Most of us have felt compassion for others. Compassion is a natural gift we have recieved from our Heavenly Father. Although some people have less compassion than others, it is in all of us.
Well, I have felt compasssion for others throghout my life, whether it be a family member who is ill or someone I see on the news. Compassion comes from Love I believe. It also comes from personal experiences.
Lately, I have undergone a trial with my back. I have had moments whre I can notmove at all. Not even a muscle for pain was so intense. I have had difficulty in bathing, toileting, walking, bendign, stretching, reaching, etc... I have tried to remain positive during this ordeal for I feel that negativity just breeds negativity and people really don't want to hear about it. Well, I found out yesterday what was going on with my back. It may require surgery, but I'm going to do everything I can to not have to have surgery. Anyway, I was feeling down all day yesterday. Then I relized someting as I listened to our neighbors getting on the paratransit bus this morning. I have a group home close to us. The indivicuals that live there have multiple disabilities. They recieve full time care. They use wheelchairs just to be able to move around at all. Someone has to feed them, bathe them, etc...
I realized that I understood them more than ever before. My condition will eventually improve I am hopeful. The wonderful neighbors will not unless the Lord heals them.
Some say, I have gonen through so much all ready now this how can I stand it? Well the answer is I don't always, but I do try to find out how I can learn from things I go through.
I am so thrilled that the Lord is so giving and kind and that he gives us opportunities to learn and love and therefor improve our compassion for others.
People have ehlped me with getting my wheelchair, dropping us off places, etc... how kidn people are. Thank you Lord! :) Have a good time!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Life is what we make of it!
Have you ever wondered why me? Why is this happeneing to me? What did I do to deserve this? Well, I have an answer! It's called life. I know, I know I am over simplifying it but it really does boil down to just life! We all have challenges, trials, adversity in our lives. Some of us seem to have more than others. But that is just it. I have come to the realization that life presents it's challenges and we each have a specific set of challenges that is meant to help us grow somehow.
I am constantly in awe of someone's courage as they face a major life change, or when adversity strikes and they have a smile on their face. this happened here in Salt Lake just this past weekend. 2 beautiful little girls ages 4 and 1 1/2 died due to pesticide that was sprayed to close to their house. The parents came out and said they forgive the person who did it wrong and felt bad for them. They are still in deep mourning obviously, but that they would reach out to someone during their own tim eof grief is a testiment to me that life is what we make of it.
Some people know of the trial that has beset me this past 10 days or so, but not everyone. IT has been difficult to be in chronic pain day after day, night after night, but I am still happy. I am so blessed and the Lord has poured out his blessings upon me. Yes, I still have difficulties with kids sometimes, but overall the kids have been very compassionate and sorta helpful haha. Can't get them to take out the garbage or do the dishes but hey, they have helped me move around without complainign too much haha.
Life is a gift from the Lord, and it is my responsibility ro make the most of it. I can sit and wallow in self pity, which does happen once in a blue moon or two, or we can put a smile on our face and do the best we can. Like the hymn goes: When upon lifes billows you are tempest tost, and you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
I know life is hard, and right now I know that very well, but yesterday while at teh hospital, my youngest son, Charles, wanted to get somethign to eat for us at teh cafeteria, so he wheeled me in and I had exaclty 6.75. It was enough to get to hamburgers, no fries or drinks but I was happy we could get anything at all. As we ordered the man asked if we wanted fries with our burgers and we said no thanks, short on cash today. He smiled and said he knew what that was like. Then he gave us our burgers and said, I gave you fries but just pay for the burgers. So we went to teh cash register and the lady rang us up for one combo meal. She said that someone had boughten one combo meal for me. So I had enough to get Charles combo. It was a simple gesture that meant alot ot me. Charles was so good about helping me. He wheeled me around at frightening speeds, and loved to stop just in time to avoid a major disaster, haha but he made sure I had everything I needed. He was awesome. I am so proud. So here I am in teh midst of pain and agony, and the Lord still pours out his blessings on me. Can you see it? If I was only wallowing in self doubt and pity all the itme, then I couldn't see the good that is around me.
I still have my moments, but I am so grateful for a kind and loving Lord. :)
Life is good. I have decided to look at it that way!
"
I am constantly in awe of someone's courage as they face a major life change, or when adversity strikes and they have a smile on their face. this happened here in Salt Lake just this past weekend. 2 beautiful little girls ages 4 and 1 1/2 died due to pesticide that was sprayed to close to their house. The parents came out and said they forgive the person who did it wrong and felt bad for them. They are still in deep mourning obviously, but that they would reach out to someone during their own tim eof grief is a testiment to me that life is what we make of it.
