First Day of School Prayer

It was a tough good-bye this morning.
We held up traffic as he carefully walked up the big steps of the bus.
He waved out of the window, and I watched the bus drive down the road.

As our son with Down syndrome starts his first day of school today, this is our prayer:

Dear LORD,
You are such an awesome God!  You are so good and faithful to all of Your promises.  I know that You have watched over our son in the past few years, and that You will continue to do so, especially today as he has his first day of school.

Forgive me, LORD for my times of doubt and unbelief.  Forgive me for the times that I forget to trust in you and Your unfailing promises and Your perfect plan.

Thank-you, LORD for so many blessings.  Thank-you for an amazing, supportive, school community.  Thank-you for our principal, our advocate. Thank-you for compassionate and loving teachers.  Thank-you for our friendly, lovely bus driver.  Thank-you for older siblings.

LORD, please protect our son.  Please give the teachers an extra dose of patience when he doesn't listen and just wants to play outside on the slide!  Fill them with lots of patience, peace, understanding, and lots of energy (which they will need).  Help Seber to feel loved and included.  Help others to include him and also to be patient with him.  Give us wisdom to know how to best advocate for him and help him as he begins the part-time kindergarten program at our school.  This is so new to our school community, and so LORD, I pray for support, love, and acceptance.

In Your precious Son's name,
Amen

In Good Hands

"In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him" (Psalm 95:4).

In Good Hands

They thanked us for coming, while we were the ones using up their valuable time.

They had printed off pages of common sign words.

She had her pen and paper ready.

They were eager to learn as much about our son as they could in the short time that we visited.  

This week, we spent 45 minutes visiting with Seber's SK teacher and EA.  He enjoyed exploring his new classroom, and meeting his wonderful teachers.  We were very thankful for that opportunity.

  

We are SO blessed to be part of such an amazing community.  We are so blessed with a caring staff, a principal who advocates on our behalf, and SK teachers who are so keen to help our son learn as much as possible and to reach his potential.  They have such a desire for him to have a positive, enriching learning experience.  They are receptive to suggestions and seek ways to improve the learning environment which would be beneficial to Seber and all of the students.  They are loving, caring, and compassionate image bearers of our Lord, and view all their students as God's precious children.  We are so thankful for our amazing school community.

In just a few days, our son will be hopping on the bus with his older siblings.  His face lights up and he points to himself when we talk about school and the bus.  As crazy nervous as I am, I know that he'll be in good hands.  His older siblings will be fierce protectors and assist him when needed.  His teachers will embrace him with open arms, and allow his little, silly, loving personality to shine!  I know that he'll be in good hands with the staff and with his siblings, but I also know that He is being held in the hands of the One who holds the whole universe!!

What is Down syndrome?

"For we are [all] God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

What is Down syndrome?

A medical definition would be:  Down syndrome is a condition when a person is born with a full or partial copy of the 21st chromosome, resulting in 47 chromosomes in each cell, rather than the typical number of 46 chromosomes.  There are 3 types of Down syndrome- translocation, mosaicism, and trisomy 21.  Trisomy 21 is the most common type of Down syndrome.  With trisomy 21, every cell in the  body has an extra 21st chromosome.

There are certain common characteristics that SOME people with Down syndrome may have (such as almond shaped eyes, flat profile/face, single crease on the palm, shorter fingers, etc).  There are also some common challenges that SOME people with Down syndrome may have (such as expressive language).

Recently, I spoke at our school about Down syndrome.  I took an ECE course about special needs.  I have researched A LOT about Down syndrome, yet as we are navigating these waters, I still ask myself, "What is Down syndrome"?

To me, I  see our son as simply our precious son.  

A little boy who loves to play games.

A little boy who loves to play sports.

A little boy who loves to try new things and amazes us EVERY day with his accomplishments!

A little boy who likes to act silly (sometimes too silly)

A little boy who loves to laugh and is often very content.  But, also a little boy who gets easily angered (and flicks his shoe off of his feet over the balcony at church).  A little boy who gets sad, scared, hurt, and who experiences every other emotion.

A little boy who loves to do crafts and colour or draw

A little boy who loves his siblings

A little boy who loves his parents

 A little boy who loves to play, have fun, and explore.

A little boy who is extremely tactile (especially in church with long hair from women sitting infant of us in church!!)

A little boy who is bright and loves to learn new things (such as the tons of sign words that he has learned).
A little boy who is so loving and forgiving.
A little boy who is so gifted in so many areas.
A little boy who is created in God's image.
A little boy who has taught us so much and has blessed us in so many ways.
A little boy who is so full of love.

He may have special needs, various delays, and some common characteristics of someone with Down syndrome, but that is not what defines who he is; that is just part of who he is- our precious son!

One Thousand Gifts (continued)

 "Learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow" 

(Isaiah 1:17).

He couldn't resist sponsoring another child.  

He has a heart for others.  

He has a heart to do good and "to do right".  

He has a very giving heart and a very loving heart.  This spills out to his children, myself, and to others.  I feel so blessed and thankful that our children have this kind of father.  It is my hope and prayer that our children will learn from their father how to love and care for others.  

Yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day.  As I remembered my father and the fun-loving dad that he was, I also was able to celebrated my father-in-law as well as my children's father, the "Best Dad Ever"!  Our children are so blessed to have such a loving dad who brings so much joy, happiness, optimism, and fun into our home.  

Of course, my children have the best earthly father in the world (sorry to all the other fathers out there), we all ought to give thanks for our heavenly Father, the best Father! He loves us all unconditionally and He will always "Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow".  

Continuing to give thanks...

-a loving heavenly Father

 -the best dad ever!! (the mug says it all)

 -their love for games

-how he enjoys to read (when he has time)

 -their love for sports

-a visual reminder of our awesome trips to Ethiopia

-how she helped create the picture collage

-our attempt at a family picture

 -his interest in sports and the outdoors

 -her creativity

 -how she loves the extreme

 -how he plays and spends time with his younger siblings
-having a nice evening together

 -how they all look up to him

-learning about God's awesome creation and pond life
-that her daddy was able to join her on her class trip

-his love for animals

-a day of golf with my son (and nephew and brother-in-law)
-a successful fundraiser for our school

-how he managed the children and a pool party for our daughter all day!
-her great friends and the fun they have

-perfect kite flying weather

-his choice of reading material

-how he loves to do what his sister does (or encourages him to do)

-how they like to go "shopping" together
-how well they play together (most of the time)!!

-enjoying Paul's hard work (on our deck)

-craft time

-how they have so much fun together as cousins/friends

-how Paul and the older children enjoyed a time of worship with amazing Christian concerts (and rides)
-the heart for Compassion and the many children that were sponsored!