Casting Crowns - The Well

This song speaks to me...


John 4:9-11

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

Come to the well...

Long Song

So we were sitting in church today... We hadn't been in church for a long time.  Many of you know I haven't been to church in a long time.  There are a few different reasons and I suppose you could even call them excuses, but it is something I am trying to change.  One big thing that keeps us from going is that Bug doesn't handle certain situations all that well... But Bug is really interested in all things from and about God so encouraging my children (both of them) to grow in the Lord has become a huge priority with me.  I want my children to know God and as a parent it is my responsibility to begin teaching them and training them up in the Lord.

Anyways... As I was saying, we were in church.  It was worship time.  You know how that is - singing, music, prayer - it's beautiful.  So we were all singing and as things went quiet and voices could softly be heard praying and praising God, my son pipes up in his loudest and most shocked voice and says... for everyone to hear...

"BOY THAT WAS A LONG SONG!"

All I can say is that God is good and the Pastor of this church is great.  He looked up and smiled and despite my internal thinking of oh goodness, here we go... Everyone was cool.  No one even seemed to notice or even care.

It was after church that my mom (oh yes, forgot to mention we went to my mom's church about an hour away) told me that there is another little boy there that is "just like Bug" - meaning, the people there already understand kids like my little man.

Hmm... An hour away, but maybe that Sunday drive will be worth it for our entire family.

This could be just what we all need.

My Verse for the Year

Have you ever had a Bible verse just keep popping up in what you read and in your mind and it just jumps out at you so much that you feel it must be some sort of sign or like God really wants you to pay attention?

Well, I am having that experience...

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

This verse is just on my mind all. the. time.

I've decided that as many people make those New Year's Resolutions, I am going to start my own thing. Every year I'm going to listen to what I hear God saying to me and pick a verse to go with it - or hopefully be led to a verse such as I feel I am being led now. This year, as must be obvious to you by now, my verse of focus is Proverbs 9:10.

When people read this verse I think a common question to be asked would be "what is fear of the Lord?"

And it is a good question.

Non-believers should indeed have a healthy fear of judgment as God has surely promised to judge all people.  But for believers, that fear means even more...

Fear of the Lord is respect, reverence, awe... it is that feeling of great devotion that causes us to surrender to Him in all that we do.  It is that respect that leads us to lean on Him for everything.

We have to trust God and as our relationship with Him grows we will trust Him more.  And through that trust in Him we will come to respect Him - and through that respect we understand His anger and judgment when we sin.  We understand that it is just!

We don't need to live being afraid of God, but fearing the Lord means we need to live respecting Him in all things.  He is the authority and we need to respect that, trust Him, and learn from Him.

It occurs to me that when we feel reverent for God, when we have that amount of respect and awe in Him that we should have, we would want to get to know Him even more every day!

This year I think God is speaking to me to seek Him more.  To understand Him more.  To show him more respect in all areas of my life, to expand my relationship with Him, and to come to more understanding of what He has in store for me.

What Heaven Looks Like

"Mommy, I think this is what Heaven looks like. I think we will live on top of a rainbow."

This is what Autism and Faith look like when combined.

Sensory Processing Disorder

I saw this on FaceBook and thought it would be good to share...

Sensory Processing Disorder often goes hand in hand with Autism and like many kids with Autism, my son also has Sensory Processing Disorder.  I guess this chart is designed to help you better understand what types of sensory needs your child has, but the truth of it is that most kids are a combination of quite a few of these.  My son is most definitely a "sensory-seeker" but he also is "over-responsive".

It's an interesting little chart to print out and keep on hand to just remind you of what your kid may be going through.

Also, if you think any of this is going on and you've never seen someone about it then I strongly suggest you get a sensory assessment done on your kid.  Don't self-diagnose and please, please, please, don't play doctor and try to concoct all kinds of "medicinal remedies" to help.  Many times it is SPD, but sometimes it is something in the environment setting a kid off or another type of disorder.  Just saying...

Anyways, Bug has been evaluated and tested and assessed (and whatever else you may want to call it) and he does have SPD.  He chews through and on everything, he fidgets all the time, he is often quite stimmy, he loves pressure (being squeezed) and can't seem to get enough of it, he will stare at things spinning or lighting up for hours on end, he must have the TV blaring loud, and he mouths almost everything.  He also freaks when he gets dirty, flips over certain textures, won't eat much because he doesn't like the way things feel in his mouth, worries about falling all the time, is totally uncoordinated, despite his need for a ridiculously loud TV he just can't handle loud or noisy rooms and situations...

And those are just examples from off this chart.  I could fill this blog for days with sensory issues from my son.