Instead of having so much free time here at work doing absolutely nothing (but blogging!) I am so happy to be able to use that time to spend with my son. It has been a wonderful month getting to spend most of my days with him. The only downside to that is my blog is suffering because with only working 2 days now, I actually have work to do when I am there :)
Things are continuing to go so well for our family. We have adjusted quite well to our newly reduced income actually! I have found some ways to cut corners on groceries and with me only commuting to work 2 days a week, it has saved on gas too. I really want to be one of those super couponing mom's but I get so overwhelmed just reading about other people couponing. I wish I could afford to hire someone to do it for me! Ha ha! We also just sold our extra car this week so that was definitely a blessing! Not only do we have the much needed money from the sale, but our car insurance dropped about $35 a month! Now we just pray our cars last ;)
Brian had a WONDERFUL speech evaluation on Monday, too. It was definitely an answered prayer for me. We found a therapist who made him feel comfortable which was the biggest plus in my opinion. She told us that a child Brian's age has an attention span of FOUR MINUTES at a time!! She was amazed that the last "evaluation" had Brian in a room for over 2 hours without any breaks. She even stopped midway when she saw his attention start to fade and gave him some juice and crackers. That was just what he needed since he had eaten such a light breakfast. Funny how a little snack can change everything. Anyway, her findings were so positive and she gave us some ideas for some extra help for him. He even showed off a little and corrected her a few times. It made me so happy that he was acting like himself and developed such a good rapport with her. By the end of the session, he was making jokes with her. When I left, I literally felt the weight lift off my shoulders. It is frustrating when all you want is what is best for your child and it seems other people have alterior agendas.
Sometimes I imagine God shaking his head and saying, "Jessica, when are you ever going to learn that I've got this?" I get so frustrated with myself for not 100% always putting things in His hands. He has ALWAYS taken care of me. Even when I felt my world was falling apart, He was STILL working out the details for my good. I want to be able to never give my fears a second thought. I want to be able to look at a challenging situation and say "He's got this" and then leave it alone. But instead, I keep visiting that fear occasionally fully knowing that nothing I can do is going to affect the situation. I am striving for the day when "fear" or "worry" are wiped out of my vocabulary for good.
Thank you for listening to me rattle on about the details of my life. And thank you for praying for us.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
A Lot Can Happen in Two Months!
Wow, I just noticed that it has been nearly 2 months since my last blog and I am really slacking! The truth is, my blogging time is limited now that I am only working 2 days a week! What a blessing that has been!! God lined everything up just perfectly in order to bless us in this way. Sure, we took a pretty hefty paycut, but the other benefits have been FAR greater than any paycheck could be. It was a big step of faith for Wes and I- we had our own "plan" as to when I would stop working full-time but we both believed that this was important for our family, especially Brian, and that we just needed to step out in faith and let God take care of us. And as always, He has!
One of the reasons that I felt such a burden to start being at home now rather than later is Brian. Not only to spend more time with him, because I felt like he really needed me now. He has been having some minor difficulties in speech and I really felt like with me being able to stay at home, I could help those improve. And, surprisingly, in just about 3 weeks time, he has! Isn't God amazing?? I'm not saying that he still doesn't have some more improving to do, but I believe the time I have been given to work with him has already helped tremendously.
When we took him to be evaluated, we encountered some people who were very upsetting to Brian's dad and me. These professionals were less than that at our meeting and were making some very disturbing observations that were extremely ridiculous. It is funny how someone can meet with your child for 30 minutes and assume they know everything there is to know about them. After praying, crying, and talking with others, we realized this: 1) Not every child is the same 2) Children react in different ways (just like adults) when they are stressed, intimidated, scared, and tired 3) Children also can pick up on negativity QUICK. 4) God gave me the internal knowledge of what is best for my child. 5) Pediatricians do not always agree with these other "professionals" therefore, it is important to get their input on these "evaluations" before jumping to conclusions and getting upset.
Anyway, to make a very long story short, Brian was diagnosed with having a mild expressive language delay. His original diagnosis when from "oh, after getting in an everyday preschool class, this should be corrected by Christmas" to "let's continue to have him evaluated" because, for just one example, when they asked him to draw a person, he said "No, I wanna draw a cat" and drew a cat instead. So, fellow parents, if your child ever does this, beware! They need to be tested!
So I am asking for your prayers as we meet with the speech therapist on Monday. Our prayer is that Brian will be relaxed and in good spirits after his traumatic last experience and that we will have a therapist that is understanding and aware of how children actually function when they are 3 years old.
In other good news, LifeChurch.tv MWC launched 2 weeks ago and is average over 2000 people per Sunday! This is wonderful!!! In fact, starting this Sunday, they have already had to add an additional service to accommodate everyone. Wes and I work in The Ark, the 4 year old room with Brian. He LOVES it! This weekend, however, we will be working in the 1 year old room. I can't wait to see how Wes likes it! Last Sunday I got moved in there due to a teacher shortage and I ended up rocking for an hour with a baby boy in each arm. I loved it!!!
So, a lot has happened in two months. And hopefully I will start having more time to blog!
One of the reasons that I felt such a burden to start being at home now rather than later is Brian. Not only to spend more time with him, because I felt like he really needed me now. He has been having some minor difficulties in speech and I really felt like with me being able to stay at home, I could help those improve. And, surprisingly, in just about 3 weeks time, he has! Isn't God amazing?? I'm not saying that he still doesn't have some more improving to do, but I believe the time I have been given to work with him has already helped tremendously.
When we took him to be evaluated, we encountered some people who were very upsetting to Brian's dad and me. These professionals were less than that at our meeting and were making some very disturbing observations that were extremely ridiculous. It is funny how someone can meet with your child for 30 minutes and assume they know everything there is to know about them. After praying, crying, and talking with others, we realized this: 1) Not every child is the same 2) Children react in different ways (just like adults) when they are stressed, intimidated, scared, and tired 3) Children also can pick up on negativity QUICK. 4) God gave me the internal knowledge of what is best for my child. 5) Pediatricians do not always agree with these other "professionals" therefore, it is important to get their input on these "evaluations" before jumping to conclusions and getting upset.
Anyway, to make a very long story short, Brian was diagnosed with having a mild expressive language delay. His original diagnosis when from "oh, after getting in an everyday preschool class, this should be corrected by Christmas" to "let's continue to have him evaluated" because, for just one example, when they asked him to draw a person, he said "No, I wanna draw a cat" and drew a cat instead. So, fellow parents, if your child ever does this, beware! They need to be tested!
So I am asking for your prayers as we meet with the speech therapist on Monday. Our prayer is that Brian will be relaxed and in good spirits after his traumatic last experience and that we will have a therapist that is understanding and aware of how children actually function when they are 3 years old.
In other good news, LifeChurch.tv MWC launched 2 weeks ago and is average over 2000 people per Sunday! This is wonderful!!! In fact, starting this Sunday, they have already had to add an additional service to accommodate everyone. Wes and I work in The Ark, the 4 year old room with Brian. He LOVES it! This weekend, however, we will be working in the 1 year old room. I can't wait to see how Wes likes it! Last Sunday I got moved in there due to a teacher shortage and I ended up rocking for an hour with a baby boy in each arm. I loved it!!!
So, a lot has happened in two months. And hopefully I will start having more time to blog!
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