A little girl’s prayer

Annie recounted a prayer that she prayed recently at bedtime:

Thank You God for protecting me while I sleep. I ask for no silly dreams, or weird dreams, or scary dreams.  I trust You that I won’t have any bad dreams.  

I just thank You so much for everything You do. I could never repay You for everything and You just do so much.  

I’m excited that I get to share my birthday with You on the same day as Easter and that we can share the celebration together. 

Thank you for protecting me from the devil and from bad things.  And for keeping me from following him or going down the wrong path.  Keep me on the right path to You. Thank You God. I love You and I love praying to You every night before bedtime. 

(And that, folks, is how you melt a mamma’s heart!)

I told Annie that her sweet prayer definitely made God smile.

“Yeah, and it probably made the devil frown!” Annie added.

Ha!  Love that little girl!

On Good Friday…Think of Home

The following passage is excerpted from And the Angels Were Silent by Max Lucado:

Troubles are part of the package. Betrayals are part of our troubles. Don’t be surprised when betrayals come. Don’t look for fairness here — look instead where Jesus looked.

Jesus looked to the future. Read His words: “In the future you will see the Son of Man coming.”

While going through hell, Jesus kept His eyes on Heaven.

While surrounded by enemies He kept His mind on His Father. While abandoned on earth, He kept His heart on home. “In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.”

“My kingdom does not belong to this world,” Jesus told Pilate. “My kingdom is from another place.”

Jesus took a long look into the homeland. Long enough to count His friends. “I could ask my Father and He would give me… twelve armies of angels.”  And seeing them up there gave Him strength down here.

By the way, His friends are your friends. The Father’s loyalty to Jesus is the Father’s loyalty to you. When you feel betrayed, remember that. When you see the torches and feel the betrayer’s kiss, remember His words: “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.”

When all of earth turns against you, all of heaven turns toward you. To keep your balance in a crooked world, look at the mountains.

Think of Home.

 

 

Do Not Worry About Tomorrow

“I think this was a good verse for me, Mom,” Annie commented, reading aloud the verse that she wrote in her daily journal.

Annie, bless her heart, has always been a sensitive soul and probably worries more than a little girl should.

Sometimes she’ll have anxiety about future events and she finds comfort in knowing exactly what our plan is for the next day (or even the next hour…!).

“You’re right, and I think that verse is a very good verse for everyone,” I replied.

She smiled and hugged her journal.

Thankful for His provision…and for reminding us of His loving care.

 

 

 

 

Chicken Pot Pi ?

In honor of National Pi Day on 3/14, I thought I’d be clever and make some chicken pot pie for my family.  Turns out that cleverness associated with math isn’t a good idea on my part…

“Hey, I didn’t even get any chicken in mine!” Annie exclaimed.

Oh.

That’s probably because Mom forgot to add the chicken.

Oops.

Shouldn’t be such a surprise I suppose, since math and I never really got along well anyway.

“Well, no wonder the veggies really tasted good,” Katie offered, stating that the veggies didn’t have to compete with the chicken.

So I guess that’s nothing to bawk at!

Photo credit:  https://www.facebook.com/255910354570493/photos/a.256315157863346.1073741828.255910354570493/524978560997003/?type=3&theater

Historical Deaf Women

Yesterday, I exercised my right to vote as an American deaf woman.  Women have been able to vote since 1920, but it wasn’t until 1964 that deaf women were allowed to vote in the National Association of the Deaf (a non-profit organization to empower deaf and hard of hearing individuals).

As a deaf woman in America, I am ever grateful to live in a country where deaf people are able to vote, get an education, drive cars, get married and have families.  Such privileges are unfortunately denied to deaf people (especially women) in many parts of the world.

In light of March being Women’s History Month, here are some fascinating facts about deaf women who made history.

Back in 1817, an intelligent young deaf girl named Alice Cogswell inspired her teacher Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to found the world’s first University for the Deaf (now Gallaudet University in D.C.).

The well-known Helen Keller also proved that physical limitations do not limit one’s desire and ability to pursue a formal education.  She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree in 1904.

The founder of Girl Scouts of America (1913), Juliette Gordon Low, was deaf.  She lost her hearing in one ear due to chronic ear infections, then became completely deaf after her wedding day when a piece of good-luck rice was thrown in her other ear, puncturing her ear drum.  (Enjoy those thin mints!)

Also deaf was Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.  She was called “America’s best girl” by President Calvin Coolidge.

In the 1930s and 40s, Charlotte Lamberton was a deaf professional dancer appearing in Broadway and Hollywood productions.  She kept rhythm by using vibrations.

