Amazing Talent

Saw this video on my friend Deanna's blog. I had to repost it here...it will leave you speechless!

Happy Thanksgiving

"AHHH....I'm stuffed!" Just what the cook wants to hear. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! For the last couple of years we have celebrated this day sparingly. Two years ago we drove to KY to spend time with our friends and family there. Last year I made a turkey but none of the other delights for the day, Sean had to work and the kids could of cared less about what we ate as long as they got to eat.

But this year...like years past we have much to celebrate! We are so thankful for all of the many things God has blessed us with! This year we had a wonderful friend of ours over for dinner as well. Ken and Darlene have been great friends and have poured their love on us and our children in great and small ways. Darlene went to Chicago to be with her niece who just had eye surgery due to complications with diabetes. Keep her in prayer, the doctor is unsure if she will ever see again and she is only 24! So we had Ken come and have dinner with us. He is a joy to be around, full of life and laughter. In fact I have mentioned them before, and our family fall pics were taken in their back yard. The live on the lake and it is just breathtaking there. They have their home for sale right now so if anyone is interested in a lake front 3 bedroom 2 bath home with boat dock in southern Illinois let me know.

Anyway, I made all the typical yummy foods....

Herb (Mrs Dash Chicken Herbs Seasoning) Roasted turkey

Mashed Taters

Cranberry Stuffing

Gravy

Broccoli Casserole

Candied Sweet potatoes

Fresh Green beans

Fresh Cranberry sauce

Biscuits

Veggie Tray with dip

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pies

Oh and can't forget the Cheetos. Yes the kids, well two of them anyway had Cheetos with their turkey. Sara and Eli enjoyed helping me skin the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Sara really loved helping me prepared dinner today. I know that I will cherish today's time of teaching her how to peel the potatoes and watching her has she tried to teach Eli!

I have to say this year was the best Thanksgiving dinner we have had in a long time! One because of great food and company but even more so because all the diaper heads sat at the table...including Kristofer. As most of you who read my blog know, Kristofer is on the autism spectrum and has many sensory issues. Part of his sensory issues deal with oral issues, he can not stand certain textured foods and the smell and sights of some foods sends him into orbit and causes him to start gagging. Eating lunch at school (brings his lunch) has given him much practice about looking down at his own food so as not to gag or be grossed out. Normally when we eat dinner he usually eats super fast or not at the table. Today for the first time, he was able to sit with us at the table and not gag. There was no screaming, whining or complaining at all from him. YAY! It was a peaceful dinner! It was great.

Oh we have gone out to dinner and he has done well but that is usually because we are all eating the same thing as him (pizza or chicken & fries, ect). But today he chose to sit in front of the broccoli casserole and mashed taters...two things that normally send him gagging and running to the bathroom. I thank God for helping Kris be able to remember to use his social stories and remember to look down or away from the things that gross him out. It was pure heaven to have everyone sitting and enjoy their dinner and participating in the conversations.

This week we put the tree up and I painted and created a new ornament for SeanPatrick. Something I haven't done at all. All the kids have pics of them from their 1st Christmas on the tree. Well this year I decided I wanted a pic of every one of my precious children on the tree. Here is a picture of the ornament I made for SeanPatrick...

You can also see a little bit of the popcorn and cranberry garland Sara and I made. We had a great time last night stringing the popcorn and berries. I plan to make another strand or two to make the tree look fuller. The tree is a bit lopsided and bare despite the ornaments. Next year I hope to get a real tree. This year we were planning to but we are going to Florida for vacation, unfortunately not at Christmas, before hand but we are thankful we get to go. It's been 3 years since the kids have been back to Florida. They are so excited! Anyway we decided to save the money we would have spent to get a tree and use it to go to Florida. I think its a great trade.

