SPD and salt

My 10 year old son has Sensory Processing Disorder. It effects him in all 7, yes 7, of his senses. However, I am growing most concerned about the way it effects his eating habits. This child uses salt like it is going out of style. I switched to sea salt, since it is supposed to be healthier, but he is still using an unbelievable amount! I had him read an article in the paper tonight about the dangers of using too much salt! It was a bit over his head, but worth a try. He puts salt on Saltine crackers, for goodness sake! Yet another topic to discuss with his OT once we start back up again. He will say to his sister "try this, it's good, it has no flavor." Poor guy! What am I gonna do? Oh the joys of a messed up nervous system!

Charles Spurgeon's thoughts on being seeker sensitive

If anyone out there is wondering if using seeker friendly methods to reach the lost is a new idea or a "paradigm shift", then I encourage you to read this. It was written by Charles Spurgeon back in the 1800's. The bible says there is nothing new under the sun. Satan will use anything to destroy the church, and to decrease it's effectiveness at reaching sinners for Christ. Satan is not afraid to use old, "already been done" methods to paralyze the church...

Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats
by Charles Spurgeon

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.

From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). That is clear enough So it would have been if He had added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him.

Then again, "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers .., for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt" (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy---something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22) He was in awful earnestness.

Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, "Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow." Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.

In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, "Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only difference! Lord, clear the church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods.

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the chain of the conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

My thoughts on why the church isn't reaching the lost...

I would like to share with you my thoughts on reaching the lost. I must respectfully disagree with the idea that our church needs to change it's methods to reach the lost more effectively. I have never heard a lost person say, "boy, if the church would just change their methods, I would give my life over to Jesus!" The statement that most lost people have made over and over again goes more like this, "I don't go to church because the church is full of hypocrites." I have to say, I think the lost people have hit the nail on the head. Church leadership sit around and have meetings and committees trying to figure out what they can change in order to reach the lost. Why not take a hint from what the lost themselves are saying? The problem isn't the way the church looks, the programs, the methods, the music, etc. The problem is that we, as christians, are called to be Christ-like...and we are not always that. Now, are christians supposed to be perfect? By no means. However, we should reflect Christ in our attitudes and in our personalities. What should we look like then? The Christ I know is full of LOVE, COMPASSION, AND HOLINESS. So, then, the church should be full of these things as well. Lost people are not stupid! They know the difference between real love and just lip service. I have heard some christians say that they "do not have the gift of compassion" or that they "don't like people." Aren't these qualities things that every believer should possess? If we are to be Christ-like, then the answer is YES! Perhaps the lost would be reached more effectively if the christians who have allowed the Holy Spirit to empower them would not be ashamed to share their faith! Yes, some people have an extra measure of boldness (evangelists, preachers, etc.) to proclaim God's love to the nations, however, I believe that the bible is speaking to ALL believers when it says that if we are ashamed of Jesus on earth, then He will be ashamed of us before God in heaven! I see very clearly, in fact, every time I watch the news, that the Lord will be returning soon. The bible tells us that when the anti-christ takes over there will be one world government and one world religion. This religion will be one of compromise. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the only path to God, in fact, the bible is very clear about this (Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the light and no man goes to the Father except by Me.) ANYTHING that waters down the power of Jesus is simply a path towards that emerging one world religion. Jesus said in the bible, "if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me." He has called us to be bold in our faith (whether it is hard for us or not) and share the gospel, and we must be obedient to that, however, in the end, it is the Holy Spirit that will draw the lost to Jesus. God uses us to help reach the lost (what an honor), but He is in ultimate control, so it is very important that we keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Him. We are to have a heart for the lost, that is a part of being Christ-like, but our number one priority is to keep our eyes on Jesus! He will lead us to the lost, and then as we OBEY Him we will speak boldly of the love of God, and how he has transformed our lives and they will come to repentance and a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! If we put our focus on the lost, or on church growth, or on anything else, it will become an idol to us. Anything that takes our eyes of of Jesus, even wonderful things that Jesus has a heart for, will lead us to ourselves and not to Him. I believe that this is the reason that a lot of churches have become seeker friendly. Seeker friendly is a way of thinking that purposes to reach the lost by making them comfortable at church or at church functions. Not wanting to "offend" the non-believer, they carefully arrange everything to keep them from feeling uncomfortable at church. As far as I am concerned, this "uncomfortableness" at church used to be called "conviction" and it was a good thing! It leads to salvation! It's ok to change things in the church, I have no problem with change. However, if the change makes the church look more like the world, then why in the world would the lost want to have anything to do with the church? If they can listen to worldly music on their ipod, then why come to church to do it? If they can play games and watch movies at home, then why come to church to do it? The bible says that we are to be set apart, a peculiar people! Why is the church so afraid to be different?? I'm not saying the church as a whole doesn't have problems that need fixed, I'm just saying that seeker friendly ways are not the answer. I believe that if you look through history at many of the revivals that changed cities, you will see that that it came about through seeking God's face, not through a change in their methods. As the people in the church experienced this new passion for God, their lives were changed. As their lives were changed, the lost looked and said "hmmm, seems like the church isn't full of hypocrites anymore!" Cities were reached for Jesus! Lives were changed and the lost were drawn in by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit either used a believer to bring someone to God, or sometimes He just brought them Himself, with no help from man! Then, when the lost came to the church, the church people were so full of love and compassion and holiness that they more closely reflected the image of Christ! Honestly, I don't care if I am called a Pharisee, or old fashioned, or just plain wrong. This is what I believe, it is the God I know and have known since I was a child. I am not afraid to lose friendships because of my beliefs either. It is time for God's people to make a stand and not be afraid to be persecuted, even by other believers.

