encouragement

NO PLACE LIKE HOME…

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img_05672 Corinthians 5:8b (NLT)

…for then we will be at home with the Lord.

There is no place like home….how many times have we heard this phrase or even shared this thought with someone. As children we watched a show where it was stated over and over again …”there’s no place like home, file_000-5there’s no place like home.” The older I get the more tender those words have become for me.

It was a rainy dark, cold nightfile_000…and we needed to head out right after a long day of work… many errands were scheduled for that night. The rain and the darkness
added to the mood of the night. I leaned over to my husband and said, “Tonight is a night that I really feel like just going home.” It was one of those intense nights when you just needed to be “home.”

What is “home” to you? It is a feeling, a place or a building or maybe something that is so indescribable but so wonderful to you? Home should be what makes you feel good, safe, secure and warm…as they say a place to hang your hat. Home is what most of us long for.

Home for me is my safe haven, a warm cozy place, a place where I feel like I belong, and a place like no other. It is a place where I can feel welcomed every time I walk in the front door. I can be greeted by a family who loves and accepts me for who I am. It is a place that feels familiar, and the sights, sounds and even smells are something that I enjoy and long to be around.

How many times have we been at the bedside of a sick friend or relative or at their funeral and heard it said that they are in a better place….that they are “home”file_000-2 now. Or even a person who is not well has referred to the fact that they just want to go “home”. Where is this “home” that they are referring to? That feeling or longing to go home to a safe, secure place, a place with a sense of freedom, a place so indescribable, but you know that you want to be there.

Take a minute and imagine with me a new home…will you be there with me? I am in the process of having a mansion built for me. I know it will be just the right size, shape and color. The builder knows my every need and He will have prepared a place for me that is so perfect that I could not want anything else. The minute I walk through the gate I will know that I am “Home”. I will be surrounded by my brothers and sisters. I will love the sights, sounds and smells to the point that I will want to stay there for eternity. Someday I will walk streets made of gold and cheavenly_sky_by_d168all it my home. Are you ready to go to this home if the Lord were to call you? Have you done your housework so to speak? Have you made things right with Him so that when it is time to go “Home”, you will be ready? As the verse above states…….for then we will be at home with the Lord.

Lynn A. C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother & Fresh Brewed Devo’s Series

 

 

Fresh Brewed Devo’s….

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When I was younger and having my first son….I remember thinking that I was going to be “Super Mom”.  Yes a career woman, a mom, housewife and everything else that goes along with this.  Well…..the brakes came on and I came to a screeching halt and learned very quickly that I cannot do it all.

I very quickly learned that I can not do it all that when I tried to… something got neglected!!! Most times it was me who was neglected!  I became tired, overwhelmed, frustrated and more.  I found that my devotions were forgotten and I wondered why I was feeling so empty and I could not think clearly.img_4634

My oldest son is now 27 and my youngest is 14 and I still live a crazy life style.  Having a devo time for myself….sometimes is the last thing on my mind, if I can be honest.

Back in the day I was given a devo book for moms…it was simple, short and to the point and a big help in giving me a quick shot in the arm for the day.

I will be starting a new Devo series that I hope will do the same for you….called “Fresh Brewed Devo’s”.  It is designed to be short, simple, practical, honest and a quick shot in the arm to help you get a good start to the day and an added pep in your step.

So grab a cup of your favorite “Fresh Brewed” coffee, sit in a comfy chair and have a quick Devo with me.img_0547

Leave me some comments down below and let me know some topics that you would like to see.

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

 

 

….A person who touched a life!

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Have you ever had a person who touched your life in such a way that it was life changing?  I have had several people in my life who have done this but there was one person in particular that left a huge impact for me.  Most of you would not even know who this person is or even have ever met her.  Let me tell you a little about her and what made her different.

img_0246She was born to the Wilson family over in the continent of Africa….while she was a very young girl, her parents, my in-laws became missionaries.  She grew up on the mission field learning how to serve others, love people who many might not love and in doing this she found her love of children.  Eventually she moved to New Jersey and her life continued in serving others and teaching children.  Annette loved crafts and enjoyed being with her family and helping her mom with setting the Sunday table for the guests, family and missionaries that would come to “The Sunday Meal”, as they said in the family.

I came on the picture when Annette was a grown woman and living in NJ.  She moved here with her parents and 3 brothers to set up home here.  I met Annette and her brother Graeme at a “College and Career” event at church and from there Annette and I became good friends and later her brother Graeme became my husband.

There is not a week that does not go by that I do not see a craft, a little something in a store, a bible verse or just a thought that brings me back to the Memory of this special lady.

