Never Ever Dull
With every conversation, I always seem to end with "Never a dull moment"....our lives are rich, complex, and beautiful stories. Join me in laughing about everyday things and appreciating life-bumpy roads and all.
Me: Hola! What's up? Coach: He got hurt. It's pretty bad. I'm taking him to the emergency room. Can you meet us there? Not how I expected my night to be. I found myself in a patient room sitting in a corner. Across from me was KazKid who cut his finger...really cut his finger. I listened to the discussions from the scrub people and nodded my head understanding that there were no broken bones, and no damage to any of the muscles. Kind of an amazing deal to know he would only need stitches after hearing the discussion about how deep that cut was. Yuck. Of course, I never actually saw the cut. If you know me, you know I don't do these situations well...or at all. I sat there and looked at Coach who was right by KazKid, explaining each step of what would be happening-pressure, needles, anesthesia, etc. I thought back to when Coach and I first met. I used to call him Coach "Snarley" instead of "Snarey" (in my head). It seemed more fitting. Appearances can be deceiving. Beneath his tough exterior, there's a big heart inside Coach. It's taken time to see just how big his heart really is. Three years ago, my older son, SeriousAthlete, begged to play football. Now that you know I have challenges with seeing people in pain, you can probably predict that I wasn't on board. Yet, we were new to the area and football seemed like a way my son could get connected. SeriousAthlete played for Coach and was a natural on the field. Until.... He broke his foot goofing around with some friends. I contacted Coach to give him the scoop that SeriousAthlete would be out for weeks until his foot healed. Coach responded with a question that stunned me: Could SeriousAthlete work out at the gym with him and some other boys? I wasn't sure about this. because I had trust issues with him. .Why would a big ol' bouncer looking guy who always had the tough-coach-look be interested in spending time training my son to lift weights and also mentoring him? Because Coach has a big heart. In the three years that I've known Coach, I've witnessed how much he cares for others...beyond his classroom walls. He works out with both my boys now and continues to keep that commitment to them. But there's even more... Over time, I've seen how he made home and hospital visits to Sami,, his middle school student who was battling cancer. Just as Sami started her chemotherapy treatments, her father lost his battle to cancer.. A hard and challenging time that left many speechless. But not Coach. He organized the Sami 5K run to raise money to help with Sami's medical expenses. He developed a strong relationship with Sami and during her sophomore year in high school, she asked him to escort her on the Homecoming Court. So deeply touched, he texted me immediately to say how much it meant for him to be asked. He did escort her proudly. Coach has a big heart and both were beaming that homecoming night. Today, the Sami 5K continues with its annual run in October. Sami is much better so Coach now selects families in the community that need financial help due to medical expenses. This year, the Sami 5K proceeds (the entire 100% of all proceeds) will go to help another one of his students whose mom has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The George family needs financial help to cover the costs of a specialized treatment that will hopefully change the current trajectory of the mom's MS. Coach could have stopped the Sami 5k once Sami got better. He could easily stop training and mentoring young men. Coach could pull away from those situations that are uncomfortable and hard. But he doesn't. And I'm so incredibly thankful that he doesn't. Even though he intimidated me with his mean coach glares and tough demands to the football players, and big ol' bouncer physique, inside was one gigantic heart. ***Coach only allowed me to post this if I could get more folks to become sponsors or to raise money for the George family. So please, consider becoming part of Coach's team to help the George family and continue to build the tradition of the Sami 5K. Thanks =) To contribute, please check out this site: https://www.facebook.com/Run4Sami5k/ or leave a comment so I can connect you to Coach.
