Some long over-due thanks. This isn't all, but it's a start. More from the children tomorrow, when cooking isn't occupying our time.
~ Peter's had several opportunities for leadership, and he's doing me proud. He's a verse teacher at AWANA for the 3rd and 4th graders, and he's my assistant at Sunday school with the 4 year olds every other week. He prepares for and teaches the girls' science several times a week, including setting up and conducting the experiments once a week. The Lord's grace and blessing is shining upon my boy, I just know it!
~ Peter has also become a real worker, some days doing more honey-dos than he can count. He rather likes being my main assistant, since Daddy is gone so much. He's resembling a man more and more.
~ My boys are in that stage where they stop and really listen to my discipling, especially Paul, who is the better listener with the longer attention span. They especially love to talk about life and the Lord at night, when they're supposed to be falling asleep. :)
~ Dyslexia is scary for the parent/teacher to deal with, but I'm understanding it better all the time. When Mary would ask, after 3 years of trying to learn the teen numbers: "How do you write a 16 again?"--I would feel a serious wave of anxiety with even a tinge of nausea. How is it possible she doesn't know this yet? How will she ever get a job? What am I doing wrong? But now, I get it. Dyslexia is a problem with automaticity. They hesitate, think, then write--it doesn't mean they don't know it. They're just slower. I no longer panic (except when Beth asks me how to write a 10, which makes me wonder if she too will struggle).
~ Mary's reading speed and fluency are picking up! All About Reading Level 2 has been such a blessing for us. And Beth is excelling at Level 1 as well. This has been the year with the most curriculum changes. We just switched from Winston Grammar to Easy Grammar and that is working far better as well.
~ Sheila, our sponsor child from Uganda, is doing very well earning her required high school credits. Her writing amazes me; English is her best subject. Compassion kids don't typically graduate and think primarily of themselves and how they can maximize their own futures. Instead, they focus on giving back and making a success of the communities they started in. Their stories always inspire me to keep giving, and keep praying for Compassional International. Their work is just phenomenal. I pray Sheila will get into the Leadership Development Program Compassion runs, so her college fees and living expenses will be paid for while she attends higher education. I will keep mentioning this possibility to her.
~ We used to have just one older vehicle, which we shared. Then about 4 years ago my husband obtained a 24-year-old vehicle from a PA friend, whose mother has passed away and left it in poor body shape, but with relatively low miles. It was embarrassing to drive and of course as with all older cars, we had to put money into it, but it worked for us. Still, my husband didn't love driving such an ugly, old car, and he quietly prayed. He cleans a church where he is well-liked, and one of the employees, in her seventies, along with her husband, was obtaining a brand new vehicle and they decided to give our family their 2000 Toyota Sienna van for free. So for the first time we now drive two vehicles from the 21st Century--a 2003 Windstar van and a 2000 Toyota Sienna van. We have been car loan free since moving to Ohio from CA in 2005--a situation allowing me to be home with the children and homeschool. We used to have a Sienna van and we drove it to well over 200,000 miles before someone hit me and totaled it, leading to us getting the 2003 Windstar. This newer Sienna van has only 124,000 miles, so we'll likely have it another 100,000 miles or more. Yippee! The Lord is good!
~ I wrote over a week ago about hormones and migraines, and indicated I that was trying Naproxen this month post ovulation to day four of cycle, to try to prevent menstrual migraine (200 mg every 12 hours). Wow! What a difference. I highly recommend this for anyone struggling with menstrual migraine or PMS. Not only did this eliminate menstrual migraine, but it eliminated PMS and bloating as well. I only felt a tinge of nervousness a couple days before day 1 of cycle, which is a miracle. The NSAID inhibits the release of prostaglandins, the hormone leading to all the trouble. I'm not sure why Naproxen works better than ibuprofen, but possibly because it comes in a 12-hour dosing, ensuring that there are no break-through symptoms? The stubborn headaches I had were when I missed the dose by a few hours. (I write this all casually but this has been a many-years prayer request and I'm grateful for the opportunity to research the Internet, because my doctors haven't helped.)
Note: I should add that younger women would probably only need Naproxen 3 or 4 days before menses to 3 or 4 days into menses. My headache cycle is longer due to perimenopause. The idea is to prevent the onset of symptoms, so start the regimen just before you normally would become symptomatic, and continue through one day past the usual duration of symptoms.
Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! Bless you.
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