Annette passed away at the age of 41 but left a legacy to many and I am one of the many!  Picture of sunset, Cotswolds, England March 2005Annette’s last days were spent at a children’s camp where she was a counselor to them, a friend, a mentor and someone they could feel safe with and share their hearts.  Annette was on top of a green grassy hill, sitting in the sunshine, and under a large tree.  I can just picture her sitting there with her beautiful full red hair blowing in the breeze that day as she taught 5 or 6 young girls how to do needle work.  All of a sudden she had a very painful headache and went to the infirmary for some meds and the rest is history.  In that short moment in time….Annette passed from the green img_0323grass to the streets of gold. Needless to say shock was the term we all used and these young girls were left wondering where Miss Annette went.

I share this with you because the last moment of time of what always stays with me.  Annette took the time from her schedule first of all to spend time at a camp to teach a counsel.  She took the time to sit with young girls and listen to their stories and hearts.  She took the time to teach a craft that is a lost art of many of us.  She took the time to invest in a life.

Annette will always remain my sister-in-law that passed away suddenly…..but she will always be the woman who left a lifelong memory of being there for others, being there to serve in places that I might not necessarily want to serve, being a woman who taught me to remember that children were a gift that the Lord sent us and that He said let the little children come unto me!

Thank you …Annette for this lifelong lesson that you taught me.  I am still here carrying on your work of teaching children in our kids program at church and carrying on your lesson of investing in others’ lives.

Take up the challenge and carry on the touch of a life lesson that someone taught you or showed you.  Don’t let their life and memories fade away.

Let me know what the torch is that you are carrying on….how are you investing in other lives?  I would so love to hear from you!

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

 

 

Homeschool with a Twist…UNO Math, Cereal Box Reading and Go Fish Spelling

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You probably guessed it already that we tend to teach in an unconventional way. As I read on a homeschool blog called “The Encouraging Homeschool Mom” the other day by Jamerill Stewart and she called it “homeschool in a box”. Yes we had tried that route and it did not work for us with our youngest son. Now after years of homeschooling, research, chats with other moms and great blogs like the one I will link below…..we found some good tips and tricks that I hope will help you on your Homeschool journey.

I will let you know that we homeschooled our oldest (he is now 27 and excelling in his career, which we contribute a lot of his skills to things he learned in his homeschool days), with some of the more traditional lessons but always adding a bit of a homeschool twist. This worked for him…he needed more structure with how things would be done in a regular school setting. After a few years of this style of teaching….we did find that he needed some more creative outlets for learning his lessons. Now that we are schooling our youngest that has very distinct special needs, we see at least for him, that not only “one on one” teaching is needed… but very creative techniques and a constant change of styles is needed too.

Gavin is 14 and technically in 9th grade. He does fall a bit short on keeping up academically with the other kids and at his grade level. Putting all that aside….we as parents need to make sure he is taught the best he can be and with or without special needs. Each child is different whether they have trouble learning or not. We have been gifted with these children in our lives and they in turn have been gifted to have us as their teachers and mentors!!!! As a family we can minister to each other and we can share learning, teaching, gifts, skills, abilities, life lessons etc…..as we guide these young hearts to grow in the Lord and in their maturity. As parent we need to equip them in every way so when they leave the safe haven of home….they can be ready for what comes their way. Homeschooling does not just know what 1+1 is or how to spell…..yes that is a major part of learning but so is teaching them how to live life is too. Especially if you are a special needs parent then you would really get this point.

Here are just a few tips and tricks that I can share with you today that we have used and have worked well for us.

UNO Math

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We take UNO cards in a pile with only the numbers and wild cards. You then pick from the pile…the first 2 cards on top. Next you add these two cards (you can use addition, subtraction, division or even multiplication). If you draw a number and a wild card…your child can pick any number he/she wants to replace the wild card (which can make the math game even more fun). Now of course I said we do everything with a twist. Our son does not like using pen and paper. So we use a whiteboard, chalk board…..writing in sand in a box etc… Today, I had a bunch of leftover cd’s from a VBS project this year that we will not use again. So we took the cd’s and allowed him to write on them for each pair of numbers he picked. He could draw counting sticks, counting dots on the cd to help him do the math problem etc…to a help him add the UNO card 7 + 9 etc….IT WORKED GREAT!!!

Cereal Box Reading

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This is one of many ideas. Our son would not read a book. As a matter of fact when we pulled him from public school in 4th grade he would not read at all. I saw him trying to read a fortune cookie one day, at a Chinese restaurant and then it got me thinking….what else would he read? He loves Nerf guns and power rangers….ok then….what could we use to make reading fun and to incorporate the things he loves and likes. So, off we go with this idea now and when he buys a Nerf gun he reads the box, as he gets his favorite cereal he reads the box, you get the picture. He is now reading more and more (including books) and he is surprising us all the time with his reading skills. He also loves to use the “closed caption” on the TV and read the lines as they speak it out loud on the shows he watches. Who would have thought that watching TV can be a great reading lesson!!!

