I have been working on the new site now for a while(!) and will finally launch it in the coming days.. Thanks for staying tuned..
**UPDATE***
Moving. As of now. Our new address is Sx3inSC
I wanted a change, something sweet like my kiddos, so come check us out.
I reserve the right to change my mind though… 
Sam started his aquatics PT yesterday and he loved it! He LOVES water as it is but throw in two cute ladies with lots of energy, fun toys, and a therapy pool where he was the only one in it and my son was happy! He was ready to get in from the moment we made it to the back, clothes and all, and before leaving tried to hang on to Ms M just a little bit longer…..if only to dip his toe in the water…
The program just started in August of this year and they already have a waiting list -
His sessions are 30minutes long during which time he is challenged to do all the things we are working on in PT but in the water, like jumping, strength training, tossing rings into the appropriate location/tip etc. I smiled and laughed so much that I walked out with my cheeks hurting – it really was that great!
Next week I will attach some pictures.
It is cold here today, rainy, and windy. And somehow so fitting for the beginning of the season. I know, most of you have already set up your decorations and started playing Christmas songs but not me. Today was the first time that I loaded Christmas songs onto my player and pressed play. It was the first time that while I was out I stopped, in the rain, to look at the lights and decorations that adorn the power poles along the streets.
I still remember vividly our Finnish traditions even though I have been here now for 20+years. It is by far my favorite time of the year but our Christmas was different, more peaceful somehow. Not hurried and filled with so much stuff. “Buy less, live more” and for the longest it was enough for even me. But I also changed…
This year especially Syds and I find ourselves talking about how we want to minimize and really do the family thing. Enjoy our loved ones and spend less time worrying about the “perfect gift” – we all have so much, so much already, and are more than content on making sure we do the little things that we have missed over the last several years. My 15yr old said that she has come to worry about this time of the year because of that reason – having to worry about buying. and more buying. and covering everyone with a gift. Isn’t that crazy?
Our Christmas did not start until around the 22nd of the month and it was not until at least then that we ventured out to find our tree. The beginning of the month started off with our Independence Day celebration – December 6th – and was followed by Pikku Joulu or “Little Christmas” so this year, I will be celebrating Itsenäisyys Päivä with my Finnish friends and then we will gather some special people for Pikku Joulu and share some of what I remember at our home. And I am excited. I have missed my traditions, the part of me that I have to often try to forget in order to fit everything else in..
So this morning, I woke up with that feeling inside of me, the one that you feel when you ride a roller coaster and take the deepest dip. The feeling where your insides turn over ever so lightly, reminding you of being a child, the excitement… I saw my children off to school and I went with my list in hand to buy things needed for my traditional dinner. And I felt giddy. I felt like this very important piece of who I am has awoken. Finally. After being asleep, numb even.
It is very hard to explain..
As I walked through several stores and listened to the music, a woman walked up to me to look at the same item I had grabbed. And out of nowhere we started talking about our daughters – I do not even remember why – and she told me her story. She had Lyme disease the last three years and spent the last year and a half in a wheelchair, and this was her first month out of the chair. And then she gave thanks to our Lord for healing her, for seeing her family through a very difficult time. She and her husband had separated and were headed towards divorce – they were the couple who would never make it, she said, and she was left with their three children, alone. And yet, through all the struggles, pain, and anger, they made it. He took care of her and was just offered a job out of town but he turned it down for less money to stay here with his family.
She was giddy as well.
And I stood in awe, just listening… Goosebumps. Serious goosebumps.
It turns out that this lovely lady, Kimberly, is from Canada, Bowmanville to be exact, which is where Sydney’s Dad and 2nd Mom lived as well. We could not believe the “coincidence”! And then I told her that she was my appt with God today, my angel, my strength that I am sure he sent just for me. And we hugged for a long time, wished each other a merry Christmas, and she told me that she would pray for me. Without me ever telling her a thing……….
If I told you right now that I was having a rough moment before she arrived, would it make you believe the awesomeness of our Father and how He knows exactly when we need Him?..
So the thing about love…
I have been thinking about it for a long time, searching for the right words to write about it because it is love that is the most important thing, right? It says so clear as can be.
And this is where I am: I wish that every encounter I have ever had with love was wonderful but I do not think that is the case for many of us, certainly not for me. Sure, some of us have it all together and have been spared much but I think love as we know it is simply not what love is. But thank God that I am not here to show people my love, or my “idea” of it.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, NIV).
I am here to love as Jesus loves. The way He loves you and the way He loves me.
My love is not pure as His is, it is not easily forgiving and tender, always. But He does not leave us when we sin against Him, He does not let go of us when we are wrong. He does not hurt us back just because.
He loves us. HE LOVES US THROUGH IT ALL.
I have never thought of this all in this context until recently. As I walk my journey I am learning so much..from Him. On what is right and what is wrong. On what your word means, on what truly “for better or worse” is. About forgiveness. About love.
Kimberly, thank you. May God keep blessing you and your family. You are in my prayers as well.
And the Christmas tree, that is going up tomorrow evening.
Another start to the holiday season, another holiday over with. My Thanksgiving was anything but ordinary; it was not filled with people gathered around a home cooked meal, it was not filled with friends and family, it was not filled with anything familiar. And it was a pretty incredible Thanksgiving.
I was out of town for the holiday and for the first time I spent it alone – in thought – regrouping – praying – crying – feeling – thinking. All of those things.
I slept in, I stayed up, I touched little breakables and visited boutiques that kids are not allowed in. I spoke to strangers, I ate food that had nothing to do with turkey, I prayed and I read, I took naps.
I cried.
I walked, I enjoyed the scenery, I people watched, I prayed, I gave thanks.
I cried.
I had my phone off and I was disconnected from everything, everyone and though I was not sure that I would be able to make the trip, as Sam was sick and then I became sick, I made myself do it. I needed to do it. I had to do it.
And I did it.
And I am left feeling good. Even. And still as determined to be open to anything. To forgiveness. To love. To starting over. To listening to God and fighting for what is right.
Thanksgiving 2009. Not one I will forget anytime soon.
I hope yours was memorable as well.
Many familiar faces in this clip.. our friends… our family. Thank You Meyer Center, thank you teachers, thank you to each and everyone who shares in our children’s abilities.
clip is from The Peggy Denny Show that aired last week.
