BEYOND THANKFUL AND BLESSED...

As Thanksgiving nears, I am reminded of all the things I am so blessed to have been given.....

1. I am so incredibly Thankful for Faith- Faith, my daughter and Faith, the idea that God has given us...

2. I am so thankful for my husband-Father of the best girl in the world and my best friend.....

3.I am so thankful for strength- Never thought I had much of it, until I had to walk down this scary road....

4. I am so thankful for GOOD doctors- not all are, but the ones who are make up for it all. I am also thankful for the staff at Greenville, SC Shriner's hospital......

5. I am so thankful for the family and friends who have prayed for us, given us helping hands and loved us, despite the fact that we can not always do our parts during the holidays....

6. I am so thankful for simple childhood innocence...I live in this constant state and there is NOTHING better. Just sheer happiness over playing with pots and pans and being happy about it....

7. I am so thankful for all the wonderful families I have met, during our travel down this uncertain, bumpy road. I have been inspired, grateful, scared and sympathetic when I meet other families and it keeps me thankful for what we have to deal with.

8. I am so thankful for our home.... designed for Faith's future by Regal Homes, fully handicap accessible and those features all done for free! I only just recently became EXTREMELY thankful for these features- like ramps and wide doorways!!!

9. I am so thankful for the life lessons that I have been taught...I never thought I would say that...Thankfulness for pain...but it's true...

10. I am so thankful for the blessing of FAITH, she has been my biggest joy, lesson, pride, humility, fear, patience, peace........ I can honestly say, I have never been so blessed as the day she came into this world. Never knew how lonely I was without her, how fulfilled I was with her! I never knew there was a mom lurking down deep and she has taught me so much....

I AM SO THANKFUL AND SO BLESSED......

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!

Lucky me.......

As most of us with special needs children have probably thought in the past..."Why is my child like this...Why me...Why do I have to be punished....Why does everyone else get normal kids...Why do we struggle so much?"

I must admit that I have had these feelings, I have been hurt, jealous, insecure.... but as time has gone on I have learned to appreciate the nuances of having a special little girl. I have grown to appreciate how innocent she is at 5, how happy go lucky she is, how sweet she is and how unaffected she is by the rest of society. I love how she isn't embarrassed, she smiles freely, how she doesn't know that she seems different than other kids, she likes everyone (I certainly DON"T!) and she will wear whatever I put on her w/o complaint!

I recently have had some experiences with caring for my sister's children for days at a time, while a family crisis is unfolding. Both boys and under the age of 3. Now w/o saying too much, their home is unstable for kids. These children have been spending alot of time w/ us and I have been amazed at how Lucky I am.

These kids are chaotic, unhappy, unkept and overly emotional. After just a week, I am physically drained and exausted. Constant crying, screaming, begging and general bad behavior. It has thrown our quiet home into a tailspin. Every night, I find myself wishing that it was just the three of us, again. I have been feeling like a black cloud is hanging over our house, while this drama plays out and we just can't shake it.

Normally, we have a quiet home, except for Football games and nights when we play silly games with Faith and she/WE screams and acts silly. We do the same things every night, on the same schedule, watch the same tv programs and are very fulfilled by having this kind of lifestyle. We both operate best with repetition. LOL! (Yes, folks, I am a type A personality) So, I have been thanking GOD for this and being so thankful that we are so fortunate in this area of our lives.

It has made me think about how we approach trials and tribulations and how even though we have been through the wringer w/ medical problems, we are so affected by changes in our home life and how we just think "I can't do this one more day..." LOL! Give me my special girl, my hubby, our dogs and cats and a QUIET HOME.


Which brings me back to my title, LUCKY ME... well, I guess I should have called it...

BLESSED ME.

Shackles

So, Faith is a BIG music lover! She seems to like upbeat, catchy tunes like- anything by Toby Mac, Jimmy Buffet(thnks to the hubby), Mandissa, etc. Her very favorite song of all time is a song called "Shackles" by a sister group called Mary Mary! From the first time she heard this song, she would kick her little feet and flail her arms over her head. It's a very fast, bouncy song that talks about being freed from the shackles of sin. Some of the words go like this.... "You broke those chains so I can lift my hands, I just want to praise you.......... Take the shackles off my feet, so I can dance..... but I need you to lift this load cause I can't take it no more!" Now, every time I hear this song, I get choked up b/c it reminds me of Faith and how she is "Shackled" with this load that she has to bear! I can't help but think of her, one day, running down the streets of gold, praising GOD for releasing her from her shackles! I know that God puts things like this in my life to remind me of how precious she is and how lucky we are to have her in our lives! It is such a happy song, if you hear it you just want to dance! It's like Faith's little theme song. I just want to praise GOD for giving Faith to us and letting us have every moment with her! I am sooooo lucky for these "Shackles"! If you want to listen to this song, you can scroll down and look for it on my playlist at the bottom of this blog!