NATURAL INSTINCTS

This morning I was helping David get dressed, as I do every morning.  As David was putting his underwear on he became unsteady and instinctively reached out for my shoulder to steady himself.  After he steadied himself he finished putting his underwear on, then the rest of his clothes and was ready to start his day.  David reached for me when he was unsteady because he knew that I wouldn't let him fall and that I am always there to help him.

As I thought about that I was very convicted...  When I become unsteady in my Christian life instead of instinctively reaching out for Christ, I reach out for my spouse, or a friend.  Why do I do that?  Probably because my heart isn't as in tune with Christ as it should be so I look for a voice I can hear and a touch I can physically feel.  I need to work on making Christ so real in my life that I can hear Him as He offers me comfort and I can feel His presence as He stands by my side. 

So, each time David uses reaches out to me to steady himself, it will be another reminder that I need to reach out to Christ and no one else!

IT'S SUNDAY!!

We really love Sundays in our home.  Rich is out driving a bus, bringing kids and adults to church.  David and I will be leaving in a few moments to go get some young girls to bring to church with us.  There's no way to really explain how much we love our church and all it means to us and all it has done for us.

David loves church.  He loves going and shaking hands with people.  David loves to look at the different ties men wear.  David loves to go and watch his Pastor preach.  Mostly though, David loves his pastor.  Our pastor, Dr. Schaap, has somehow managed to reach into David's autistic mind and grab his heart.  If we are watching a DVD of our pastor, David will stop in front of the TV, point at Bro. Schaap and just watch him.  If we have Bro. Schaap's picture on something in the house, David will pick it up, point at Bro. Schaap and just look at the picture for a long time.  David loves his pastor.

Our pastor has reached into our hearts, too.  We love our pastor.  He is the shepherd of the flock we call First Baptist Church of Hammond.  He truly cares for us - we have no doubt about this.  I hope you love your pastor, and I hope you take time to let him know you love him. 

DISNEY WORLD

Well, David is happy.  Our vacation to Disney World has been planned.  David is learning to finger spell D-I-S-N-E-Y and for now, all is well with the world.  Since we aren't leaving until the end of February, I created some calendar pages that we put on the back of David's bedroom door to help him with the concept of time (otherwise he would want to go NOW!

At the end of each night, we have a family routine.  We give David his nighttime pills, we give him a kiss on the head and tell him we love him.  We've added crossing off a day on the calendar to give David some perspective on when we are leaving.  This seems to be a really good thing for David and it helps us because he knows what to expect.

God has given us a calendar of sorts.  We don't exactly know when Jesus is returning to earth, but there are signs we can look for and "cross off" as they happen and appear.  Our trip to Florida will be here before we know it.  More importantly, our Saviour will be returning for us before we know it.  Please make sure you are ready for His appearing.  You don't want to be left behind.  Please see my blog entitled "His Way is the Only Way" for more information!

SICK...

David has been home sick since Wednesday.  He's had lots of drainage issues along with a deep cough and fever.  David has been so sick he's even turned food down!!  I almost called the ambulance for that!  Just kidding, a little.

Anyway, one thing I am learning when David is sick is that he stops and rests.  If he doesn't feel well, or if he is tired, he goes to sleep.  He doesn't care where he is.  David has slept quite a bit these last several days, and I'm glad because it's been helping him recover.  Yesterday morning we went to church, but David still wasn't 100%.  So, he slept through Sunday school and he slept through church.  I tried to wake him up but he would have nothing to do with it!!

While I type this David is sleeping.  I just went to check on him and I thought how peaceful he looks.  I was glad he was resting.  But I also wondered why we "normal" people don't follow his lead.  I realize that we have more responsibilities than David has, but we push ourselves.  We don't take time to get well when we are sick.  We don't take time to rest when we are tired.  We act as if the whole world will collapse if we don't do whatever we think we should do. 

Don't get me wrong, I believe that if someone is counting on you, it is imperative to do whatever it takes to get the job done.  But how often do we insist on doing the job ourselves instead of asking for help.  We have a martyr personality, as if suffering though some task will bring us accolades and awards.  Usually, all it brings is a bad attitude because of exhaustion and frustration. 

So, as I'm preaching to myself, I'm going to try to follow David's lead and take care of myself.  The Bible says we are to love others as we love ourselves.  We always look at this verse on how to treat others,  but maybe we should look at it as an example of how to treat ourselves!!