Thanks...

Many thanks to those of you that prayed for the issue I eluded to in a previous post. I appreciate it so much.

Sam was having a lot of trouble adjusting to grade 4 and to his teacher in particular. He felt she was really intense and sarcastic. He was always tired in class and couldn't focus at all so he would have so much homework to do to catch up. Turns out he was laying awake in bed until 10 or 11pm every night stressing out. Stomach aches, headaches, etc. Poor dude.

I won't go into all of the details here because it isn't really appropriate to do so. I don't want to turn this into a bashing thing.

Yesterday Ian and I met with his teacher during the last period of the day and even though there were more than a few awkward moments, it went very well. Ian did the majority of the talking and he expressed Sam's concerns very well. Sam was pleased when we told him about what was said.

This morning he woke up unusually chipper and when I asked him how he slept he said he fell asleep right away. I was so happy to hear that. Apparently his teacher was very kind to him today. Whew.

This morning at my Ladies Coffee Hour we painted pottery. We were talking about our spiritual gifts and our efforts were to reflect what we believe are our gifts. I believe that one of my gifts is encouragement. I always try to encourage those around me whenever I can. I also believe that forgiveness is another. It's been buried for awhile, but I'm ready to pull that gift out, dust it off and use it often. So, I painted the words encouragement and forgiveness and decorated it in a really lame, not artistically gifted way. :-) I'll post a picture when it comes back. It has to be glazed and cooked or something. Not sure. Not artistic, remember??

I really enjoyed this morning, but it ended on a bit of a low note. There is a very nice woman there who insisted on tending to Jordan so that I could work on my artwork. She asked if she should pick her up when she was fussing and I said that I really wanted her to take her nap so the entire day wouldn't be thrown off. When she wouldn't settle down, I picked her up and gave her to a friend to hold while I got what I needed out of her diaper bag, then took her back to change her. When I returned, this same friend took her again.

When the woman was getting ready to leave, she leaned over and said "Before I get upset and in case I am mistaken I wanted to ask you... do you have a problem with me holding your daughter?"

I was floored. I tried to reassure her that this wasn't the case at all! She just kept saying "oh ok, ok" and brushing me off, but I could tell that she was really offended. A few minutes later I went over to her again to apologize for making her feel as though I had a problem with her and she still seemed hurt saying she knows she's old, etc. I think we parted ok, but I still feel sad about it. I don't like to hurt anyone.

Take a look at this video. It's very moving, so you might want to grab a tissue or two. I was included in an email asking if I would consider being a part of this during our Thanksgiving service. I have decided to accept. I am still working on what my testimony will say. I could fill a billboard!



What would your cardboard testimony say?