Go Fish Spelling

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Spelling is a something that was never fun!!! Ok what could be done…..well again schooling with a twist. I found an old set of playing cards, and put white labels on them with our spelling words. Then use them just like you would for a regular game of “Go Fish”. Do you have a “dog”….no go fish. Then when you get the matching pair….you lay those words down. Of course as the mom/teacher in me we needed to repeat the word, sound it out and spell it out loud before moving to the next word. We then found a set of cards with words and used it the same way.

These are only a few of my tips and tricks I use to teach our son. They are not new to some of you and to some of you just starting out and or needing a new idea… I trust this will increase your creative juices today to come up with some of your own fun ways of teaching some very basis things.

Write below in the comments and tell me what ideas you have. I would love to hear from you and what worked for you and also what did not. These tips….are great for special needs but all in all they are great for anyone who needs a little fun and creativity in their homeschooling.

Follow me on my blog for more fun tips and tricks, other ideas for special needs kids and just some all in all…..wonderful encouragement for moms.

Feel free to email me….I would love to hear from you all. Also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram for other tips, tricks, ideas and pictures @resumeofamother

Lynn A.C. Wilson – Resume of a Mother

I found my NEW Normal and it is a moving target…….

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Normal…..this is one thing that many people strive to be….then some of us like to say that we like to be a little different. I am sure you heard the term growing up….”that is not normal”. So who defines “normal”? Somewhere along the way “normal” was defined as we were growing up and this is probably the pattern of life that you thought you would be following. I never knew what it would mean to have to find a new normal for my life. I grew up in a family of five and the most challenging thing growing up with 2 sisters was waiting in line for the bathroom. Life growing up seemed very normal for me.

We had families who lived down the street that we would say as kids…..” that is the family that is not normal”. I have no idea really why we said that other than for some reason they did not fit into what we did.

attachment-1-1I dreamed of a career, not staying at home….I loved the thought of working, not having a husband and children….traveling and always learning new things was on the top of my list, not having a life filled with special needs, daily challenges, trying to follow a constant moving target and not having an ordinarily life.

Then life took over and little did I know that I would be a mom, a wife, a career woman, a wife of a husband with epilepsy and on full-time disability, a mom of a special needs son, a mom of a “average” son (as most people classify it), a mom who would homeschool her two boys, and that my life would take a turn in a way that I could never have imagined. I would have a life of major change… to the point that I would feel like a single working parent and a single woman many times in my “normal” life.

After being a mom to my first son where it seemed to be a very normal life and raising him was very natural, I thought had it all figured out. Then to have 2 miscarriages, and then many years later I would find out that our second child would come through adoption and have a life long list of 4 major disabilities. We would then to be told he would never walk or talk and to accept what his life would be. Wow….what happened to my ordinary life?

The normal life that I knew growing up just came to a screeching halt. Where is my normal? How do I now function? Where to go from here…..

So what is normal?? This is a question that has taken me years to realize that there is no such thing. When you live your life and ask the Lord to guide and direct you …..the target and life that you keep striving for….keeps moving and changing.

So what is my new normal and where am I now in this thing we call life? A woman who works out of the home full-time, a mom of an adult son who is now married, a mother-in-law, a home-school mom of a teenager with special needs, a wife of a husband on full time disability due to epilepsy, a woman who runs a ministry out of my home, a woman who is in leadership in my local church, a woman who has now entered the age of helping older parents adjust to their new norm as they age, and along with all of this…..a woman that still needs to be just a woman who enjoys life for herself in just being simply Lynn.

I am on a journey in life that is exciting, ever changing, and full of challenges, stress, fun, and new adventures all the time. The young woman who dreamed of a life of a career and travel was short lived. My new normal changed me and allowed me to become the wife, mother and woman I am now. My norm is not the norm I dreamed of….and my norm is not normal…. it is a constant moving target and this was not the life that I would have chosen.

attachment-1-2This is my story and we all have one, the chapters are being written and the book has not been completed. I have come to realize that my fears, desires, challenges, and my everyday life and my everyday normal……are unique and different. Yet there are so many similarities that we can share together as we walk our journey as moms and women .

I would love to share with you my heart and the daily delights that God shares and sends to me. I would love to share with you what I have learned from being a wife of an epileptic and a mom of an autistic son. I would love to share with you what I have learned from the challenges and uniquenesses of my life. There are so many layers to a life that is not normal and your normal is a moving target. Come and join me on my journey of finding our NEW daily norm and also adding to our “Resumes of being a mother”.

Come with me as we see how full our resume is with all that we do….look forward to stories, challenges through devotions, recipes, special needs tips and tricks, women’s ministry ideas, tips on adapting to a change in your life, how to move forward in a new norm, crafts, DIY’s, basic budgeting ideas for broke people and so much more.

I am so looking forward to connecting with you and getting to reach out and touch your life even if it is in a small way to encourage you a mom and a woman.

Written by Lynn A. C. Wilson, Resume of a Mother