Prayer requests

Pray for Anne…

March 2012’s prayer requests:

  1. For Anne’s left foot and hand to respond to her new medication,
  2. For Anne’s self control to catch up to her self awareness,
  3. For Anne to gain more emotional toughness… in order to persevere and strive to get better,
  4. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Anne’s seizures have virtually disappeared with a slight increase of her current medication! Thank you for praying!

The good, the bad and the ugly

I have a meeting at Anne’s school today to discuss her behavior issues.

Anne has always had behavior issues.  I was reading through an old journal recently and found a story illustrating how mean Anne was at 18 months old. And after the story, I had written, “She’s just like her daddy.” Ha! I thought that was funny. (Eric will be the first to tell you that before God changed his heart through salvation – he was selfish and mean!)

The difference between Anne’s behavior issues before the accident and now… is that before, she saved all of her ugly, stubborn, selfish and mean behavior for her family. No one outside our home ever saw that side of Anne. Away from home, Anne was shy and eager to please. “A perfect little angel” people would say.

You know, I like the world seeing the best in my children and leaving me to deal with the ugly stuff. That’s much easier than dealing with all the ugly stuff with teachers and therapists and counselors. Let’s just let everyone outside our home think that we have a perfect little family. I don’t want to share our “ugly side” with the outside world. Well, that’s not for me to decide, now is it.

So Anne has been turned “inside out.” She doesn’t have the self-control to keep anything in. Everything she does and says comes straight from her heart – everyone gets to see ALL the bad – and ALL the good.

And here’s the interesting part to me. Because she’s been turned inside out, it’s much easier to see the good. She’s fiercely loving & affectionate. She’s mean because sometimes she doesn’t feel accepted, and because she loves so deeply, the hurt is especially painful. I can look back to her “before-the-accident” self and understand much more clearly all of her crazy behavior. At the root of everything (both then and now), is a war between Anne’s deep desire to be loved and her compulsion to be in control of… EVERYTHING. Throw in all of her sensory issues (that were present before the accident) and we are left with one complex little girl.

I don’t know how to solve Anne’s behavior issues. But I do know that she is treasured by her Creator. He is passionate about Anne. He loves her like crazy. And my deepest desire is for her to find her value in Him – and not how she behaves at school (whether good or bad).

I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and a spirit of cooperation and grace at my meeting today. We meet at noon. Thank you :-)

Pray for Anne…

February 2012’s prayer requests:

  1. For wisdom in managing Anne’s medications,
  2. For her left foot to loosen and strengthen, and her seizures to continue to decrease (and disappear!),
  3. For Anne’s attention span to improve so that she can track words left to right and begin reading many pages in a book in one sitting,
  4. For Anne to gain more emotional toughness… in order to persevere and strive to get better,
  5. And lastly, for Anne to experience God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!

Pray for Anne…

January 2012’s prayer requests:

  1. For us to find the right medication to control Anne’s seizures… they have increased dramatically over Christmas break,
  2. For Anne to gain more emotional toughness… in order to persevere and strive to get better,
  3. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!

Pray for Anne…

December 2011’s prayer requests:

  1. For the left side of Anne’s body to regain function… especially her left hand and foot,
  2. For Anne’s conversation skills to improve, specifically to be able to stay on topic for at least one minute :-)
  3. For Anne to gain more emotional toughness… in order to persevere and strive to get better,
  4. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!

Pray for Anne…

November 2011’s prayer requests:

  1. Anne has made many improvements since the beginning of school, but she is still lacking a desire or ability to put forth EFFORT. Please pray that Anne would learn to persevere during difficult activities during both school and therapy.
  2. Anne’s seizures seem to be waning. Please pray they would completely go away without medical intervention.
  3. Anne has been asking TONS of questions about Jesus dying on the cross. She thinks about this all the time and all of its implications… forgiveness, justification, God’s love and sacrifice. Please pray that God would use these questions and wrestlings to deepen and strengthen her faith in Him.
  4. For Anne to continue to do well in school; and for her to gain more control of her impulsiveness which can be a distraction in the classroom (talking out of turn, mouthing inappropriate objects, reaching for and touching others when she should keep her hands to herself, etc.)
  5. For Anne’s left ankle… for it to loosen and strengthen so she can support her weight on her left foot without her braces.

Thank you!

Pray for Anne…

October 2011’s prayer requests:

  1. For Anne to gain more control of her impulsiveness which can be a distraction in the classroom (talking out of turn, mouthing inappropriate objects, reaching for and touching others when she should keep her hands to herself, etc.)
  2. For Anne’s left ankle… for it to loosen and strengthen so she can support her weight on her left foot without her braces;
  3. For Anne’s seizures to cease or be controlled with appropriate medication,
  4. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!

Pray for Anne…

September 2011’s prayer requests:

  1. For Anne to continue to do well in school; and for her to gain more control of her impulsiveness which can be a distraction in the classroom (talking out of turn, mouthing inappropriate objects, reaching for and touching others when she should keep her hands to herself, etc.)
  2. For Anne’s left ankle… for it to loosen and strengthen so she can support her weight on her left foot without her braces;
  3. For Anne’s seizures to cease or be controlled with appropriate medication,
  4. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!

My Rant :-)

Okay…  Here goes :-)  Can I just say that I’m SO thankful for special ed. services in this county???!!!! Anne’s teachers, case managers, therapists, assistants….  are all amazing and want what is best for Anne. Anne receives absolute top-notch services in a wonderfully nurturing environment. We are so thankful for Anne’s school and the people who work there.

My meeting at Anne’s school went GREAT! Her teacher had nothing but positive things to say about Anne… “She’s no more disruptive than some of the 5 year old boys we have in class.” Everyone seems to have compassion for Anne, and they all genuinely want to help her. All of their recommendations were spot-on. I could not be more pleased.

Academically she’s right on track with her class – and maybe just a little bit ahead in Language Arts. The fact that she has her short-term memory and can learn/retain new information is a miracle. She is loving school – just loving it.

On a different note, Anne is having seizures again – very different than the ones from last winter. Please pray that we would find the right combination of medication(s) to help control the seizures. THANK YOU for all your prayers. I think this is the beginning of a fantastic school year for Anne!!!

Pray for Anne…

August 2011’s prayer requests:

  1. For Anne’s transition to school to go smoothly, and for Anne’s Kindergarten teacher and new para-pro to understand how to help Anne best;
  2. For Anne’s left ankle… for it to loosen and strengthen so she can support her weight on her left foot without her braces;
  3. For Anne’s impulsivity to decrease and her attention to increase. She has improved HUGE amounts over the summer, but her impulsivity can still be an issue around other children.
  4. And lastly, for Anne to continue to wrestle with God’s goodness and love for her – and ultimately for her to grow to be a faithful woman of God!

Thank you!