A New Experience

If you have read the blog post of the poem Gumption and Gusto to go through the Goo, you'll know we have had to push Moncia's wheelchair through snow and slush. Lately it has been much more often though.
Apparenlty, the cold winter has destroyed the ability of the battery to hold a charge. We had to call our friendly neighborhood volunteer firefighter down the street one day to go fetch her when neither Dave nor I were home and we've had our next door neighbour who often walks with Monica while she walks the dog push her back from a block or so away, and we've often been called to pick her up from somewhere in the neighbourhood when the battery dies.
We finally were able to get her a whole new battery so hopefully that part of the goo will be gone for a while.

But, don't' relax!

Last evening, around 8:30 p.m., as Dave, Anna-Lee and I were bopping down Carp Road on our way home from ballet we get a call from Monica. 
" Where are you! I'm stuck in the basement - the elevator got me down but it stops after about 6 inches and I can't back get up!"

We got home, and sure enough, no go. So, Anna-Lee brought up the manual chair, Dave carried  Monica up the stairs, but that left the small detail of getting her chair up the stairs. Her 400 pound chair! Do we call the firefighters again? - read Monica's blog! 

Instead, Dave called our friend who put in the elevator (he's become a friend over the years as he also does work on our wheelchair van) - he'll be by later this afternoon to put in a new battery, but of course that doesn't help Monica have her power chair for this morning. Next on the list was calling another friend a few minutes drive away, who we thought might have a battery charger that could give it an immediate boost. Indeed he did. Dave went to get it and got it all set up. It seemed that the battery was completely dead as it wouldn't take the charge. Dave notched it up a bit wondering if he would have to take the car battery out and rig something up. However, he got a quick charge, zipped the elevator with the chair up, and then the battery once again lost it's charge. Phew!

It surely takes our whole community to keep Monica going!

Not My Plan

When the day does not go accoridng to plan - 
make it more than you imagined.

I made a mistake yesterday. Well actually the mistake was about a week old, but the consequences of the mistake came to light yesterday when we showed up at clarinet lesson and the teacher was not there.

Back in the recesses of my mind a little thought surfaced. "She told you she had a rehearsal and we'd need to change the time."

"Hmm. I wonder if I did change the time," I thought.

We drove home to discover that if I had changed the time, I did not write it down.

Eventually we connected with the teacher. No, we had not changed the time, but we could go back in the afternoon for a lesson.

So, our day that was to be so ordered with clarinet lesson, lunch, homeschool, and dinner, took a turn.

"Well," I thought, "if the day is a write off, let's really make it a write off. Let's make it a fun write off."

So, we went to the library, went out to lunch with our very patient and flexible and kind chauffeur (Diana), had great and deep conversations, went back to clarinet lesson, came home laughing all the way, played trains, read, and changed the meal plan for dinner.

Everyone got to bed in good time and we are ready to start a brand new day. 

Prov 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

Learning from Others

Lessons Learned from those who have gone before us...

    Edward Livingston Trudeau (1848 – 1915) 

   A doctor who contracted tuberculosis while treating his dying brother. Dr. Trudeau was the first to pioneer the concept of sanitarium care in America and he lived with tuberculosis for over 40 years before finally dying of the disease. In the closing pages of is memoir, when he knew he had only a few weeks to live, he wrote: 

  "The struggle with tuberculosis has brought me experiences and left me recollections which I never could have known otherwise, and I would not exchange it for all the wealth of the Indies! While struggling to save others, it has enabled me to make the best friends a man ever had… I have learned that the conquest of Fate is not by struggling against it, but by acquiescence, that it is often through men that we come to know God; that spiritual courage is of a higher type than physical courage, and that it takes a higher type of courage to fight a losing rather than a wining fight.”

 

    For me, this will take time to ponder all he has learned.

   The thing that sticks out to me though is his focus on others rather than himself. - "while struggling to save others..."

   1 John 4:12

   No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.NKJV

A Poem

The other day a friend gave her daughter a challenge to write a poem starting with this line:
Gumption and Gusto to get through the goo...

This line is circulating now and I thought I'd take up the gauntlet and try my hand at it.

Hitting 3 g's

Gumption and gusto to go through the goo,

It’s become such a habit what else would I do?

Push the chair up the lane when the battery’s low

Or the wheels are spinning in un-shovelled snow.

Get up nice and early day after day

To call ParaTranspo to take us away

Hitting the redial time after time

Only to get through and be told “hold the line.”

Standing and waiting and pacing the floor

I start my day “right” praying ten minutes or more

“Lord, help me get through before there are no more rides,

and we can’t get a bus where we chose to abide.”

I’m sure Franklin Agenda has not a clue

Double bookings are actually easy to do.