Sensory Breakfast!

Ok, so I know all about sensory diets and how effective they can be to help a sensory kid make it through the day. However, implementing one has been a bit confusing to me. So far, all I have been able to do is to incorporate lots of sensory activities into our day randomly or when we have already reached sensory overload. Obviously, this is not working. My new plan is to start each day with a sensory breakfast, followed by a few short therapy breaks through the day (vision therapy, motor skills). We have taken a break from our sensory OT the past few months to do vision therapy with another OT. I think I will email our sensory OT and ask her for her input. I know there are different types of activities, (calming, alerting), I guess I am just afraid to do them in the wrong order or something and make things worse! Also, I have 2 kids with SPD, so I am wanting to make sure that each kid gets the right sensory diet. I will post on here as soon as I have planned the menu! :)

Happy Father's Day

Today we celebrated Father's Day with the hubby. We gave him some drawings from the kids and a photo album with some beautiful pics of the kids for him to show off at work! He loved it.

We spent the past 2 days with my FIL and my dad. Lots of food and fun! I am so thankful for my dad. My little girl calls him "Popo" and I think that is just soo sweet. I was and will always be a daddy's girl.

It makes me sad to think of all of the people who have to celebrate Father's Day without their fathers. I also think of how sad it is for those who have horrible fathers (not around, abusive, etc.). I am glad that God promises to be a father to the fatherless. God is so good. He cares about us so much. He is a good father. The best! :)

Love

Love covers a multitude of sins....

....simply stated....people can take just about anything from you, flaws and all, as long as they KNOW you love them.

Where is the love?? For God so LOVED the world, that HE gave His only begotten son.... We are supposed to be full of that same love. Who are we to love?

God
our spouses
our kids...each of them equally!!
everyone else!!

Who is everyone else???

saints
sinners
jerks
crazy people
kids
old people
smelly people
extra large people
little people
funny people
funny looking people
family
teachers
students
In-laws
Out-laws
......the list goes on.

Anyone can show love to a loveable person...actually, the bible says something just like this!!...but we are called to love the unloveable, the people who don't care about anyone but themselves, the kid who hasn't had a bath in a week because his water has been turned off because his mom couldn't pay the water bill, the self-righteous person who thinks it is their job to tell you how to do everything the "right" way, the guy in the car in front of you who just cut you off, the kid at the playground who just threw sand in your little girl's hair...etc, etc...

I will admit, I am still working on loving some of those kinds of people. We all are....

Here is my problem, though...if the church doesn't get this one right, you know, the part about LOVING people, well, then I have to wonder how long God is going to stand by and let the church misrepresent him...

"What's Love got to do with it?" you may ask. The bible says that if we have gifts of prophecy and can understand all mysteries, but have no love....then we are a resounding gong and a clanging symbol! Puts the gong show in a whole new perspective for me now! All you do for God will be "gonged" if you have not love!

Love is patient, love is kind.....

Vision Therapy

Today was another day of vision therapy for 2 of my kids. Next week is set for a goal to be the last week. We will be working hard this week to make that happen! My daughter is pretty much caught up on vision and has been hitting fine motor skills hard. She is still behind age level, but progressing nicely. My son is still working to get his vision skills up to par. He has problems with adjusting from near to far and visa versa. He has improved a lot since we first started. It's been a long day, with therapy being a 45 minute drive! I'm ready for some rest...:)
Later!

I'm back!

Ok, so I posted this once, but the power went out while I was trying to upload pictures! Ugh! I will try again! It has been 9 months since my last post! Oh my! I guess I have been pretty busy. Nathan was born 7 months ago, and despite much fanfare and drama, he is now a perfectly healthy 7 month old with 3 teeth, blonde hair, chubby cheeks...and weighing in at a whopping 20 pounds! He is pulling up to standing, sitting up, and trying his best to crawl already! He has overcome a lot of obstacles in his short life. He was born with Neonatal Alloimune Thrombocytopenia which almost took his life. He spent a few days in the NICU, but recovered completely. This is something similar to the RH incompatability, but a little more rare. My 3rd child had this as well, but she was not diagnosed correctly, and since she recovered completely, it was overlooked. He was born tongue-tied, which we had clipped at 2 weeks, since it interfered with nursing. We didn't get his acid reflux under control until he was around 5 months, so the first several months were trying! He flunked his newborn hearing screening, and went for further testing, which only showed very slight problems, so even though he goes for more testing in a couple of months, I'm confident he will be fine. It took us 2 months to figure it out, but we have been nursing successfully since then! Adjusting to #4 has been harder than I expected, but I still think it just depends on the baby.

Homeschooling went better than expected! The 2 middle kids are in vision therapy as well as addressing some fine motor delays. This should be over in a couple of weeks. Then my 3rd DD will be ready to start the process of learning to read! She has been asking for me to teach her, but I was waiting until she mastered her letter recognition (part of therapy). I am planning already for our next school year, which I think I will begin early for DD#3, so I can get some extra one on one time with her as she works on learning to read.

God has been speaking to me lately about being "shut in with God." It makes me think of Noah and how he took his family into an ark, despite everyone around him telling him he was crazy, or overreacting. Noone else on earth understood or accepted what God was telling him. How he must have felt inside the ark, surrounded by his family, listening to the devestation all around them.

Well, time to go for now, but I hope to be on here more often now that little man is getting older!

In Him,

Myra