Run The Race

"Mom, we don't need to say that prayer today," Reese, my 7 year old son, said after I asked if he was ready to say the Serenity Prayer.  My heart paused - not really sure whether to rejoice or have some hesitancy.  Each day, as we walk over a mile to school we say the Serenity Prayer; both walking and saying the prayer were a rituals we began almost 2 years ago as we searched for ways to help Reese with his anxiety regarding school. I'm excited at his statement because I can see how much he's grown in the last year.  It is a praise to our Heavenly Father that the same fears no longer overcome him leading into his day. The hesitancy is because when most people become "self-sufficient" or "spiritually proud" they also have a tendency to drift from a reliance on God.  For example, if the check engine light comes on in the car, who is more likely to say a prayer first - the person that has $2,000 in savings or the person that already had to mak...

Since losing Elliot and my Mother, I definitely have a different perspective on Mother's Day.  Now, rather than sitting around waiting for others to celebrate "Me" and everything I do for them (not that I ever really did that...), I take this time to celebrate getting to be a Mom. So today, I am going to celebrate my little guy Reese.  He is so very special to me; below are some things I want to celebrate about Reese. Reese is developing such Godly character.  He uses his words to encourage others, he is honest, and he loves the Lord. I am constantly mesmerized by the ways God has gifted him.  I LOVE his creativity, and his ability to express himself.   Reese definitely prefers logic.  We made a decision when he was an infant that we were not going to do "Santa" at Christmas, and, now that Reese is older, I am so glad that we didn't!  I'm pretty sure he would have just pointed out all the reasons that Santa could not have been real, and it woul...

There are many that are called "Mom" that are not . There are many that have never been called "Mom" that are . To have an anguish so deep, I must be his Mom. He is not here; I never heard his cry. I never changed his diaper, and I never picked up his toys. I never had to discipline him or come up with creative ways to get him to stop sucking his thumb. I never cleaned up his spilled milk or checked his temperature. Yet, I love him so deeply. I don't get to snuggle him to sleep or tickle him. I don't get to listen to him sing or watch him eat his birthday cake. I don't dance with him, and I don't get to hear him call me "Mommy". Yet, I love him so deeply. I will never watch him go to his first day of Kindergarten or graduate High School or College. I will never watch him wait at the end of an aisle for his bride. I will never see him parent his own children that I can spoil and send back home. Yet, I will always l...

As I was calling my husband to share the not-so-great, newest adoption news, I looked out the back door and saw Nicki! Who is Nicki?   Nicki is the dog that belongs to the family that lives behind us.  She had gone missing 4 days ago, and I had never prayed so hard for a dog to return to it's owner. Nicki's family has recently gone through a string of unthinkable tragedies, so when Reese and I received news that she had disappeared my heart ached so deeply for them - so we prayed right there.  We looked and looked for Nicki.  When I saw her in the backyard while making my phone call to my husband, she had just been returned and was wrestling and running with the other dog in the yard.  It was a beautiful reunion and answer to prayer! All throughout the week I was very aware that God was answering some very specific prayers I had just started praying.  But when I got the call from the adoption agency that the son we are adopting had to be permanentl...