Thankful Thursday ~HOME SWEET HOME

There's no place like home!t

Most of us probably first heard this mantra when we watched "The Wizard of Oz" as a child.  Many more  of us of didn't truly understand what this meant until we moved out of our childhood home.  We may laugh at those commercials that talk about the adult child bringing his laundry home for mom to wash.  But leaving home for the first time can be very dramatic.  My parents divorced after I left for college; while I felt comfortable at both  of their homes,  I didn't feel like I had a "home".  In fact, it really wasn't until I married Barrett and we bought our first house that I really felt at home for years, (Sorry, Mama!).  It was just nice to have a place to ourselves  where we were free to be who God created us to be.   It's a place where Barrett can come home from work and get rest he needs.  It's a place where Dalton and Bobbye Sue cam grow and laugh.  

I recently went out of town for a week and it really reminded me of how much I love our house.  Barrett has gone to great lengths to make sure that our house is accessible as it can be so that I can be as independent as I can be.  But more than that, it reminded me of how much I truly love Barrett and the kids.  I take too many things for granted and believe the lies that Satan tells me about what a good marriage should look like; of what being a good mother should be..  God made me, Barrett, and the kids unique to tell His story through our lives.  Our home may not be like any home you've seen before, but...

BUT IT'S HOME SWEET HOME TO US!

THANKFUL FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  John 16:6-8 New Matthew Bible (NMB)

6 But because I have said such things to you, your hearts are full of sorrow. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. 8 And when He is come, he will rebuke the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"

I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit. I think if I had to chose a "favorite" identity of the trinity, it would be the Holy Spirit.  I think its cool that some versions of the bible refer to Him as "the comforter" because He is God within us: He's the one that calms me when my mind is racing a 3 o'clock  in the morning with a million different thoughts are racing through my mind, or if I've  had issues with Barrett, Dalton or Bobbye Sue. ( with 2 teenager in the house I better have a comforter to keep from killing them.)

I person believe that the Holy spirit is intertwined with our conscious.  I think that If we don't believe God is good, we can't truly know what is wrong.  While unbelievers may know right fro wrong, they may only  know something is wrong because society tells us.  If I don't believe in God and` I kill someone,  I only know that it's wrong because the law dictates it.  However if I'm a believer and murder someone, I'm going to have compassion for the people who I have harm and be remorseful for what I have done.  (I know this is a very broad example.)  

I just think we need the Holy Spirit to help guide us.

LIVING AS A CRIPPLED MAMA

Growing up, I had for main goals; I wanted to go to college-I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor degree in Social Work in 1998; I wanted to get married-I married my best friend from college on November 7, 1998; I wanted to be a mother; Dalton was born on July 16th, 1999 and Bobbye Sue was born on September 5th, 2002; and I wanted to write.  I must says, I've been blessed beyond measures.  Many disabled people do not have the opportunities that I have had in life.
     Growing up, my parents made sure I had every thing I needed.  I knew I was disabled and that I always would be; but at the same time I thought when I grew up I'd be "normal".  I know that's a contradiction, but who can explain the mind of a child?  When it "hit" me; wow, life doesn't work that way it really affected me and my mind thought:  Who would I be when I go to college?  Would anybody ever love me?  Would I ever have kids of my own?   Could God use me?
      The answer was YES! I met my husband and we were friends for about a year before we became serious.  I think he had to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to marry and spend his life with a "normal" woman, plus one with a disability. (HAHA!)
     I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a mom.  Many people talk about how much their life change when the became a mother.  I truly believe a part a my life truly began when I became a mama.  My pregnancies were difficult, I went into labor at 26 weeks with Bobbye Sue and was in the hospital for almost 6 weeks before she was born. But it was so worth it!  They are both super kids and I'm enjoying the age they are now and who God is sculpting them  to be.  Dalton is starting to think about colleges and life beyond our family and Bobbye Sue is my social butterfly.  She loves to go to school and church and would be involved in something 24/7 if we let her.  But most of all, the love and want to serve the  Lord. What more could a Mama ask for???
     Because of my disability and the part of the brian that was affected (I was strangled by the umbilical cord when I was born), I suffer from depression and some other emotional issues.  This, in all honesty, is the hardest part of being disabled.  You can deal with and adapt to physical needs but the mental aspect of it is harder to deal