying, miserable baby leaves me exhausted I am finding comfort. I am finding peace. I am resting in God. Resting in his word. Resting in the fact that I can share this burden with fellow believers. I am resting in that peace. I am so grateful for that.

Please pray. Pray for healing, Pray for sleep, Pray for us to finish the winter healthy.

God Bless,

Dany

Bah Humbug, turned Joy

Yes, I know it is not Christmas, but that phrase pretty much sums up my week. It was a rough one. Partially my fault and therefore I am going to kick this week out of the water!

I was reminded this morning through Pslams 100:1-2 that I need to praise the Lord with JOY even though personal struggles. Even though a rough day with the kids. Even through a rough nights sleep.

 

{Worship the Lord with GLADNESS. Come before him, singing with JOY.}

Pslams 100:1-2

 

 

My week was rough because I was still catching up from the week of being in the hospital. I was still trying to lesson plan, do laundry, and much more. I also broke my routine of going to bed on time and getting enough sleep. I was grumpy from lack of sleep, the kids were wild without structure, and there was a lot of attitude going on in my house. It was a rough week. Instead of changing my attitude and worshiping the Lord for the good things, I decided I would wallow in my furstrations and be grumpy. Not a smart choice. I had to apologize to my kids more then once, my husband more then once, and ask for a whole lot of forgiveness.

 

I guess those things all make me human. Not any one of us is perfect. I am, however, choosing this week to get back to what I know works well for our family. I am going to stick to our routine, I am going to be on time and getting enough rest, most importantly I am going to choose JOY and GLADNESS over being grumpy. I am going to worship this morning with my children and do it with joy and passion.

 

Happy Monday! Be blessed!

 

Dany

What a Week

Happy Tuesday to you all! It has surely been quite the week since last I posted. Sunday night I could tell that our sweet little Butterfly Girl was feeling off. She was pulling at her ears and very clingy. I knew in the morning that she would probably have a cold of some sort. I was not expecting what I had gotten.

Monday morning when she awoke, she was struggling to breath. She was very wheezy and tight in her chest. I could see her retracting at the ribs. She wanted to do nothing but sleep. It wasn't looking very well. So into the hospital we went. At the Emergency room we were seen quickly. They got us right back and started an asthma treatment. Then we were ordered chest x-rays and a steroid. Once those were done we were given another asthma treatment. After both of the treatments were given her pulse oxygen numbers plummeted. She wasn't responding well to the medicine in the treatment. We were told we needed to get admitted.

We ended up spending until Thursday afternoon in the hospital. Pneumonia. Nasty, Nasty, Pneumonia. It wasn't fun. We did however miss some of the worst snow of the season while we were there which was nice. Because of the pneumonia we weren't allowed to have the door to the room open and the doctors and nurses had to suit up in order to give her care. It was not a fun experience, but we made. We were released and were so excited to be home.

Friday night was ended up heading back to the ER. Poor Butterfly Girl was throwing up, had loose stools more then I can count, and was just really shaky. The doctor came to the conclusion that she had gotten a bacterial infection from the antibiotics. The antibiotics were not only killing the infection, but the good things in her body. So we made a plan!

All the while, everyone else had come down with the 24 hours flu bug one by one. All 7 of us ended up having it. It was miserable.

Yesterday we went for a follow up at the doctors office and it was determined that Butterfly Girl has what is called Reactive Airway Disease. From my understanding is that if she gets the common cold she will probably get it for weeks instead of days. It will put us at a bigger risk of getting things like bronchitis and pneumonia. We were given a daily medicine to help combat this and hopefully help us not spend so much time in the hospital and getting sick.

As of today I can say everyone is healthy! Everyone is feeling better! We praise the Lord for that! He is the great healer! He is mighty to provide. Prayers that we all continue to stay this way would be greatly appreciated.

Thoughtful Thursday: Be A Blessing

This morning I woke up and had on my heart how I could be a blessing to someone today. I spent time talking and eating breakfast with my husband. I snuggled a two year old on a crazy sleep schedule. I was still thinking. I was still searching how to be a blessing. As I read my devotions, God started speaking to my heart.

I was being a blessing already. When you pour your life into someone else. When you show love and kindness you are being a blessing. By spending time eating breakfast and chatting with my husband I was showing him he was important. That I value the time we get to spend together even if it's early in the morning. I was blessing him and he was blessing me. I was blessing my daughter by snuggling. I was showing her she is important. She is worth the time. I was blessing her and she was blessing me.

You see, there is no need to do go around the world being a blessing. Yes, that is for some people. Some people spend their whole lives in other countries blessing the people of this world. It is not for everyone. How are you being a blessing. Are you blessing your spouse and your marriage? Are you blessing your children? What about the people you work with or strangers you pass? Are you being a blessing?

I know that yesterday I was far from a blessing. I let the negative start to my day run my house. I was short on patience and every one knew it. I am human and at the end of the day I had to ask forgiveness. I needed to look my children in the eye and say I am sorry for being crabby. I'm sorry that I was quick to anger and to punish. It was not one of my better days.

You can be a blessing in small ways, you can be a blessing in BIG ways. I encourage you to start at home today. Start in your marriage. How can you bless your spouse? Can you write a sweet note? Can you send an encouraging text? Can you buy flowers, candy, or a card? What about spending some time today just talking to your spouse without interruption? If we can start in our home, blessing those we are close to, we can be much better prepared to bless those we do not know. Those that may need us more then we know.

Be a blessing. Tell me what you did today to bless your marriage. I would love to hear from you! Let's make this world a better. Let's be a blessing.

Be blessed.

Dany

Being Equipped

Isaiah 45:5-6 says this: I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don't even know me, so all the world from the east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

 

There are many moments throughout daily life where I sometimes do not feel equipped for certain situations. Those are little things. Then there are those times in life where I certainly do not think I am equipped to handle certain situations. There are so many questions. So many ways to parent. So many ways to be a wife. There are so many ways to go about life. Homeschooling, running businesses, raising up children, and being a woman of faith. Am I equipped?

My two year old has exhausted all of my "go-to" discipline techniques. She truly is a child of her own accord and I was certainly not ready for everything she has thrown my way. She is very strong willed. I no longer had the tools to deal with her behavior and endless curiosity. This is somethings small. Every day.

Butterfly Girl's CVI was something that I was not equipped to handle. I was not ready to raise a child that had special needs. I was not ready to raise a sweet girl that had limited to no vision. I just wasn't ready. This is a big event.

I can not be equipped by my own power and make it through the day. However, I am equipped by my Lord. He has equipped me with everything that I need for this battle of life and let's face it. Life can be a battle. Sometimes we struggle to get a meal on the table. Sometimes we struggle to discipline our children with love. Life can get ugly. Life can get brutal. There are times where we we feel like the tools for battle are missing.

I tell you this. Turn to the Lord. He has equipped you with everything you need for the moment. He has given you peace, patience and love to discipline your children. He has given you the the gift of grace so you can forgive yourself and others. The Lord is your most powerful tool. He has given you his word in which we can find strength in all things. Read it. Pray it. Hold onto the Lord. You have the tools to face every day battle. You have the tools to face even the toughest adversities in life. I have been through some of the roughest times in my life in the past year. If it were not for my faith I would have never been able to survive. God gave me the tools.

Know that you are equipped. Stand strong in faith.

Be Blessed.

Dany