Right Here, In Front Of Me!

Over a year ago I wrote this post. In it I talked how God was teaching me to stay anchored and not fly in a one million directions. Funny enough, I'm still learning the same thing. My word this year was "quit." To slow down and trim back until what is left was the important. I'm still learning how to do this.

This past August, I was contemplating a few positions on the PTA that served those with disabilities. They seemed minor enough but we all know the mental space these minor things takes up and they are always take more time than we think. I was really asking The Lord to be clear about what I should do. I was waiting in a waiting room with a fellow mom of a child with Down syndrome while our children were in therapies. Listening to her, I just felt so at home. Not only did I really like her, but I loved just listening and being a support to her. I didn't totally get what she was going through, but it felt good to just be there for her. It felt like I was placed there just to meet her.

Ada pushing my mom around at the place she is staying.

A week later, I open up the mail and find a thank you note from a friend I had been supporting from a far in regards to infertility. Her sweet baby girl was born just months earlier and she had sent a check for Greg and I to go on a date night. She was thanking me for the support I gave her during the hard time of waiting for her baby. I have never met her but was so honored that she was placed in my path so that I could listen and be there for her when it felt like others may not understand what she was going through.

These two situations hit me with a realization that I needed to just be available. I needed to just be and great and amazing things will happen. Shortly, after my mom had her stroke and I'm so glad I opened up any time that may have hindered my time to visit her each day. Since my last post, a few of you have really been encouraging me to write. And I will, but maybe not the book I thought I wanted to write. Instead, I hope to write posts of encouragement until the time is right for me to share more.

Riding her car to go see my mom.

For Down syndrome awareness month, I have used my friend Molly's posts on Facebook to share more about Down syndrome. A friend from my childhood commented on how encouraging those posts have been as her and her husband try to get pregnant. Her risks are higher for a child with a disability and it will be harder for her to get pregnant. In one of her comments she wrote "Btw, this IS your ministry (I don't know why I feel compelled to say this) you are special, in HIS eyes... He's got an amazing future mapped out for you!!!"

So, here I am trying to love those in front of me. I am honored to be chosen to just look around and be. I challenge you this week to look, what's in front of YOU?

This next week we are working on a behavior plan for Ada which I hope to share more about later. We are also working on helping June adjust to new technology that allows her to hear the teacher more clearly. If you think of us, we would appreciate the prayers!