Happy Birthday SeanPatrick

Today 12 years ago our precious little boy SeanPatrick was born quiet on this earth but rejoicing in heaven in Jesus' arms. The joy and pain of that day is still as fresh as if it was today. How I wish I could hold him close again, how I wish he was here to be the big brother to Jaron and the rest of my diaperheads. Two years ago I posted the whole story about our precious little guy. If you want to read about him go here. This year his birthday sorta crept up on me. I knew it was coming, a momma never forgets their baby's birthday even those in heaven. But this year I guess I have been so busy with ministry and the excitement that we get to go home on vacation for a week that I just haven't thought about taking time to plan something special for this day. I was listening to the radio the other day and the song below came on. They were doing an interview about the song and when it played it hit me so hard I lost it. I bawled my eyes out listening to the interview and the song. I have to warn you if you listen to the song you may need tissues. I just have to declare that even if I had known the outcome of SeanPatrick's life I would have carried him the whole time! Memorizing the hiccups, kicks and movements. I cherish those memories more than anyone could every know. I remember every detail of his birthday, the cold rainy day, the smells outside and inside the hospital. I remember how he felt in my arms and how wide his hands were...Jaron had wide hands like his big brother.
SeanPatrick Eugene Kelly, I love you baby boy! Happy Birthday! I hope you are having fun dancing on streets of gold, running through fields of sweet grass and flowers and most importantly are enjoying the warm embrace of Jesus today.






I Will Carry You
by Selah

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?
People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One who's chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says

I've shown her (HIS) photographs of time beginning
Walked her (HIM) through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her (HIM)like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One who's chosen Me
To carry you

*I added (HIM)

Fall Fun

What a fantastic family we have been so blessed with!

My wonderful Diaperheads! They are growing up way too fast! This was taken at some friend's house Friday. That is their dog Cloe in the back. Cloe is a black shepherd and she loves the kids! She climbs up in the van when we come every by every time!
Kris and Sara were rolling this pumpking down into the leaves and then the other would go searching for it. They had a blast doing that.

Kristofer's favorite spot in Ken and Darlene's back yard!

Our little model!

School pictures

So I haven't been writing. To be honest I just haven't been in the mood to. I have so many other fires burning that I just haven't been all that interested in writing. But I will get back to it I am sure. I wanted to share some recent pictures. The kids had their school pics taken in Sept. We didn't purchase them but every student regardless of whether they are purchased receives an ID card with their pics on it. So I scaned and cropped them so I could share. Not the best but relatively recent. I am hoping that this week I can take the kids to a friends house that sits on the lake and take some fun fall pics. We shall see what the week holds for us.

Oh an announcement must be mentioned! The last week of Oct. Sara lost not just one tooth but both bottom teeth! She was SO excited! The 2nd one came out during our Fall Festival at church while she was apple bobbing. She thinks its wonderful that she lost them before Eli has. Eli has always been a little but farther along in developement than she is. So this is a first for her.

A variety of things ...

Ok so again I have been super busy and to be quite honest just not in the mood to write. Sorta been over whelmed with activities, family things and just stuff with the kids. But I wanted to post this link



And give you all some great links to Pastor Deanna Shrodes site. She is continuing the "Just Say It" Series and I want you to read it. I meant to post what she had written last week but never got around to it. So instead I am going to give you links to each topic. Make sure you check them out, there is so great stuff there!

Just Say It Series :

Honoring Your Pastor
Before and After Church Bombardment
How to Help Your Pastor when they are Bombarded
People will be held Accountable for How They Treat the Pastor's Children

Deanna is continuing the series so keep checking her blog. I will try to keep links to them coming your way. For now I have a house that is screaming in pain because it needs to be cleaned! So I am off of her for now.

Just Say It Series - "Are You A Trash Can?"

Pastor Deanna Shrodes has hit the nail on the head today! WOW! I hope you "hear" what she is saying today. I am dealing with the "trash talk" this week! Let me say this right now just to get it off my chest...I AM NOT PERFECT! Let me say that again, "I AM NOT PERFECT!" Wow imagine that, the Pastor's wife is not perfect! Hmmm now I feel a little better. I was told a few hurtful things this week that someone has said about me, I wish this person had stopped the conversation but instead she gave a 'listening ear" and then shared it with me. How is that supporting your pastors I don't know! But this is another blog for another time. Just read what PD has to say about this! Pastor Deanna I love your honesty and openness!

*************************

"Are You a Trash Can?"

If you listen to people talk about your pastor in a negative fashion, you are not special.

Please realize this. Even if you don't respond to the trash talk and you are just "giving a listening ear", you are not being trusted with the information because you are respected, or revered. The truth is, the person gossiping about your pastor admires you as much as they do a trash can.

Sometimes people in the church will come to the pastor and say, "You know Pastor, Sally said some things to me the other day that were on her heart about you and about the church, and she trusted me with her feelings on all of this. She feels comfortable in sharing with me out of concern and asked me to pray about it, because I've been here at the church for a while, and well, she trusts me. I just feel that it would be a good idea for me to tell you all of her complaints and see if you can change things so she'll be happy."

