February Musings

It's hard to believe that it's already February in the year 2010. Time really does fly. Winter continues with a vengeance here in Iowa. Bella & Luke have had only 1 full week of school since Christmas due to snow/ice storm, and the coming week is not looking hopeful with another storm already in progress. But we have enjoyed most of the days together playing games, reading, and watching fun movies. And I've found that Seth loves doing his schoolwork for big sis Bella. So I've taken full advantage of that as he generally fights working through things with Mom. Bella thoroughly enjoys being the teacher so it's a win, win!!

Seth is starting to spend a couple hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Christian school. We are hoping this will help him to adjust to a classroom setting and make the transition to school in Ames smoother. A friend from church who has experience as a special ed para is going in as his aid, which is a total blessing. We are still waiting for the house to sell and are grateful to hear from our realtor that the market is picking up a bit.

Unfortunately Seth's head banging has increased in frequency and intensity greatly in the past few weeks and we are feeling very frustrated in not being able to help him cope in better ways. It's heart wrenching to watch him potentially cause further damage to a brain that already is not functioning well and it's becoming more and more difficult to restrain him as he is getting bigger and is freakishly strong. After a bad incident at church this morning Mike and I were both very discouraged and honestly scared about how long we will be able to keep him in our home if this continues as he continues to get bigger and stronger. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Seth, especially about this issue. We are considering seeing a new doctor in Chicago with hopes that she could help us with this issues and some others, but waiting on God to provide the needed finances.

This is one of the ugly realities of autism, which prompt Mike and I both declare in moments of frustration that we hate autism. We love our boy dearly, so much that it's often painful. But we hate this disease that has a hold on him and keeps him from fully engaging with us and the world around us. We continue to pray for God's healing hand on our boy and are trying to not lose heart in petitioning the Lord. But there are periods when we both become very weary and feel very hopeless. These are the times in the past when God has used His people to carry us and pray us through the valleys. We so appreciate how God has demonstrated His love to us in this way.

A New Adventure

As we begin a new year we are prayerfully considering a new adventure in the Pedersen family. 2009 brought some challenges to our thinking, realizing that our life is pretty comfortable and incredibly blessed. Some close friends were amazed that we consider our lives comfortable, considering the challenges we have faced with our boys. But that is how we feel - considering the vast needs of people in our own country and around the world - our lives are pretty comfortable.

Mike's heart was touched through a couple classes he participated in and a friend's presentation on orphan Sunday in November. My heart and mind were opened to the needs of kids in our country through a great book I read last fall. We began to feel the tug of God's Spirit challenging us to make a difference in our part of the world in a way we are able.

As a result of God's promptings in our lives throughout 2009 Mike and I started talking about pursuing foster care in November. As we begin the new year we have officially started the process, which turns out to be a rather lengthy one. Our first step is a visit to the police station for fingerprinting (I hope that speeding tickets will not disqualify us). Next we fill out some paperwork and attend an informational meeting. After the background check is run we will start a 10 week, 30 hour class along with a home study to become foster parents.

Mike & I keep asking ourselves if we're really doing this. Some we've shared this with have pretty much said we are crazy, in not so many words. But it is what God has laid on our hearts and He is giving us complete peace and agreement with one another about this. We have talked with Bella & Luke about this possibility and they are very excited. We've told them that this will be hard at times - Bella's response was that it just means we'll have to love the child all the more - such a sweet girl she is!

We would welcome your prayers for us in this process. This is not something we would have imagined pursuing when we first married, or even a few years ago. But life is often quite different than we expect. Our desire to simply follow God's leading in our lives and this seems to be His leading for us at this time.

"Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all - he is the greatest."
Luke 9:48

Crazy Christmas Travels

We have arrived home safely after interesting travels to Nebraska in the midst of the Christmas storm of 2009. We were thankful that we had planned to travel to Nebraska a few days before Christmas as we had arranged a suprise birthday party for my mom's 60th birthday. Even in the midst of the beginning of a raging blizzard many of Mom's friends and neighbors joined our family in celebrating her birthday. It was a great evening. Then it was 2 1/2 days of a pretty crazy blizzard with some major winds (50-60 mph) and snow that kept my extended family snowed in at Nana and Papa's house. My kids had a great time playing with their cousins and the adults managed to enjoy the time together without letting the close quarters and many children drive us crazy.

After 3 days snowed in at my parents we finally made our way over to Mike's parents (15 miles away), with a bit of drift-busting on the 26th and enjoyed Mike's family get-together that evening. Unfortunately our time with Mike's parents was cut short due to illness, as Mike's mom ended up in the hospital with the flu. So we decided to head home a day early. The roads were fairly clear on the way back to Iowa with a few slow spots due to blowing snow which caused some slick spots which led seeing a number of drivers who had very recently gone in the ditch. We were thankful to make it home without joining those drivers in the ditch.

