Lamentations 3:22-27 ... "The unfailing love of God never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is His faithfullness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, the Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him and seek Him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And it is good for the young to submit to the yolk of discipline."

This is one scripture I was resting in yesterday. For those of you who don't know, we have been seeing a therapist to help us as a family better cope with our oldest sons A.D.H.D. and supposed O.D.D. Everyone seems to know A.D.H.D. , but O.D.D. is the acronym for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The O.D.D. is the most challenging for us as a family unit. Also fot those of you who don't know, we have been very on the fence about the neccesity of medicating and what would be best for our son's developing body and mind. It has been one topic of persistent prayer, and we have sought various council from God-fearing Christians as well as doctors of medicine. Up to date we have shied away from giving Ritalin or any other meds but recently answer to prayer finally broke through and we do now believe that it could be safe and even necessary to medicate, at a low dose. (I know there are those who disagree, so if your reading this, just know that we have waited on the Lord for a long time and chosen homeschool and many other safegaurds to protect our son , we do believe that at times children do need medication to help with neurological or psychological disorder, it was just a matter of does our son need it?)
This will be anxiety provoking for me, Mom, so I would be thankful for any prayer lifted up for me especially to stay focused on God and to trust in Him unwaveringly. Also for us mainly to be always hearing from God.

I post this, and other details about our families challenges, or triumphs, for two reasons ~
Number one to Glorify God in showing how one family is seeking to live under Him , sin and all, warts and all; we are " persihable containers" with this light and power within us - yet God is glorified when His people proclaim His deeds and live under His promises in front of the world.
Also, I want to serve as an encouragement for other Mom's ( or even Dad's) especially those who may have a child diagnosed with A.D.D., A.D.H.D., O.D.D. or any other neurological irregularity. It gets wearisome; you are not alone. At least let this blog assure you that there are Christian families that have a child with these particular struggles, and this is how one is helping their child and their family. We as believers also address the heart issues of sin and we in no way excuse sin as not sin, we do try to be patient with our child's bent.
The wise words of one therapist: ( No, she was not a Christian, but that does not mean she did not have expertise helping kids with neurological limitations, and we can and should wager everything against the word of the Lord) :
" If you knew you would be chopping wood for 4 hours every day, you would make sure that you got enough rest, adequate nutrition, and plenty of time in the day to relax. The same is needed but doubly as much for parenting a child with O.D.D. full-time. You will have to take care of yourself in ways you would not have to if your child did not have O.D.D. She reccomends,
find a sitter and go out weekely away from your home with your spouse, seek out wise council from your spouse and friends, get exercize daily ( she asserts that there is nothing better than exercize that is fun to relax) get enough sleep, have a hobby you enjoy doing to escape into sometimes, and don't try to do too much in a ddition to your parenting and other neccessary duties, remembering that parenting a child with O.D.D. is a huge job."

Not all of that I can do, but much of it is good advice and I have benfitted from it greatly. I enjoy music for one thing, so I put on a good worship CD and dance around the house with Grace and Josh when Ty is especially defiant , and I have him spend some time in his room praying and seeking God about his attitude. When he is grounded again, even Ty gets involved from time to time - of course, he is " too cool" at this age to really dance around ;) Ha ha
There are times when he does not 'calm down', these are the times we have to keep him seperated from the other kids, but I am sure to let him know that he is not the only one who struggles with sin - or even has downright unsubmissive moments. Which one of us, if we are honest, can say that we haven't ? " Not one is righteous, not one ... " He also knows of his diagnosis and knows he needs to be particularily vigalent in these areas.

We are blessed to have a son in Ty who loves the Lord and is increasingly responsive to His love and commandments as time goes on. We are also faith-filled by our Faith-ful God who promises to be with Ty and never leave nor forsake Him. How comforting that is !! I remind myself of God's promises and warnings daily. And now, even on the weekends I will be diligent - LOL :)


Hope you all have a great day, and stay at the foot of the cross.
Josh, that sounded so cheesy.... LOL... but it's not! There lies the reason I call this blog that, because that is what I need to do ;)