Happy Birthday Adam

I am taking a short break from the previous posts, to tell my oldest Happy Birthday!

Adam turned 14 on the 27th!

I am blessed and shocked by this!
You never believe or even understand how fast time will go when they are first born and everyone tells you "the time will fly"!
The time has flown.
I have told you all about our crazy year with Adam and I have asked you to pray and God answered our prayers......
Adam is an 8th grader!
I am so thankful. Now, let me tell you about some of the great things God has placed in Adam!

Adam is an amazing young man, with a heart of gold and passion for people! He honestly wants to see people do well and wants to be apart of helping them achieve their goals!
I can remember going out with Adam when he was, I think 9, and he collected food and money from our neighbors to help get our food pantry at our church (at that time) started! He went to every door and explained what he was doing and asked for our neighbors help! I think every person in our neighborhood donated something to the food pantry. We went to church that night and Adam gave his donations and expected nothing in return! It was a beautiful and proud moment in my life as his mom! Adam has given me so many more of those moments, as I sit here and think on them, I am truly blessed!
Some of these moments, are as simple as holding the door for other people, he never misses the chance!
At Adam's young age, he understands that people need people! He gets it and he promotes it.
Adam loves to work with his hands and does at every chance he can, it is so neat to watch him work with his dad, my dad or my FIL and chatting with them the entire time. He speaks of promises, truth and love to them, simply beautiful!
Adam is an honest blessing and continues to offer hope and love to others. I am so thankful to be apart of his life and his love! I am truly blessed by him every day and I thank God for bringing him into my life, I couldn't have planned it better. God really knows what He is doing!
Happy Birthday Adam, I love you!!!

This is Not How it Was Planned.....Part 2

So this is surely NOT the way we as a family planned it.
I'll continue.......
We left after planning our futures as a family, I believe, we all honestly believed that is how it would go! So NOT the way things went!
I remember being asked how many kids I would have, when I got married! Ha, I would laugh, I wasn't getting married and I wasn't having children. There wasn't any room in my life, as we had planned it, for children and a silly husband!
A short time after this dinner, in 1987, my parents divorced. The divorce was welcomed, by both my sister and I!

Can you see the plan starting to fall apart!?

My parents were great parents together and separate, just in their own timing! They had good days/years and bad days/years!

I can remember, returning home with my sister (after an evening out with friends) we were teenagers at this point 14 and 15 (I think) and mom and my sister, Windy, having words, or an argument is a better way to put it! Mom was upset, I think we were a little late (we were never ever really late, mom wouldn't stand for that) not sure why we were late, but we did have very responsible friends that returned us home, on time and safe, time after time, so there must have been a good reason! Windy was trying to make her point and mom was trying to make her point! Add in the stress of an alcoholic husband/father and a failing business (my dads, because of alcohol) and Mom making all the money in the household, this equals, an opportunity, to lose it! Mom did, but in a good way, Windy lost it too, but in a good way! My cousin Keith and I stood and watched the argument unfold in amazement!
The next day, my mom took both Windy and I to see an apartment. Mom's words "I have put the security deposit and two months rent down and I am hoping you girls will come with me!?" I jumped at the chance for change and Windy had a look of utter relief in her eyes! No more late night fights, no more bill collectors, no more wondering where dad is, no more, no more, no more of the junk!
We went home, to the family home and began collecting and packing over the next couple of weeks!
This is not how I planned it!
My heart ached and felt joy at the same time!

Blunt

I have seen the goodness of the good people that surround so many of us, time and time again. You always rise to the occasion, whether it is joyful or sorrowful. You have always amazed and inspired me. I myself, have been truly blessed by your love and friendship and how easily you share that!
I shared with a friend, not that long ago, about the goodness of the people that surround us and I realize I need to share that with all of you.
So many times, we can get stuck on the bad driver, or the mean check out person, or the bad waitress, or the person that did something horrible, that we forget to stop and look around and realize, for that one person, there are several around us that are just beautiful, wonderful, caring, kind and loving.
Being completely blunt, all I can say is: I LOVE YOU honestly, I have been blessed by so many good people and awesome relationships, that I can't ever say I Love you and thank you all enough times!!!


Thanks so much to all those for your prayers for the family I posted about previously.
Please continue to pray for them and continue to pray for the family of my friend that passed, last January. Both these amazing men, have left behind a wife and children and numerous family and friends that miss them terribly, So please continue to pray with me and believe with me for peace and comfort.
Without all of you, I know I wouldn't be where I am today! I have and continue to see and feel the love of good people!

Please Please Please Pray For My Friends

I am so sad that a friend of mine and Larry passed away Sunday. He was very young, only 35 and a Husband and Father to two 4 year old babies, a girl and a boy!
He was an amazing man.
He was an amazing friend.
Even more he was smitten with his wife of almost 13 years.
He was an awesome older brother to 4, four, sisters and he did it well!
He was an amazing son to his Mom and Dad.
He made so many people smile and helped so many.
He truly was a giver in this world.
Our world is a better place because God allowed him to us for a short time.
I am a better person, because of the time that he invested in me.
And there are so many more that same the same thing.