Some people know of the trial that has beset me this past 10 days or so, but not everyone. IT has been difficult to be in chronic pain day after day, night after night, but I am still happy. I am so blessed and the Lord has poured out his blessings upon me. Yes, I still have difficulties with kids sometimes, but overall the kids have been very compassionate and sorta helpful haha. Can't get them to take out the garbage or do the dishes but hey, they have helped me move around without complainign too much haha.
Life is a gift from the Lord, and it is my responsibility ro make the most of it. I can sit and wallow in self pity, which does happen once in a blue moon or two, or we can put a smile on our face and do the best we can. Like the hymn goes: When upon lifes billows you are tempest tost, and you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
I know life is hard, and right now I know that very well, but yesterday while at teh hospital, my youngest son, Charles, wanted to get somethign to eat for us at teh cafeteria, so he wheeled me in and I had exaclty 6.75. It was enough to get to hamburgers, no fries or drinks but I was happy we could get anything at all. As we ordered the man asked if we wanted fries with our burgers and we said no thanks, short on cash today. He smiled and said he knew what that was like. Then he gave us our burgers and said, I gave you fries but just pay for the burgers. So we went to teh cash register and the lady rang us up for one combo meal. She said that someone had boughten one combo meal for me. So I had enough to get Charles combo. It was a simple gesture that meant alot ot me. Charles was so good about helping me. He wheeled me around at frightening speeds, and loved to stop just in time to avoid a major disaster, haha but he made sure I had everything I needed. He was awesome. I am so proud. So here I am in teh midst of pain and agony, and the Lord still pours out his blessings on me. Can you see it? If I was only wallowing in self doubt and pity all the itme, then I couldn't see the good that is around me.
I still have my moments, but I am so grateful for a kind and loving Lord. :)
Life is good. I have decided to look at it that way!
"
Friday, February 5, 2010
Story Time!
Story Time Ladies and Gentlemen. I have been given permission to tell this story in it's entirety. THis goes with how people adapt to any situation.
It starts when a boy named Doyle and a girl named Jo met and fell in love back in the 40's. They married and built their dream home on the banks of a canal that leads to Lake Oswego, Oregon. They bought themselves a nice little boat and started a beautiful life! Soon 3 boys came into the picture and they grew up boating, fishing, water skiing, tubing, and loving life on the lake. As the kids grew up and left home Jo wanted to invest in a nice jacuzzi tub. Doyle loving his wife installed one and soon realized that he was not allowed to enjoy it. It was Jo's! He let her enjoy it and secretly wished he could enjoy it! Well several years ago, Jo developed some drastic health problems and within a couple months Doyle's beloved JO passed on to meet the Lord. Doyld kept on living and decided he would enjoy life to it's fullest, traveles all over the world, and when his health has gotten to a point where he requires a scooter, he got the best! he has traveled to Egypt, Argentina, Europe, Lithuania, etc...
One of the things he enjoys is sitting in the jacuzzi tub that so long was denied him. Well has his health deteriorated and his mobility was extremely limited, he found he could get into the tub but could not get out. So he had to have his former daughter in law or grandson come and get him out of the tub. He is a very independant man and this relying on others was not to his liking. So he went ot his oldest son Larry, and said, "hey, let's create a wenching system" The first thingthat went through Larry's mind was seeing his naked father haning by a wench in mid air. Funny, but not comforting thought. So Larry put it off, for the safety of his father. Well Doyle was not going to put up with delays. So he got in his car and drove to Lowe's. Well, he didn't want to get out of the car by the time he got there. SO, he saw someoen drive upa nd he called out his window, "hey, can you help me?" He handed a man money and said, go buy me a wenching system. To the guys credit he was honest and kept coming out to Doyle to ask him various questions and eventually bought him a wenching system and even got him a discount! So know Larry had to put it in. So he did, and sure enough Doyle just wraps a strap around him, the wench helps him get to his knees and then up to the hside of the tup just enough to get him out on his own!! He is happy and Larry is thrilled that his dad is not hanging in the air naked!
We in teh world of disabiliteis calls that adaptive equipment. Doyle calls it a a means to an end. He wanted to live more independantly and so he is!
True story!
