A total solar eclipse - amazing photos and animation

We are part of something bigger...

clipped from www.tomvictor.com

For the NanoIpod, Lord, thank You!

I am using this as a journal to highlight my journey taking care of my precious daughter for whom I have transformed my life since she was born, as all parents do. Now I have someone else that will take a piece of my heart forever. And, for her, I am learning all I can about learning: the brain (cognition) and the heart (affect). What I know of the spirit (hands, heart, and mind together) I have known a long time; as an ordained minister this has been my journey for a lifetime, I believe. Education has been secondarily my vocation a long, long time as well, but now has become primary as I seek to enable my daughter, who is "on the spectrum," to live the fullest life possible.
Now, Lord,
Enable my life to be Your hands and heart, mind and strength for my dear pure one.
Give me compassion fresh each day for her struggle to overcome inclinations not helpful.
For every major and minor moment of success, Lord, give me a cheering heart.
Thank you so much, dear Lord God, today for the nano Ipod that,
full of her 900+ photos and favorite CDs
was able to give her the sweetest smile I have seen since she was born
and in sleep showed such angelic countenance and peace.
And, Lord, please
Comfort my mind when I fear for the future of her life.
Inspire me with peace as I saw today in her face; let me feel Your calm assurance
as nowhere and no one can give but You.
Grant us peace in the soul,
no more and no less.
With love and faith for Your gentle, almighty powerful tender touch,
Amen.

My Project: A Dream that needs all the love...

We watched the annual Christmas showing of "The sound of Music" and the words of the song of the Mother Superior about finding your dream has the feelings I am feeling. She says basically, "Find a dream that will need all the love you can give, every day of your life, for as long as you live." For me this means to find a dream that takes all your talents and abilities and experience. I thought it was impossible in my case because I am making such a U-turn in my life now, from full-time ministry to educator for my 13 year old daughter affected by Asperger syndrome. I must be available to her dependably at home, and that is all I can manage. I have been able to nearly complete a Masters of Education, e-learning, technology and design entirely online. I will finish in March. The degree requires a final project, and to my amazement, it is fast becominng an integrated project that will need all I can give! I can't say more except this is reaching to my innermost heart. May God bless us everyone whose lives carry love for an ASD affected child! May 2007 be the best!

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care

I can't believe it is almost Christmas Eve and I have had to drop out of the world to get my health together and my assignments done by tomorrow night when I am going to church at least once in the evening so we can light candles and see precious people who love God as we do and celebrate the moment of God's decision to gift God's people, free and without strings, with grace and forgiveness. An example of pure love, just for us. No one more precious than another; why is that so hard for people to get? It is almost Christmas Eve, just a few hours.
Dear God, thank you for the love you show, the grace, and for the walk today that has not made me too aching to work tonight on the assignments I need to turn in now. Help me get to it. And bless all who have special needs children, especially those on the spectrum. Amen.

Help me Lord, post tonight for JIU, and keep up through this exhaustion

Today I had a hard time because I had responsiblities both early and late; choir practice early and a Christmas musical for Rebecca in the evening. This is very hard for me and my plans were cut short by a migraine mid-day. I headed off reflux by eating a small salad and a half sandwith all day until after the evening performance. Rebecca did very well tonight as a space crewmember. Of course, I was grieved because I thought she will never be able to travel to the moon or to Mars, or just to a space station for a visit.

Although one never knows, perhaps I will earn a million bucks somehow and then she will not have to worry about life's great challenges in the finance department.

And now tonight I must do part of my online coursework, not so bad as I finally am feeling a cohesive idea about the project, and how it will tie in to my capstone project next course.

I have been keeping up with my notes on medical symptoms progress, blood pressure, pain control, reflux, etc. Oh, God, let me do this. Let me keep up through Sunday morning with obligations to pick up people for church, attend Sunday School and assist, and sing in the choir.
Help me through this evening with enough control over this pain to accomplish some positive things in forum before I collapse from headache, and sitting discomfort and spasms. Oh God, let me get through this schooling. As much as it has let me keep my sanity and challenge me with thoughts professionally in education and helping me flesh out the schooling for my daughter, as much as all this is a lot, but I am so tired now. The wisdom has been wonderful, the collegial relationships with students and wise instructors so wonderful, but I am so very tired and want to focus on my daughter and my home, and my professional educational projects, Oh Lord, help me make it through tonight and the morning, Lord, and I will be faithful no matter what. Help me, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.

God help me with the focus for what's required

Friday – Day 4
Having horrendous intestinal spasms due to the n-pills. This, and if I eat more than a few bites, food just creeps back up the esophagus and sits there. Then if I lay down, I have burning. I have to sit up, take ranitidine and wait after meals. Sipping hot milk seems to help. But often, sitting is uncomfortable so I must lay half down and half up (recline).