So here is my request:
Pray for comfort and peace for Dave's family. Pray for his two children. Pray for his 4 sisters. Pray for his loving Wife. Just pray pray pray. When you think of me or RRR or rippin or runnin or roarin, please pray for these people.
God is definitely their comforter and they know it and God is ABSOLUTELY their peacemaker and all their faith is in HIM!
They just honestly need to be surrounded by prayer. To lose such a young man, with such a big heart and wisdom and joy beyond his years, is a hard loss and his family needs your prayers.
God is with us!
He is my comforter.

This is Not How it Was Planned.....Part 1

If someone would have told me 25 years ago, that I would have 3 children and a husband of 15 years and be working for the Railroad (playing with locomotives), I would have never believed them, not even God!
Almost 25 years ago, in July, my family and I sat around a table at Giovanni's, sharing a pizza and discussing every one of our futures.
Dad's Stained Glass business would be thriving
I would be a Master Chief
Windy would be a Photographer
Mom would be helping us all!
So NOT how it turned out, but that night, it was so fun planning it. Listening to Windy tell me "I'll take pictures for your cookbook and include dad's stained glass windows in the background"! Sounded wonderful and the fun we had planning that, is absolutely priceless!
Just 3 short years later that really changed
I don't forget that night we all shared and the planning and dreaming we did for our own future and each others! Today, it serves as an amazing memory!
I know God works everything for our good and that is exactly what He has done. But, if you would have told me, that I would be looking forward to 10 hours on the railroad until I was off for 47 hours! I would have laughed in your face!
I love the life that I have. I do not love how I got here! I can't stand the day that changed my life so much.
I don't like that our family trip in 84 was the last of it's kind, and if someone would have told me that it would be our last as a whole family, I would have called them a liar.
A change of events over the years have brought me to this point. A change of dreams and plans. Dreams and plans that in 1985 seemed so real and true. Nothing could break them.
I can also remember, adjusting my dreams again in 1987, to keep, what part I had in Windy's dream, to make her proud. I would have done anything to keep her memory alive and many times still do.
I kept my mom very close and always adjusted to what she needed at the time. If mom was unhappy with what was going on, I changed it!
I kept my mom and family close. These times were tough and life changing, the amount of changes that took place is astounding.
My plans, my dreams and even more so my heart changed.

Breath

He Made It!!!! On to 8th Grade Now.

1st to enjoy our summer!

I think, the Principal used the words

"by the skin of his teeth"!

It shouldn't be as amazing to me as it is, how the meds really helped. Yes, I have been using diet and exercise all these years, but when you see a change from an F to a C in one month, WOW! That's all I can say.

Best part is we haven't lost our Adam to the meds, he is still the caring, compassionate young man he has always been, with a heart for others. Now, he can control himself, even when he feels angry and doesn't even feel angry as often!

I really identify with him and his struggles, just wish I would have helped him sooner, this way!

May God use everything to Good for His Kingdom! Thank you GOD!!

Everyone is busy this time of year

There are graduations and tons of Bday parties and end of school activities, lets not even talk about the baseball and soccer going on! So like everyone else, I have been very busy lately!

My mind has mostly been on Adam lately! The ADD has finally been diagnosed and Meds prescribed! He has made leaps and bounds in the past month!

It may or may not be enough! Today we find out, maybe he will make it into 8th grade and maybe he will be held back in 7th!

Ugghh!

Adam has a heart of gold and a passion for people, but in the past month we have seen his skill in studies and we are amazed!

This boy has been the victim of unnecessary groundings and spankings and yelling ats and cleaning out of his locker. Only to find out, he had classic signs of ADD all along! I missed it, I blamed his issues with homework on hormones! Oh my! I know what I would tell any other mom in the same situation, but I also know that feeling of "how did I miss this"! It is difficult not to feel like I have failed my boy! I pray pray pray he makes it to 8th grade! Neither Adam or I slept last night, both concerned of the outcome of today!

Our ride to school this morning was both tense and quiet. We chatted a little about what today was and what it means and how neither of us slept! Neither of us would go to the place where he doesn't make it to 8th grade! It just hurts too much to say it out loud.

I am again amazed at the meds that God has given to us and the leaps and bounds my boy has made!

Whatever the outcome today, I know my God has us in His hands and we will be ok, eventually.

What I know and what my heart feels are very different my heart aches for my boy to go on! My heart aches for my failure to give him the tools he needed to succeed! I am thrilled that we have corrected the problem, but so sad it took sooooo long!

The outcome of the decision of the teachers and the principal is heavy on all of our hearts today!

One of those things, where I really try to be a good mom and don't always "arrive" on time!