One kid goes here and one kid goes there

And mom is left standing pulling her hair.

Is supper at five or is it at nine?

We’ll eat when we eat so please don’t whine.

SHEP and Arise, and LPB

PT’s and OT’s and CCAC.

OYOA, and Para, Propeller and more

My brain’s in a whirl from our revolving door.

The week’s almost done

We have math left to do

And sewing and Spanish, and clarinet too

Being a homeschool Mom is a busy career

And some would say even a little bit queer.

White canes and wheelchairs, ensemble and ballet

Foot braces and hair buns fill every day

So, gumption and gusto to go through the goo?

Goo is a plenty but recall the first two.

Gumption is gutsy, its courage and spunk

It’s carrying on when the rest would say “bunk.”

Gusto is fervor and passion and heart

No one but Mom can do that part.

So despite the disability, distractions and duty

Even in discipline and dyslexia there's beauty

Hence, there’s no place like home

No one I’d rather be,

Than the homeschooling Mom

Of this special family.

Glossary of terms:

SHEP - Science, History Enrichment Program (a homeschool co-op)

Arise - A Christian ballet school

LPB - Les Petits Ballets (a performing company ballet school)

PT - physiotherapy

OT - occupational therapy

CCAC - Community Care Access Centre where we have a PSW (personal support worker)

OYOA - Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy

Para - ParaTranspo (the Ottawa bus system for people with disabilities that both my daughter and I use)

Propeller - the Dance Company with which my oldest daughter works. 

,

Rejoicing

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Philippians 4:4

This command from Paul in Scripture has been on my heart and mind this last week. It is a hard thing to do this rejoicing thing.
But, I think I may have turned a spiritual corner so to speak.
The key here is "in the Lord." 

I suppose that is pretty basic and obvious, but it has not been something I have ever really put into practice on an ongoing basis.

This last week, no matter what situation I find myself in, I am disciplining myself to turn my mind to "in the Lord," rather than the situation. 

Although there have been some instances when I have forgotten, I am at least remembering within a few moments of my frustrations. 

The result - 

• much more contentment
• a much more realistic perspective of life. 
• calmer emotions
• a better attitude toward God.

 

Thanksgiving

Looking for the small things in the day is one of the best ways I know for me to enhance an attitude of thankfulness. There are so many more small blessings in one day than there are enourmous miracles in a life time.

Anna-Lee found this chipmunk on our front
 porch chowing down on one of our home
 grown cherry tomatoes! I never knew a 
chipmunk ate tomatoes! I am always grateful
 for nature and new experiences!

 Sometimes gratefulness comes from a memory.
Like today when I was overcome by thankfulness that God chose me. He is the One who created in me a yearning for Him when I didn't even know Him. He is the One who entered my dreams as a young girl. He is the One who organized people and events in my life to introduce Himself to me. He chose me! 

I could go on and on about the small things in our day today that culminate into a realization that God is truly engaged in my life.

• Anna-Lee wanting to help Monica create a nice hair style
• a beautiful Sunday School class with students who participated and had fun
• a gorgeous sunny day
• a beautiful family walk through the woods - even a path groomed enough for the wheelchair
• laughter during our family game tonight
• Anna-Lee successfully and quickly working out fractions in her mind while converting recipes -  a very great blessing indeed for a homeschooling Mom.
• timing working out to see and invite someone to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow
• an idea that popped into my mind tonight
• just discovering that a book I was interested in reading was a free download and accessible now!

I know as I seek and ask God to open my eyes and ears and heart to His presence and interaction with me, I will see even more of these small instances where He has been involved in my life.
Nothing can come close to giving me joy and thankfulness that that!

What Happened To August?

My last post was July and now it's the second day of school! What happened to August?

Well...
We got new neighbours!
Over the last few months we watched as across the street a new house got built. Anna-Lee prayed there would be a ten year old girl to play with and Monica prayed there would be a dog for Cyrus to play with. 

Lo and behold there was a ten year old girl and a nice black lab/chow mix that loves to play with Cyrus.
Ever since, Anna-Lee and the three children (10, 7 and 4) have been fast friends, along with the two dogs.

And our home has not been the same since (in a good way). 

I love to watch/listen to children at creative  play.
One of their favorite games is BUS. They use one of Monica's old manual chairs as a bus. One child rides it, two children push it, one child acts as stop signs, animals crossing the road and the occasional meteor shower of flying stuffed animals. 

Occasionally, the bus becomes a train and moves side to side, and it has even morphed into a plane where the two girls pick it up with one four year old in it and fly it around the basement.

Every now and then there is a CRASH, a BANG, a THUMP, and a WAIL, but for the most part the louder the noise the more fun they are having. 

And here they come now!
God is fun.