Now we are excited to enjoy the week at home with some game time with friends, a bowl gathering with fellow Nebraska fans and our annual family-friendly New Year's Eve party. It's good to celebrate life with family and friends!! Happy New Year to all!!

Christmas Craziness

The Christmas craziness is in full swing. Christmas parties, programs, letter, pictures, shopping, baking, decorating. On one hand it is exciting and fun, on another it makes me want to take a nap. I often wonder how we manage to get all the extra stuff done this time of year in addition to all the regular stuff that has to take place. But somehow it all gets accomplished. I'm blessed to have a very helpful hubby who loves decorating for Christmas. He routinely gets the tree up for me and helps the kids and I decorate it, along with putting up the outside decorations and hauling the boxes of other Christmas stuff up from the basement. Last weekend he was the one excited to get the process going. I'm so thankful for his holiday spirit.

I'm a bit behind on my Christmas cookie baking. I usually start in the beginning of November and begin stashing cookies in the freezer. I just got started baking cookies over the Thanksgiving weekend. I'm now trying to make up for lost time and get all the cookies baked for the Christmas tins for our friends and neighbors.

It is a joy to take time to get together with others and celebrate the season. Tomorrow night we'll enjoy the kids Christmas concert at school - and yes, their school still calls it a Christmas concert!! Friday night we'll enjoy our annual ministry leader Christmas party - a joyful time to enjoy a delicious meal and wonderful fellowship together with other brothers and sisters in Christ who we serve alongside throughout the year. Next week I look forward to a Christmas coffee with my Bible study girls and the annual holiday party with Mike's work - which is a fun night of good food and celebrating the wins of the company. And we hope to have our small group members for our annual Christmas dinner - the one of the few times a year we use our wedding china.

And once all that takes place, it will be time to pack the van and head to Nebraska to spend a few days with our extended family. The kids are excited to see all their cousins and we all look forward to the fellowship and all the amazing food!! I hope your December will be a month of joyful celebration with family and friends and that you will take time to remember the true reason for the season.

Our Precious Boy Turns 8

It's hard to believe that my baby turned 8 years old today. It has been 8 very eventful years in the life of our family since we welcomed child number 3. When Seth joined our family in October of 2001 Luke was a month shy of 2 years old and Bella was almost 7 months shy of 4 years old. It was a very overwhelming time for me as a mom to 3 young kiddos. The next 3 or 4 years were short on sleep and long on stress, but as the kids have grown and matured things have calmed down a bit in our lives. Now the kids are fairly independent and can be very helpful, even Seth enjoys helping unload the dishwasher and helping mom carry in the groceries after a trip to the grocery store.

Seth's autism diagnosis was a huge turning point in the life of our family. I can tell you when most events in my life occurred in relation to that fateful day 5 1/2 years ago. I often think of events as either pre or post autism. Having a child with a severe disability changes your entire perspective on parenting and life. But not in all bad ways. Autism has taught me to put things in perspective and has made me realize what is truly important. I don't get bent out of shape if my kids don't get straight A's or if they are not the star athlete on their team. Autism in my life has helped me to value the little things. My dreams for my children are markedly different than they were pre-autism.

There were days when I didn't think we would make it through, when I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up from the nightmare I was living through. But by the grace of God we are walking through this challenge in the life of our family. Bella & Luke have grown into caring, compassionate kids that look out for their little brother in a beautiful way. And Seth is growing and maturing in his own right. He is more engaged with those around him, his reading and math skills are growing quickly, and he is doing much better with going out in the community - I no longer have to keep a tight hold on his hand at all times, he will stay close to me for the most part.

On Saturday we are excited to have Seth's first big birthday party. In previous years we didn't feel he would enjoy a large celebration, but this year we felt his was ready for a grand celebration. The party will have a lego theme - Seth's favorite thing in the world - complete with the Star Wars Lego video game on a big screen and a lego cake. We are excited to celebrate with family and friends. I'm excited to celebrate the life of a little boy who has shown me my own capacity for great love and great perseverance, love in a way I didn't know I could love and the ability to persevere that I didn't know I possessed. Love and perseverance that could only come through the extravagant grace of God.

Do You Believe that 1 in 60 American Males Has Autism?

David Kirby - one of my heroes in the autism community and a genuinely nice guy who Mike and I have had the pleasure of meeting personally wrote a great article on Huffington Post that reiterates what I shared in my last post. Please take a look!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/do-you-believe-that-one-i_b_310378.html