The Pumpkin Prayer

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about You.

Remove the things in my life that don't please You.

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

Open my eyes to see the beauty You have made in the world around me.

I'm sorry for the times I have turned my nose up at the good food You provide.

Let everything I say please You.

Lord, help me show Your light to others through the things I do.

Amen

Pink Pirate Party

Rebekah's first birthday was a fun one! Because she had to wear eye patches for so long, we decided to have a party where everyone else could wear the patches instead of her!

She was a beautiful little pirate along with her sister, her fist mate!

Bear one another's burdens

Galatians 6:2 says to help shoulder the burdens of others.

I am finding that the more I focus on others, the less I am focused on myself and my "problems". The other day at church Pastor Brian talked to us about total dependence and total surrender. He listed a whole big list of things to surrender our rights to ~ including the right to have a pity party. I was fine with the whole list except this one.

When inward focused, it is very easy to see how hard you have it. To begin to question God's authority in your life. But when we become totally dependent on Him and surrender all of the rights we think we have to Him...we begin to become something beautiful that He can use to help others.

Bearing the burdens of others isn't easy. You really have to put down the thing you are holding on to have both hands empty. But what a neat position to be in to be able to lift someone else. Have you ever had someone come in and help shoulder your burden? Isn't it such a hugh relief? Any amount of help is a large help in the person's eyes who is receiving it!

Welcome To Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

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A sweet friend whose child shares Rebekah's diagnosis passed this along to me.