I have been able to get sleep, so I can manage. But today I woke to tremendous neck pain and scraping, wrenching sounds when I move my head. But after standing up and taking my n-pill, I am fine. This is really a wonderful blessing because often the neck pain precedes a migraine. My blood pressure is fine except systolic, which seems to run above 80 most of the time (when it should be 70 or less because of the kidney challenge.)

Funny how, narcotics work well for a few days and then they don’t much at all, but they still produce those GI problems, from gut to esophagus, the whole thing. It is frustrating. Just two days of great symptom relief before the side effects show up and the help wears off. Still, I have got a lot done in that short time. The driveway is thoroughly swept, the hedge is done, and a branch is mostly taken care of. And if I haven't got past the hot milk stage this morning, that is not such a bad breakfast, after all.

Dear God, let this day be one that I can accomplish what is absolutely necessary. Let me help the church Youth with their costuming and play tonight. They are counting on me, Lord. So help me find the ears and glue, pick up my meds on base, and find and hot glue a coat for Ryan. I am so overwhelmed with the details to be done, but I must focus only on what is absolutely required. And Lord, tomorrow let my tenacity endure through all pain of bone, migraine, scarring, or GI problem. And if I must miss church Sunday when others can take up the slack, that is fine. I will take a migraine pill if necessary 30 minutes before we leave and safely drive Miss Maeola to church and then go home and rest. Thank you God that I have only had to take a migraine pill once this week (thank you that most migraines got bad late enough that I could go to bed.)

And thank you Lord for the patience to humbly explain things to Rebecca during instruction. Thank you for her bright mind and devoted attitude. Thank you for the victory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

PBS Virtual Field Trips described at www.history.org/trips

Thursday and we watched a virtual field trip to colonial Williamsburg. It was wonderful although Rebecca had a hard time with it because it broke her normal schedule of television watching. I let her watch the"little kids" shows because of the social interaction they show. She has begun to use what she watches. Anyway, this wonderful conference call "field trip" showed the speech patterns of the day, what a child of 12 might be doing there in the 1700s, and the clothing styles. A girl from our time swapped lives with a girl from those times, and were trying to fit in. The girl from our time was told she was becoming a good apprentice but she was talking funny. And a girl from those times walked out of a store but stopped and handed the clerk a skirt, and asked her to stop by her home later with it, so she could see if it "went with" the items in the home. lol It was a hoot, as we say in TX. They are having one in January we will not miss! It is about a newspaper printer by the name of Clementine Rind who printed the Virginia Gazette in pre-Revolution times. At that point in our history, we did not have "freedom of the press"! This time, we will be "prepared with study materials, books we have read, and so forth so that Rebecca will be "free" of anxiety about the change to enjoy it!

I am having no nausea, finally, this morning. By drinking 2 cups of hot water and then waiting 30 minutes to eat, I am conquering my "internal workings"; I double dosed on one of the laxatives and finally found relief; I have learned to eat small meals with plenty of liquids. So, I am looking forward to the day. And my blood pressure was not so high this a.m. Yay, me! Yay, God! God is good.
The website for the PBS call-in shows is www.history.org/trips Jan-Apr will have really good shows come on at 1000 on KLRN, central standard time.
"Barney" this morning had a sketch about "people's faces reveal how they feel" so I got out the "Social Success Workbook" grandpa sent from the Instant Help Homework Series - Self Help Tools for Teens by Barbara Cooper and Nancy Widdows. So far, Rebecca does not know that these activities are "homework", a dirty word for her! lol She is activity 2 - Things that make me Happy.
I finally have a clearer vision of what I'd like to do for my capstone project at JIU (Jones International University, an accredited online university; not affiliated with Bob Jones). I am going to make a curriculum for using the mindmapping materials of Inspiration.com to design a course for parent-student teams to use the tool called Get SmartWired Cards, by Dr. Dawna Markova and the Professional Thinking Partners (both have good websites). Anyway, this will be a course that will teach the parents to be teachers for another group! At least one will want to do so if the curriculum is good. Parents of special needs kids are natural teachers; they have to be!!And I will add a "sharing community" componenet so that, with the participant's permission I will share the e-mail addresses among the group so people can participate in a forum. Sound good? And, I will have one grand "prize": a laptop. And numerous smaller "prizes": the Inspiration software, and the Markova/PTP tool for enhancing student success.
I think I can get corporate sponsorship. I have already got permission from the Get SmartWired folks to sell this at a discount...
This will begin as a course for everyone, with no prizes. And then we'll progress to a course for special needs students and their parents, with prizes...and "teacher training" with a forum for the "community of practice."