This is Lou. He's the family chicken. My grandmother crocheted him and I couldn't part with him so now he's become the family mascot. He's had his picture taken in the dental chair (do chicken have teeth?), on road trips and at various gatherings.
The sign behind him says "Bless this Nest." The question I want to put to you today is "Do you bless YOUR nest?" That can be read about four different ways. I don't really mean are you a blessing to your nest, I mean do you actively ask God to bless your home?
With all the turmoil and angst I think that asking for our homes to be blessed is crucial. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? ... If you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?" (Paraphrased by me, the full verses are in Matthew 7)
Even though God knows what we need or want, he takes delight in our asking. Think about your own children. When they ask and you're able to answer, or better yet, go beyond and surprise them your heart sings. God is a perfect parent. He will answer your requests. "Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you."
My nephew Dylan, when he turned six years old, wanted two gifts for his birthday, a cell phone and a credit card. While we all smiled, my brother, like me, believes that children need a cell phone for safety reasons and accommodated the first request. This year Dylan turned nine, and while he didn't get a "real" credit card, he got a Visa gift card. My brother never would have thought to get Dylan a cell phone until he asked and the credit card is more about timing. The point is ... he TRIED to meet his son's wants within reason.
God, on the other hand, doesn't have to be reasonable. He CAN meet our wants and desires. Sometimes we too wait the timing of the answers to our prayers but he always knows what's best for us. It seems hard to believe when someone we love is sick or dying, but if YOU had the power to take that sick child and wrap your arms around him to stop the suffering, how easy would it be for you to put him back on earth to suffer more when you had the power to take him Home where there is no more pain or suffering. Sometimes it's about what's best for one of his other children. As parents of children with disabilities, I think we understand that.
All of this pondering and meditation to say ... Go ahead, be bold, ask God to bless your home. Ask him to bless your family and your special child. Ask him, like a child, for outrageous blessings, love and joy. Ask him to pour out blessings on you that you haven't even thought to ask for.
God bless you and yours,
Much love and joy,
Karen
I'm all for traditional therapies but when you need to employ some of those same concepts at home, especially as your child ages, you really need to be a little creative.
One of the best places for Ryan to get OT is at a seafood restaurant. He loves crab and by the time he's done eating it he's had at least 60 minutes of OT without even knowing it! 
Do you ever think about what it would have been like to have a child with special needs in the time of the frontier? I think if must have been harder in some ways and yet easier in some ways. 
Do you ever feel like Marvin the Martian visiting another planet? The life you plan for your child with special needs just doesn't always mesh with the ones others are planning?
We gardened yesterday until we were half silly. I ached last night but it was soooo worth it. Ryan was happy, relaxed and satisfied. I was too.
Here's a photo of the culprit. She's a wild puppy and is scheduled to get her hair trimmed and get some shots on Monday. She's needed a hair cut forever but with my hip I just didn't get her there. Julie, her groomer, will probably fall over! The white spots you see on her coat is fur coming out! It looks like mange but it's simply a long haired mutt blowing coat. Whew! The vacuuming alone is daunting!
We had an awesome trip to Klinger's Farm Market yesterday. It's a place that centers both Ryan and I. We wandered through flowers, bushes, plants and trees. Ryan was buying plants, seeds and gardening tools for his raised planting beds and boy, did he buy!
So, today we plant! We're even putting in the tomatoes already. We'll just have to cover them if we get cold weather. Ryan bought 3 cherry tomato plants and 3 large ones, Big Boy, Early Girl and Heritage. I hope they do well. It'll be fun to teach him how to wrap the stems with newspaper to prevent cutworm, although I don't know if cutworm is such a problem in raised beds. Worth doing though, I think. 
It's a lot bigger than it looks here. I took a break for a while because of health reasons but also because you can only have so many baskets, ya know? I'd like to make one more though so I'll have to watch for a really cool one. 