The truth is, Sally doesn't look to you as a trusted leader -- she looks to you as a trash receptacle. If I go to Busch Gardens and eat cotton candy and drink a soda and then take my trash to a stranger in the park and say, "excuse me, can I ask you to hold this for me?" does that mean I trust or respect them? No, it takes absolutely no trust in someone to hand them your rubbish. You don't even have to really know them. All you need to have is a person willing to stand there and take it. It takes no brains or wisdom to be a trash can. All you have to do is stand there.

Please, please, please realize that by listening to all of these complaints you are NOT bringing yourself to any level of greater esteem in the congregation, you are just showing your pastor your true colors. When you dump a bunch of this on your pastor, they aren't appreciative of it -- they have huge red flags about you. But most likely they aren't going to look at you and say, "Jenny, I've got your number..." (Hey, that could be a song...) But let me tell you, they DO have your number. When you keep regurgitating other people's junk back to your pastor they start to be extremely careful around you. Most of them wish they could tell you, they really do. But most likely they are not up for another power struggle, and they are way too exhausted. So let me let you in on this secret.

When anyone comes to me all the time with negative information that people in the church are saying, it doesn't signal to me that they are smart or respected or "in the know"...it signals to me that they have a problem. It signals to me that if they are not in leadership I should probably never put them there barring a complete transformation of the Holy Ghost. When someone constantly spits out bad things that others are saying about me or my husband, I realize they must be giving off vibes or even outright statements to others in the church that they can come to them and talk about us. What about them makes others so comfortable to pour out their trash to them? A trash can usually has a sign on it that signals to passersby that it is indeed a waste can. Many times it will just say, "WASTE" or TRASH". Are you wearing such a sign spiritually? Does everyone in your church know that they can come to you anytime and throw in their verbal trash?

Your pastor is not just anyone -- they are God's gift to the church! Before you think I'm just puffed up in the head or making up stuff please go read your Bibles. Turn to Ephesians 4:11. It says right there plain as day that the pastor is a gift to God's church. Some of you have treated your pastor as anything but a gift and in fact others of you have returned the gift back to where it came from. Some of you reading this have been part of a forced resignation at some point, I guarantee it. For shame. Please do not think you are trusted, special or esteemed in any way among men because you have chosen to listen to rubbish about the gift of God. Some of you don't verbally say it but you read emails or facebook comments that people write about your leaders. You may not post about it and chime in, but neither do you correct it. Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." What do you do when people trash talk your pastor in person, on the phone, or on facebook? I'll tell you what you should do -- boldly confront the person and demand that they stop. Tell them that you will not just sit there and let them continue this evil unchallenged. I talked to a pastor and his precious wife the other day that deleted their facebooks because some former members were trashing them. I am telling you as sure as I'm standing here that if you are doing this and keep up the behavior you will split hell wide open some day.

I generally know who my closest supporters and loyal friends are in the church. They are those who tell me that no one ever dares tell them anything negative about me or my family. They would be too scared of the reaction from those who love me dearly, as well they should be. I'm telling you, when it comes to my dearest friends, no one in the world can tell me a bad thing about them. Not a thing. My hand would be up in two seconds flat silencing them and saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold on there...you're talking about one of my dearest friends and I simply can't stand here and listen to you say these things..." The last thing I would do is listen for even a minute to anyone run down a friend of mine. I refuse to be anyone's waste basket. I'm not a trash can, I'm a daughter of God. As a daughter of God, I'm not a trash receptacle for junk -- on the contrary, I'm a pure vessel set apart for Him. I don't want any junk going in, or coming out.

Again some of you reading this probably wonder what my church people think who are reading this. The answer to that is, they've heard it all before straight from the pulpit, and this is pretty mild in comparison to many things I've said to our church along these lines. Many pastors will not be bold enough to tell you that if you listen to this stuff you are not special and in fact you are greatly deceived and in fact headed for destruction if you don't stop. But I have the nerve. So if you are trash talking your pastor or their spouse or kids, consider yourself informed and accountable for what you've just heard.

* I'll pick up this blog series this coming Monday-Thursday, and will be posting some other things Saturday and Sunday.

Just Say It Series

I was planning to post every part of the series that Deanna is doing about what Pastors want to say and think but I have decided I am just going to post links to it. I may post the entire blog a few times like I did yesterday but if you are really interested in what she has to say as I am go check her out over here.