It starts when a boy named Doyle and a girl named Jo met and fell in love back in the 40's. They married and built their dream home on the banks of a canal that leads to Lake Oswego, Oregon. They bought themselves a nice little boat and started a beautiful life! Soon 3 boys came into the picture and they grew up boating, fishing, water skiing, tubing, and loving life on the lake. As the kids grew up and left home Jo wanted to invest in a nice jacuzzi tub. Doyle loving his wife installed one and soon realized that he was not allowed to enjoy it. It was Jo's! He let her enjoy it and secretly wished he could enjoy it! Well several years ago, Jo developed some drastic health problems and within a couple months Doyle's beloved JO passed on to meet the Lord. Doyld kept on living and decided he would enjoy life to it's fullest, traveles all over the world, and when his health has gotten to a point where he requires a scooter, he got the best! he has traveled to Egypt, Argentina, Europe, Lithuania, etc...
One of the things he enjoys is sitting in the jacuzzi tub that so long was denied him. Well has his health deteriorated and his mobility was extremely limited, he found he could get into the tub but could not get out. So he had to have his former daughter in law or grandson come and get him out of the tub. He is a very independant man and this relying on others was not to his liking. So he went ot his oldest son Larry, and said, "hey, let's create a wenching system" The first thingthat went through Larry's mind was seeing his naked father haning by a wench in mid air. Funny, but not comforting thought. So Larry put it off, for the safety of his father. Well Doyle was not going to put up with delays. So he got in his car and drove to Lowe's. Well, he didn't want to get out of the car by the time he got there. SO, he saw someoen drive upa nd he called out his window, "hey, can you help me?" He handed a man money and said, go buy me a wenching system. To the guys credit he was honest and kept coming out to Doyle to ask him various questions and eventually bought him a wenching system and even got him a discount! So know Larry had to put it in. So he did, and sure enough Doyle just wraps a strap around him, the wench helps him get to his knees and then up to the hside of the tup just enough to get him out on his own!! He is happy and Larry is thrilled that his dad is not hanging in the air naked!
We in teh world of disabiliteis calls that adaptive equipment. Doyle calls it a a means to an end. He wanted to live more independantly and so he is!
True story!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Lords tender mercies!
Wow, am I blessed! After the fry throwing incident, I recieved a phone call from someone in my church asking if their was anything they could do to help. I explained some of the difficulties of getting up and down to get something to eat or even taking the dog out lol. They offered to bring in meals for me for lunch today and tomorrow and dinner for the family for today, friday, and saturday. WOOHOO. That is so wonderful. I know one day I will do something for someone else, that is the way it works.
The Lord is mindful of every single thing in our lives. He even knows what we refuse to admit at times. I am totally reliant on His capable arm. Today, my back is doing better, it still hurts if I try to do much, like say take a shower, (that was a painful experience haha) but I did it! The Lord gave me just enough sticktuitivness that I needed to clean myself and get dressed, just as I finished getting dressed, my back seized up on me, luckily I was very close to a chair. Wonderful isn't it?
My children are behaving rather well today, another tender mercy!
The Lord often works through other people so it is important to help and assist one another. Self reliance is good too, but don't forget to let others give you a hand form time to time, they get blessings and you get the assistance you needed, but were too proud to accept! Remember the Lord's words "Faith, Hope, and Chairty" :) And remember, next time there is fries and burgers in the forecast wear rain gear! lol
The Lord is mindful of every single thing in our lives. He even knows what we refuse to admit at times. I am totally reliant on His capable arm. Today, my back is doing better, it still hurts if I try to do much, like say take a shower, (that was a painful experience haha) but I did it! The Lord gave me just enough sticktuitivness that I needed to clean myself and get dressed, just as I finished getting dressed, my back seized up on me, luckily I was very close to a chair. Wonderful isn't it?
My children are behaving rather well today, another tender mercy!
The Lord often works through other people so it is important to help and assist one another. Self reliance is good too, but don't forget to let others give you a hand form time to time, they get blessings and you get the assistance you needed, but were too proud to accept! Remember the Lord's words "Faith, Hope, and Chairty" :) And remember, next time there is fries and burgers in the forecast wear rain gear! lol
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Asperger in bad moods
Well, I founded this blog to help not only educate people about the normalacy of life for people who have disabilities, but for a support for those who live with one.
