A Teaching Moment

Natalie sucks her thumb. She has since she spent the first night with me. At first I didn't worry about it as I figured so much was changing in her life and that was her security. After the first 6-12 months, we (I should say I) began working on trying to break this habit. As all of you parents who have had thumb suckers know, it is not an easy thing to change. I have tried everything and I mean everything to get her to stop. Nothing has worked. I have sought help from the pediatrician, the dentist, the Internet and other parents. In March we met with her dentist. They have a device that they can place in the mouth and those parents that I have spoken to who have used it have had great success. But the dentist felt like I needed to give it at least another 6 months. She advised not acknowledging it and then attempt a reward system. Natalie sucks her thumb when she thinks I am not looking at home, at church, at school and of course in her sleep.

The other day I walked into her room and she was working on her computer (which my sister so graciously donated to us-Windows '98) on a Reader Rabbit program. She quickly pulled her thumb out of her mouth as I walked in. I very calmly asked her why she put her thumb in her mouth. She kept shrugging her shoulders telling me that she didn't know. I kept asking her and finally she said, "Because you aren't in the room." I replied,"I don't want to know when you do it but why, help me to understand." But she really won't/couldn't give me an answer, so I left her room and went downstairs.

Immediately I heard her start crying. It wasn't one of those heartbreaking sobbing cries, but just sort of a whining kind of crying. So I let her cry for a little bit. But then I knew God was speaking to me. I knew I needed to go and talk with Natalie. I walked into her room and sat on her bed. I called her over to me and had her sit on my lap. She was crying and telling me over and over that she didn't want to do it. I told her that I didn't like when she sucked her thumb. I wished she wouldn't do it. That it was yucky and there were germs. I also said that I knew the kids made fun of her and it made me sad that they would say things. But I went on to tell her, that whether she sucked her thumb or not, I would still love her and that my love was the same whether she did suck her thumb or not. It was amazing to see her response. She smiled and then just hugged me so tightly.

In the few minutes that passed, it was as if I heard the Lord speaking to me. I was just like Natalie. I did things that I didn't want to do, when I knew the Lord was not there (i.e. not at church, around others, etc.,) that the things I did were yucky and not good for me, and they were things that he didn't want me to do. BUT mostly what he brought to mind was that HIS love for me was the same whether I did the right thing or stumbled and did the wrong thing. He still loves me the same!! What an amazing and humbling thought!

Least you think I am doing some terrible things, I'm not. But things like having a wrong attitude, by not being patient or kind or so on are things that are not pleasing to God. There are times that I know I need to be more patient with Natalie and I just am not. But thank God that his love does not change even in the midst of those times.

Later that night I went to check on Natalie and sure enough, there was her thumb in her mouth. As I gently tapped it to see if it would fall out, she opened her eyes. I leaned down towards her and said, "Natalie your thumb was in your mouth, but I love you just the same." She smiled and drifted off back to sleep.

My Pleasure

There have been a lot of things going on including starting my new job. I'm happy to say the job is going well and today was my best day so far in the sense of being organized, meeting my productivity and just feeling settled in. Some other ongoing issues also got resolved today. Natalie had gone through a rough patch several weeks ago and have been doing exceptionally well. So I decided that we would go to Chik-fil-a. Tuesday nights kids either eat free or there is a discount (I can't remember off the top of my head.)

When I lived in Romania the Romanian version of "you're welcome" literally was translated as "with pleasure." I always thought that was a great way to respond to thank you and for awhile I did use the expression. Tonight at Chk-fil-a, the cashier (a young boy) said "my pleasure" to us after we got our meal and said thank you to him. I thought he was being exceptionally nice to us (he was very pleasant and nice) until I heard a young woman make the same comment to another customer. After we had finished our meal and Natalie was done playing, we went to leave the restaurant. As we got ready to walk through the first set of double doors, another young man was cleaning the glass door. He moved out of the way and held the door open for us to walk through. I said thank you and he replied, "my pleasure." As we passed through towards the outer glass door, Natalie so innocently placed her hand right in the middle of the glass door that he had just finished cleaning and pushed the door open. I'm not so sure it was his pleasure to have to clean the door all over again!!

Natalieisms

Natalie saw the daffodils at my mom's house. We saw a picture of them in a book and Natalie said, "Look mom, appledills just like at Bashka's house!
The last two days as she has wound down before going to bed, she has been wearing her sunglasses. When I asked her why she had them on, she told me, "Mom, those are my eyetacks." I wear contacts and at night I take them out and put on my glasses. I had to reassure her several times that I do take off my glasses when I go to sleep. I guess when she is in the bed with me, she must think I still have my "eyetacks" in!

Wow!

Today the first of 3 books I ordered arrived. They are books made from my blog. Thanks to Christy who shared the website. Volume II arrived and Volumes I and III will probaly arrive on Monday. It turned out so nice and it has been fun to read back through the posts. Here is a link to the website!

www.blog2print.com

Two Years!

It is hard to believe that today marks two years since Natalie came home!! Lately it has felt like a lot longer:) I had read somewhere that when children turn 5 they are going through so many changes and just really becoming aware of who they are. We have had some ups and downs, but overall I see a lot of growth in Natalie. I have sent off for my blog to be made into a book and the "books" should arrive any day now. I was talking about it today so I looked back on my blog and began to re-read it. Wow! God has done (and still continues to do) some incredible things.
I've made it through my first week of work at the new job. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. It still amazes me how quickly I get home at the end of the day.
Easter has really snuck up on me this year. Probably because I have been so focused on the job situation. I am so grateful to be able to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope that we have in him!
Please remember my friend Lora in your prayers. She has lost 2 family members this week.
It is late but I will do my best to share some pictures from our day out last Friday soon!!

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!!