In 1987, the Best Actress Academy Award went to Marlee Matlin–the first deaf actress (and the youngest one at 21!) ever to be awarded.

More recently, Claudia Gordon became the first deaf African American female attorney and served in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

And the list goes on…

Life as a deaf woman today would certainly look different if not for these historical deaf women who made an impact on society.

My hat’s off to them–with thin mints in hand!  🙂

 

Every Child is a Story Waiting to be Told

Homelessness wears many faces.

The old and unkempt.  The young and clean-looking.  Single mothers with children.

These were some of the people at a local homeless shelter that my girls had the recent opportunity to serve with their homeschool co-op class.

The eye-opening experience is one that they want to repeat soon.

“Many homeless people get passed over or even harassed by society.  So they are very surprised and grateful when people actually want to serve them,” one volunteer told us.

Katie and her class mates had fun serving chicken, mostaccioli, baked beans, green bean casserole, garlic bread and applesauce cups.

A highlight was when one of the patrons declined the applesauce, claiming that he didn’t eat “baby food.”  (And then the big guy next to him asked for two cups!)

Kinda hard to pass up on extra applesauce when you have these two cute servers!

After lunch was over, the events coordinator (also a volunteer) explained to us about their programs that help people get back up on their feet, overcome addictions, train for jobs, and further develop a relationship with God.  She gave us a tour of the building, showing us the really nice dorm-like apartments for single people and families living there.

The hallways were huge and wide and empty–so that the children are free to run around and ride their bikes.

“The school bus comes early and picks up our kids first and also drops them off last, so that the other kids don’t have to know that they live at a homeless shelter,” the volunteer said.

Gracing the walls were picture frames of the precious children living there.  Painted among their faces was this quote:

Every child is a story waiting to be told.

Indeed.

We left the shelter feeling grateful that such an asset exists in our community.

Fatface

(Bet that title got your attention.)

But first things first…here’s my new blog make-over!

I had fun experimenting with different layouts and fonts (thanks to my friend Joy at Smiling’s My Favorite http://dawsongregory.blogspot.com/ who demanded kindly suggested that I update my blog).

It was especially amusing trying out different fonts–the first of which was called Abril Fatface. I’m not sure whether to be amused or offended (I do have chubby cheeks after all).

I’d sure like to know the story behind the naming of that font Abril Fatface and perhaps meet the disgruntled font namer.

But if that meeting were to happen, I’d better be sure to suck in my cheeks first.

Or maybe puff them out instead.

😀

Owl-fully Fun

Dissecting owl pellets at co-op?

Yes, please!

Well, maybe not with quite so much enthusiasm…

The pellets were dark in color and resembled droppings more than “coughings.”  Though after a while, the pellets did smell like poop.  (But in a room full of kids right after lunchtime, that smell could very well have been due to human flatulence.)

Smell aside, it was very cool to find bones, claws and teeth.

Yum.  Kinda makes you glad you’re not an owl, doesn’t it?

And check out the buck teeth on this little guy!

Too bad his 15 minutes of fame came after death.

When your child wishes she were deaf

It never fails, it seems.  Thunderstorms come right at bedtime.

As I tucked my youngest into bed, her eyes widened.  “Is that THUNDER?!”

Oh no, please don’t let it be thunder.  It’s February for crying out loud.  And it’s also way past her bedtime.  No thunder, please!

“No, I don’t think that can be thunder.  It’s early February, and it’s not supposed to thunderstorm.”

But one look at my very hearing daughter and I knew otherwise.

“It IS thunder, Mom!  And I just saw lightning!”

Great.

“Well, it probably won’t last long.  You know thunder can’t hurt you–it’s just noise. Let’s try to get some sleep.  It’s late.”

(And the thunder gods laughed and laughed.)

“I wish I was deaf!  I don’t want to hear the thunder.  Sometimes I wish I was deaf!” Annie declared.

I smiled.  Deafness surely can be bliss!

“Can I sleep in Katie’s room?” Annie whimpered.

“Sure, I guess so,” Katie answered.

So, off to Katie’s room we went to prepare a bed on the floor for the now happy camper.

If you can’t become deaf sometimes to block out the thunder, then having a nice big sis is the next best thing.

🙂

And the winner is…

Yesterday was a winning day for the girls and their dad.

The girls’ artwork placed first and second in the local homeschool art show.

It’s always fun to see their artwork on display!

It’s equally fun to see their dad on display too…

Thanks to last night’s raffle fundraiser for the girls’ dance organization, Mike won a dance basket complete with tights and a neon green tank with dazzling matching shorts.

A winning day all around!