Archive for the ‘Blessings’ Tag
Seeing change in me
I’m not the same person I used to be.
Multiple personalities?
Not exactly…changed…for the better.
My priorities have been rearranged…maybe …or maybe I just have new priorities.
I was up late getting Twelve to sleep for the night.
Once that would have upset me because I needed to be on top of my game in the morning…for what?
For pointless meetings and emails that lead to what?
Twelve slept all night…good for her…good for us!
That’s a change in priorities.
I think…if I can sum it up…the biggest change is that all that I do is not just about me…and I’m good with that.
It sounds strange to say it out loud…but you can feel fulfilled…significant…even when it isn’t all about you.
No…you can feel better.
I sense God in this.
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight…” (I Corinthians 3:19)
I’m finally getting it.
When a baby spits-up on me today, my heart goes out to the baby…not for me. After all…its just a t-shirt…I can change.
I like me better this way.
“Therefore, whoever is in Christ is a new creation…the old has gone…the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Amen for the new!
Touching moment recognized
Filed under: Memories | Tags: Blessings, Children, Legacy, Love
Leave a Comment So Ten says to me, “Dad, when you hold Twelve and make her go to sleep…it’s pretty!”
Blown away by a six-year-old’s observation.
It’s good for your daughter to see a man in a tender situation.
I’m glad she saw…glad she recognized tenderness.
I hope she files that away until the time she starts looking for a man of her own.
Isn’t life good?
Big family defined by Seven
Filed under: Reflection, Seven | Tags: Children, Big Family, Grace, Blessings
Leave a Comment Seven related a conversation he had with a girl in his high school summer school class today.
She asked him what it is like to be a part of a big family.
These stories always scare me because you never know what Seven will say, being autistic.
Then again, Seven’s comments have been fodder for good posts, term papers and even college entrance essays.
So Seven told her, “it’s like a place where you are loved no matter what you look like or what’s wrong with you.”
Choke…sob…he did it again.
Maybe I will write that novel, only as the ghost writer for Seven.
He went on to say that coming from a family like ours it is easy for him to easily accept other people he meets.
Sleep…who needs it?
Filed under: Reflection, Uncategorized | Tags: Children, Big Family, Blessings
Leave a Comment 
She eats at 12:30 am…and again around 3:00 am and again at 6:00 am.
So do our teenagers!
Only difference the teens don’t need us to feed them.
You could say this is the downside of bringing home a newborn at this age.
I say it is a small sacrifice to experience this amazing journey one more time.
I feel like the guy who paid once to get into the theater but has sneaked into half a dozen other theaters for a freebee.
Or like the guy who bought one train ticket but hasn’t gotten off the train for days.
Better by the dozen
Filed under: God, Reflection | Tags: God, Children, Big Family, Blessings, audacious
Leave a Comment Our new Twelve is coming!
I met her today.
Twelve is just five weeks new…a sweet little girl…with Down’s Syndrome and a heart problem.
The heart problem can be fixed just as soon as she reaches the ten pound mark.
Or as Eleven put it, “we’re going to open her heart and pour in love so she she can get better!”
Pretty accurate.
You never remember how small and helpless they are…but I’m going to have the opportunity to live through every day, Lord willing, for this starfish.
Like I often say, God has given me a wonderful gift…the chance to re-live the best days of life here on the planet again and again.
Like the movie Groundhog Day but starting from good and getting better.
She is an amazing gift…she makes us rich beyond our wildest dreams.
Life is good…God is good…God is audacious!
I’m very thankful.
A reminder of the fragility of life
Filed under: Reflection, Uncategorized | Tags: Blessings, Children, God, Grace
Leave a Comment So we were in Lincoln Park scoping out Four’s possible new digs for next year.
Seven called from the back of the car…”Ten doesn’t look so good!”
Yikes – she was having a siezure!
We had only seen this once before…about three years prior…and that was scary!
I still have the image burned into my brain of a small three-year-old on a gurney in the ER with 14 doctors and nurses anxiously hovering over her.
Three days later she was ready to go home but we knew she would forever be prone to seizures.
Three years is a long time…time to be lulled into forgetting about bad stuff.
But just when you think everything is going smoothly…when you are half way through your TO Do list…the unexpected pops up.
This was a reminder of the fragility of life.
Not something that could be hugged away like a oowieee or a loose tooth.
She needed professional medical attention and fast!
But we were in traffic in the middle of nowhere.
Not exactly the middle of nowhere…that DMZ between downtown Chicago and the ‘burbs.
What kind of hospitals do they have around here?
Then Four sprang into action.
She jumped into the back seat and began talking softly to Ten while relaying her condition to me.
I pulled a fast U-Turn and floored it for Children’s Memorial.
Four kept Ten awake and her brain focused.
The longest 12 minutes of my life!
In the ER she came to life the minute they stuck her with an IV. Thanks God!
