Prayer for the Day::February 23

Yesterday after church, a few parents sat and talked with Father Peter for a while. He was talking about using (and how to use) the Book of Common Prayer in our daily lives. He shared one of his favorite morning prayers, found on page 461, and I love it:

"This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen."

And I add my Amen to that too.
♥ Melody

This Moment::Ash Wednesday

Photo by GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

On Wednesday, after taking Michael to Shriner's Hospital for a check up, we stopped by church for the noon service for Ash Wednesday. This is our first time celebrating Lent, and the service was beautiful.

Today, the church posted pictures that the newspaper had taken, and Steve, Michael and I were in one of them :)
♥ Melody

7/52::Milestones

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2015

Okay, so it's not exactly a picture of Michael, but in a way it is.

Michael is developmentally delayed, going through milestones years after his age mates. Last week, I walked into the bathroom and saw the faucet had been painted with fingernail polish. I asked him about it, but he didn't understand, so I took him to the bathroom and showed him and asked where the pink nail polish was. "Oh color?" he asked, and he took me to my desk, where my red fingernail polish sat, capped. I told him that if he ever wanted to use the nail polish (he never had before!), that he needed to ask me to help him. "Okay." was his response :)

Playing in the toilet. Climbing on top of the kitchen table. And now fingernail polish. Each one has brought a smile to my face. They didn't know if he'd breathe on his own. Didn't know if he'd crawl. Doubted that he'd walk or potty train. Yet here he is, doing all of those things. Milestones in development that, even though we get to a whole lot slower, still come. And that makes me pretty happy :)

BTW, I've scrubbed off the toothpaste splatters and as much of the mineral deposits and soap residue that will come off. LOL Taking a picture of something is an entirely different way of looking at something, for sure ;) (And I'm so glad that the nail polish stayed put. As weird as it sounds, it is important to me.)

♥ Melody

February 12th - "44"

He turned 44 last week. I saw the first grey hair in his beard (finally!!). And I think he is handsomer now that he was 20 years ago when we met (and he was looking good back then!)
Happy Birthday to my sweetheart, my best friend & confidant, Steve! ♥

♥ Melody

6/52::Watching "Barney"

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2015

Michael has never been a tv watcher. He likes the family to watch tv and will sometimes sit down and watch for a couple of minutes, but then he gets bored and walks away. On the 11th (of February), though, he watched a 26 minute episode of Barney (the dinosaur) on youtube. Yay!! Maybe someday soon, he'll even be able to enjoy a movie at the theater :)
♥ Melody

On Becoming Real::February 11

I just had such a powerful, emotional experience that I had to write it down before I forgot.

I was reading in Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly and I read this:

As I look back on what I've learned about shame, gender, and worthiness, the greatest lesson is this: If we're going to find our way out of shame and back into each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light. To set down those lists of what we're supposed to be is brave. To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.

At this point in the story, I smile, thinking about becoming real. Becoming real is synonymous to me with The Velveteen Rabbit's skin horse. In fact, I've written about it here.

The next line that Brene wrote totally took me off guard.

I'll leave you with this passage from the 1922 children's classic, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

A sob choked out of me, and I offered up a prayer to God that simply said, "Thank you for the stories, fables, legends, and parables that link us all together. For those writings that tie us all together and all we have to do is mention a part in a story and we understand each other on a deep level without even having to describe in depth how we feel." (I'm not sure why I "felt" it so strongly though. I have that strong of a reaction very rarely, so they make such an impression when they do happen. I believe it was a visceral response to feeling such a deep connection to another human being - it felt like she had read my mind.)

What a blessing that we have those things: scripture stories, children's stories, novels, tv shows, movies. That all of us somehow can deeply connect with messages in those stories and are connected to each other with and through them.

I'll leave you with the rest of the quote by Brene that I read after I'd composed myself, and then the quote that we both thought of when we thought about "becoming real":

(I'll leave you with this passage from the 1922 children's classic, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.) My friend DeeDee Parker Wright sent it to me last year with a note that said, "This is what being Wholehearted is all about." I agree. It's a beautiful reminder of how much easier it is to become real when we know we're loved:

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Yes, exactly.
♥ Melody

Know Thyself::February 6

I was sitting and pondering, and the thought, "Know thyself" popped into my head. So of course, me being me, had to research where it came from and who said it.

"'Know Thyself’ was written on the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Legend tells that the seven sages of ancient Greece, philosophers, statesmen and law-givers who laid the foundation for western culture, gathered in Delphi to inscribed ‘know thyself’ at the entry to its sacred oracle. The adage subsequently became a touch-stone for western philosophers, and extended its reach as the influence of Greek philosophy expanded."

"When asked what was the most difficult thing, Thales replied, 'To know thyself.'
When asked what was easiest, he replied, 'To give advice.'"
From ThySelfKnow.com

"Know Thyself.
If men would search diligently their own minds, and examine minutely their thoughts and actions, they would be more cautious in censuring the conduct of others, as they would find in themselves abundantly sufficient cause for reproof."

"The adage also teaches us to set a proper value upon ourselves, and to be careful not to do anything that may degrade us. It is not known to whom we are indebted for this golden rule; we only learn that it is of very long standing, and was held in such high estimation by the ancients, that it was placed over the doors of their temples, and it was also supposed by them, that 'E coelo descen- dit,' it came down from heaven.' 'Man know thyself!' tins precept from on high Came down, imagined by the Deity; Oh! be the words indelibly imprest On the live tablet of each human breast."
FromYourVibration.com

And now you know also! :)
♥ Melody

5/52::The Eyeglasses::February 3

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2015

Michael found Matt's old pair of glasses, and now he'll put them on and wander around the house looking at things in a different way :) I'm sure that things look like they would in a fun-house mirror & that's probably why he does it! Well, that and that he really likes glasses - he loves his SpongeBob sunglasses too.

One of these days, I need to get him back into the eye doctor and see if they can tell if he needs glasses. Everything is just a little trickier for a special needs kid - he won't be able to tell them which direction the E if pointing, or what shape is on the pediatric eye chart. They'll have to do some tests and give it a best guess.

Anyway, it was Michael's idea for me to take his picture in "his" glasses :) I heart this kid a lot!
♥ Melody