Today is one of those day. My middle son, Jimmy has Asperger's Syndrome and one of the components of AS is teh inability to comprehend someone else's point of view. This morning Jimmy was doing pretty good and he went to school on time and seemingly happy. Meanwhile I have done something to my back and amin alot of pain, so much so that it is impossible to move at moments. When Jimmy came home he wanted to watch t.v. and I told him, "Please take the dog out, then you can watch t.v." Well, Jimmy thought that was just too much to ask for. So, he threw himself on the coach and said "fine, I'm just going to lay here then!" So I let him, after about 20 minutes, he decided he really wanted to watch t.v. so he took the dog out. He seemed happy at that point and watched Discovery channel's "mythbusters" (very cool show btw)
Since I have been unable to move, I asked a friend to get us some food at alocal place and he and Charles did so. When Charles was giving Jimmy his food, Jimmy started insulting Charles for he was just standing there holding Jimmy's drink and didn't know where to put it, since Jimmy wanted to eat in the living room. FInally Charles gave up trying to be nice and just put the drink down. I told Jimmy that Charles was being nice and there was no need for insults or anger. Well that did it, he got mad at me and threw his fries at me and then ripped his burger in two and threw it all over the living room and stormed up stairs yelling and insulting me. I told him he was not having dinner tonight and that he needed to show more respect to me. That did not go over well at all, but I felt I had to say something. At moments like this I knew better than to chase after him. When people with AS have meltdown's there is no reasoning with them at all. They are right and that is it. He will go to great lengths to show his displeasure at being told he is wrong.
I was about in tears, but held back for there was no use in crying over thrown fries. I couldn't pick them up, I couldn't bend over. I have spent the day in utter agony adn the last thing I wanted was to be insulted, yelled at and have food thrown at me. Last time he had a melt down he threw several of my audio books off the shelf and threw them down the stiars breaking the cases and causing damage to them. I have had consequences for him and this is a new facat to his temper. He threw things when he was 5 and then stopped until just recently and I'm telling you I don't know what to do about it, besides doing what i normally do. Take privildges away and telling him that his behavior is unacceptable.
I realize that many parents have problems with thei teenagers with hormones and aggression, but adding AS on to that is like adding kerosene to a bond fire. There are going to be major sparks!
Anyway, the dog had feast on fries, and burger debris, and my youngest vacuumed up the rest and cleaned the sauce mess off the coach thankfully. but holy cow. I wish his father was around so I could ship him over there for a day or two. Anyway, I feel I need a break but in this pain I can't go anywhere so, I'll just pray that the Lord will guide me through this trial! He always does! :) Have a good day everyone!
Today is one of those day. My middle son, Jimmy has Asperger's Syndrome and one of the components of AS is teh inability to comprehend someone else's point of view. This morning Jimmy was doing pretty good and he went to school on time and seemingly happy. Meanwhile I have done something to my back and amin alot of pain, so much so that it is impossible to move at moments. When Jimmy came home he wanted to watch t.v. and I told him, "Please take the dog out, then you can watch t.v." Well, Jimmy thought that was just too much to ask for. So, he threw himself on the coach and said "fine, I'm just going to lay here then!" So I let him, after about 20 minutes, he decided he really wanted to watch t.v. so he took the dog out. He seemed happy at that point and watched Discovery channel's "mythbusters" (very cool show btw)
Since I have been unable to move, I asked a friend to get us some food at alocal place and he and Charles did so. When Charles was giving Jimmy his food, Jimmy started insulting Charles for he was just standing there holding Jimmy's drink and didn't know where to put it, since Jimmy wanted to eat in the living room. FInally Charles gave up trying to be nice and just put the drink down. I told Jimmy that Charles was being nice and there was no need for insults or anger. Well that did it, he got mad at me and threw his fries at me and then ripped his burger in two and threw it all over the living room and stormed up stairs yelling and insulting me. I told him he was not having dinner tonight and that he needed to show more respect to me. That did not go over well at all, but I felt I had to say something. At moments like this I knew better than to chase after him. When people with AS have meltdown's there is no reasoning with them at all. They are right and that is it. He will go to great lengths to show his displeasure at being told he is wrong.
I was about in tears, but held back for there was no use in crying over thrown fries. I couldn't pick them up, I couldn't bend over. I have spent the day in utter agony adn the last thing I wanted was to be insulted, yelled at and have food thrown at me. Last time he had a melt down he threw several of my audio books off the shelf and threw them down the stiars breaking the cases and causing damage to them. I have had consequences for him and this is a new facat to his temper. He threw things when he was 5 and then stopped until just recently and I'm telling you I don't know what to do about it, besides doing what i normally do. Take privildges away and telling him that his behavior is unacceptable.
I realize that many parents have problems with thei teenagers with hormones and aggression, but adding AS on to that is like adding kerosene to a bond fire. There are going to be major sparks!
Anyway, the dog had feast on fries, and burger debris, and my youngest vacuumed up the rest and cleaned the sauce mess off the coach thankfully. but holy cow. I wish his father was around so I could ship him over there for a day or two. Anyway, I feel I need a break but in this pain I can't go anywhere so, I'll just pray that the Lord will guide me through this trial! He always does! :) Have a good day everyone!
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