Two hours later we were on the way to McDonald’s to get her favorite meal.
Thinking about the days events as a dozed off, it occurred to me that we saved her life today. We know God saved her life but we get credit for an assist.
What a reminder of the fragility of life and the role we can play in each other’s lives.
We’re watching each other very closely and carefully right now but I’m sure we’ll start taking each other and life for granted in a few…
But I hope we don’t!
Blessing update
Pete is keeping me pretty busy but I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the spate of recent blessings.
Fanfare please!
Four made the Dean’s List in college – the second time – what a blessing she is and will be to the world in the future!
Three will graduate from college this Saturday and with honors! What a blessing she is and will be to the world in the future!
Seven received a Human Relations award in high school for having displayed real concern for others and promoting positive and caring relationships. What a blessing he is!
Six and Seven both have 3.0 GPA’s as we enter the final lap of this year in high school!
Five earned an A in her class at Community College and is on her way to a 4.0!
Ten is attending school both morning and afternoon because she wants to be just like Nine!
Nine was player of the game in baseball. She has made an out every time she has played second base and got six hits the last game!
If I missed anything I’ll be back to correct my mistake. I’m so proud of all of you, even if i didn’t have anything to write today!
Paying in forward
Filed under: God, Uncategorized | Tags: Big Family, Blessings, God, Thanksgiving
Leave a Comment It was a movie in 2000.
It is a great concept…instead of paying someone back for a good deed…pay it forward and help someone out in the future.
I’m seeing it in action in our home.
Children we have, with God’s help, rescued are rescuing Pete.
Pete?
Pete is the code name for the new little guy Mom brought home a week or so ago.
Pete has a lot of issues…maybe some of them can be fixed with a lot of love and attention.
And we have the gang that can supply the remedy.
He was an only child.
No any more.
When one of us get’s tired of playing with him, another steps up to the plate.
It worked for many of them…us.
It helped Lucy have seven times more life than the doctors predicted.
I’m praying…we’re praying it can work for Pete.
Here’s a quite from the movie, “Do me a favor…save my life!” (Jerry)
We’re trying Pete.
Twenty years in little league
Filed under: God, Memories, Reflection | Tags: Big Family, Blessings, Children
Leave a Comment Sounds like I’m delayed?
Actually, I’ve spent 20 years with one child or another in some type of kid sport.
Currently going through baseball with Nine.
Here’s what I’ve learned…evolved…it’s all about her and not about me.
Sounds simple enough but the reason I’m there is to make this a memorable experience for her.
I must confess there was a time when I thought it was about me…
About me being “Mr. Great Dad”…about me being a great coach…about winning the game.
I’ve finally realized..well, I’ve actually had moments of realization before this…that it is all about her (his) experience.
I can’t tell you how many games Nine’s team has won or lost this year.
About all I can tell you is she is getting better at baseball and having fun…and we’re experiencing it together.
Know what I like best?
Walking home together…holding hands…caught in the moment.
I just can’t stop thinking about how blessed I am in so many ways and especially to get to do over so many fun things.
It’s like that movie Ground Hog Day, only I’m not trying to get it right.
I think I was right 20 years ago.
I’m just getting more chances to appreciate things I may have been too busy to remember on an earlier day and to savor the moment because now I know how fast they are gone.
It’s just different…mellowed…like a fine wine.
And the adventure will continue, God willing, because there is Ten, Eleven, and probably Twelve.
Bringing work home
Filed under: God, Reflection | Tags: Be the change, Blessings, Boot Camp for the Real World, Children, God, Hope, Thanksgiving
Leave a Comment She’s at it again…bringing her work home.
I’m talking about Mom and the child she brought home from work yesterday.
A child in need with lots of issues.
A boy.
Is he #12?
Didn’t we retire that number?
Is he 13?
Do we assign a jersey if we’re not sure how long he is staying?
Do we call him #71 for the number who have passed through our family…sounds like food going through the digestive process…not a bad analysis…we need to process…digest the newcomer.
Here’s what blows me down, Popeye…he has some serious issues…not to mention 12 toes and 12 fingers…or that he barfs every time he eats…we are not phased by this.
I think we are amazing…I’m so proud of my family…Lucy taught us to have compassion for those less fortunate…the least of our brothers and sisters.
Our children have love to spare for those that are otherwise unlovable.
Well blow me down!
God has given them…given us the gift of compassion…a priceless gift…we REALLY are being conformed to the character of Christ!
How can you say this without sounding proud?
I don’t want to…I’m mostly surprised…I feel like the caterpillar that all of a sudden notices he’s grown wings.
What am I trying to say?
I think I am realizing that caring for Lucy changes us all…for the better…eternally speaking.
It gave us all hearts…hearts for those in need.
This isn’t the last you’ll hear from me about this. I need to ponder this some more.
