One Day at a Time

Maria wears a lot of hats and one of them is as a columist with Mahoning Parent magazine. She finds as she encourages special need families with her own experiences, many of those writings are God breathed and fit in here as well. This is the case with today's post!


I have been on this special parenting journey for six years now, and the most valuable thing I have learned recently is that we have to take this one day at a time. Some days, one hour at a time…can you relate?

My prayer this month is that you will become more aware of the precious present with your child—and not be consumed by the next appointment, treatment or therapy that you have scheduled or would like to try. Our kids are doing amazing things right before our eyes—and sometimes we don’t even realize it.

This took me a very long time to see. I enjoy my daughter—all of her—now more than I ever did. I enjoy both her strengths and her weaknesses, because they both are a part of who she is. For far too long, I focused on the limitations of her body, instead of seeing all of the amazing things she was capable of. And in the meantime, I missed out on so much valuable time with her that I can never get back.
In order to accomplish focusing on her capabilities, I had to first change the way I thought about the disability that is only a part of her. Honestly, this took time. Changing the way we think about the disability itself takes time.

If you are still in the process of accepting the disability—changing the way you think about it will naturally fall into place. With acceptance comes a certain amount of peace—peace in your mind, mostly. That’s how it played out for me. I was searching for some kind—any kind of peace so I could take care of my many other responsibilities in my life, and still know my daughter was going to be OK—no matter what the outcome of the next thing we were going to do for her was going to be. I knew this peace was the only thing that would enable me to take just one day at a time, and enjoy the beauty of the person that God made her to be. Webster’s definition of peace is, “freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction or anxiety; serenity, tranquility.”

Some people find this peace in research—books, articles that have proven to have solved something related to their child’s different abilities. Others find it in sharing their experiences with other families that understand. Still others find it in a non-stop race to find the latest therapy or tool that may get their child to accomplish their next goal.

All of these things are great, and I’ve been in and through them all…
But in the midst of each and every one, I didn’t feel content. Sure, my intentions were good, but I was driven by fear and worry for the future. The opposite of peace is worry. You can’t have them both at the same time. Our minds weren’t wired that way.

I finally found this peace through God and His word.

There, I found my feelings put into words—coupled with words of encouragement and hope for the future. Not just for my future as a mom—but hope for my daughter, and my entire family. My faith in God and the fact that He chose me to be Olivia’s mother is what gets me through each hour, each day—and all the future appointments to come. You see, I’ve given all of the decision-making to Him. He’s the light on my path of this journey, and since I came to know who He is, it’s amazing—I can see the road so much clearer! With Him leading my way, I am able to truly enjoy my daughter, instead of worrying about her future. This peace is so very special to me.

I encourage you to find your own peace, so you too can know you are not taking this journey alone. I’m not claiming I have this calm, tranquil peace each and every hour--but I do know that with God by my side, I have the strength to walk this journey one day at a time.



Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.

Peace

I have been seeking this peace for quite some time.
Ever since I came to know the Lord, I have been searching.
In His word.
In His promises.
In my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Where is this peace?” I have asked frequently over the past four years. “Why don’t I have this peace always?”

Recently my world was rocked. Everything I thought to be true within my marriage and my life were not so true. I have had absolutely no choice but to present all of my requests to God. Actually, my entire life.
Finally.
He’s been waiting for the past four years.

I put my life in His hands—all of it. My kids, my marriage, my everything,
I now trust Him to have His way and do His will.
I have been broken into pieces, and I trust that He is putting me back together daily.
I have surrendered.
I will obey.

And guess what?

I’m finding more and more of His peace each and every day.

March 20-27 is Five Minutes For Mom's Ultimate Blog Party 09. This is a great way for women bloggers to connect and meet new cyber friends. There are always a ton of great giveaways and The Narrow Gate Invites and The Surrendered Scribe both are going to be in on the party.This site will be giving away one copy of Women of Passions:Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God by Jeanice McDade and Janet Ross.
Both Maria and I have works included in this book. It's a wonderful book with many stories, poems and testimonies by women you may know in the blogging world. As a reader I have to tell you I was blown away by the depth the women shared. They opened a curtain up of their lives and totally let the reader in. The book blessed me and we are excited to give it away.So stay tuned and let folks know about the Ultimate Blog Party. It's an awesome event!

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.

My Hope and My Heart

With everything in the news about the economy and the election, I was blown away by this video I received. At The Surrendered Scribe I try to summarize the election each week and this video speaks my heart. These are the important things. With the economy, the war, and so many things at stake to cause anxiety, my hope is in the Lord.

Please take a couple minutes and watch this video. It is powerful.




Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she also blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. One of the books will be a quote in Kathy Vick's Simon and Schuster/Howard's gift book, "Run Like a Girl."You can also find Julie the third Thursday of each month over at Take Root and Write with her column, Finding Freedom through Surrender. She facilates a group by the same name at the sister social networking site, Christian Women Take Root.

Re Visiting the Welcome Mat

I'm away from the computer so I thought I'd be like TV and run a re run. Maybe you missed it the first time around, maybe it is a favorite.

I ask that you step on... The Welcome Mat.

As an update, the house is no longer vacant. We have met the neighbors and their two labs. They are kind people and quiet dogs. Other people come and go that others ask about but despite a little apprehension at first---my welcome mat is out.

How about yours?

Have you visited Christian Women Take Root? The Narrow Gate Invites girls are not only involved in the social networking site with fantastic groups to join but the main site called Take Root and Write. Regular columns are ongoing, check it all out. We'll see you there...and hey---if you have a blog, Take Root has a blog roll. Give your blog some exposure and be associated with a quality Christian site!

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09. To get to know her better, read her interview by Lynda Schab at:http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author-details.php?id=33%20To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.