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We both traveled across the Atlantic to adopt. We both chose to bring older children into our families. We both researched and felt like we had an inkling of what to do. We both realized that we really didn't know what we were doing! But...we continued to learn, grow, and show grace to our families and especially ourselves as we embraced what it takes to adopt and mold your newest member into your family. We both knew only bits and pieces of the childhood our children had experienced in their countries. We'd take those and try to weave a story so that we could grasp what life had been like for them. Language presented huge barriers as we tried to unravel a past that was so different from what we experienced while raising our own. Years have gone by. We both moved to different states. Yet, in this very small world we live in, Cindy and I ended up living within minutes of each other again hundreds of miles from where we originally met.. Cindy and I talk about orphans and adoptions still, but it''s different now. Cindy has taken action. She acknowledges that there are 153 million orphans around the world today. That's staggering. Yes, some do find a forever home and that's about 250,000 adopted each year. So what's the problem? That leaves 152,750,000 children who are in orphanages or on the streets. You can't adopt all of them and it's mind boggling to provide financial support for that number....What could Cindy do? Transform orphan care. Taking care of the physical needs of orphans is demanding. On top of that, many orphans have to deal with abandonment issues, attachment disorders, and sexual abuse. How do caregivers care for children who have been exploited? How do you deal with all those layers of heartaches? Care givers are the ones orphans have contact with all the time. Cindy knew they were the ones she needed to pour into if she wanted change to happen. Through her organization, Cindy meets the needs of the caregivers and equips them to handle more than the daily physical needs of the orphans, Her goal? That these young children can grow and mature in an emotionally healthy way and know that they are loved...no matter what their past may feel like and look like...because the ones giving them care are overflowing with love for them. I love that Cindy wasn't content with feeling that she had cared "for the least of these" through her adoption. She wanted so much more. Not just for the ones that she had seen in the Ukranian orphanage where her youngest lived a good chunk of her childhood but for orphans all over the world. My sweet friend is running hard after her passion to care for orphans. Over and over, she has shown me that lives that appear to be a tangled mess of threads with knots and frayed ends can be turned into a beautiful tapestry pieced together with love,..It just takes action to make that happen. http://cindyfinley.com/rivercross/ Sometimes people walk into our lives and nothing changes. However, there are those rare special times when someone enters our world and everything changes.
And so it was with Riley. At the end of summer, I carried my fresh off the press roster to my classroom with much eagerness. Gradually, a crowd of teachers gathered around reading the names off my list. Over and over, I heard "Oh, you have Riley!" and "That's perfect that you got Riley!" I hadn't even met the kid but it was obvious that she had made quite the impression on many at my school. And then I met Riley, a one-of-a-kind kid with a very unique story. You see, Riley is a fighter. She had to become one early in life because she hit some major bumps and obstacles. At one point, she lived in a hospital for 9 months, pushing through 17 surgeries with 66 cubic units of blood being pumped into her small frame to help her. out. She continues the fight. But she doesn't want people to feel sorry for her. In fact, she does the opposite. She would walk into my room with a huge smile and a bounce in her step. Although she continued to seek medical advice for annoying health issues, her smile and bounce were always present each day. I strongly believe her incredibly positive attitude came from her family and her friends that support her every step of her crazy, uphill journey. I guess I shouldn't say "believe"...I know. After spending time with them for a year, they are Riley's greatest fan club, cheering and supporting her through it all. Riley forever changed me as a teacher. As her parents snapped the First Day of School photo, I realized the significance of me jumping into a race they were in. I took the baton during the daytime school hours and made a silent promise to myself to make each day the best day it could possibly be for Riley and the rest of our class. I tried to never take each day for granted and saw it through the eyes of Riley and her parents: that each day is truly a blessing. May we all learn a lesson from Riley, a kid full of spunk and love:: Each day is a precious gift. Make today the best day ever.. It seemed like it was taking forever to sell our home. But then one beautiful, glorious Saturday morning, my realtor called with multiple offers on the table. The best one was obvious. Asking price, taking possession as is, and a lovely, heartfelt letter to me. There was one itty bitty glitch: we had to be out in 14 days. 14 days. 14 days to pack up four kids, myself, and all our stuff. I considered it carefully and knew I could swing it even if it took 14 sleepless nights. But where would we go? All our possessions and a three-legged cat named Tripod and two turtles? Enter the Sheets family. They opened up their home to us, but they did so much more than that.*** They gave me a glimpse of what family looks like with all 9 (gulp!) of their children. Yep, you read that right. 9 kids. And two adorable grandkids that actually were about the ages of the the last two of the nine. They lived out what a Christian family could look like. True...it did feel like a three ring circus with all the activity, but there was a precious rhythm to their chaos. Upon entering the home of the Sheets, you sense the difference. As a friend of the Sheets family shared with me: "Amy, you could be having a party with 50 people downstairs in the basement* and they probably wouldn't notice. If they did, they would join in!" It was true. So very true. I could pen a novel about "Life with the Sheets" and I might. Here a couple of takeaways that will always remain with my kids and me: It's totally ok to shove all the furniture for a tv show or movie even if the rearrangement of furniture could scratch hardwoods..The crowd would gather,and there would be endless pushing of chairs and sofas. Being comfy and having a good view of the screen is a priority. But being together is most important. .Even if your dog knocks over the crock pot on the kitchen counter and turns the stove on in the process, igniting a fire, you don't get too upset. Even if it happens twice. The melted pot can be replaced and the odd odors will eventually diminish. Messes happen especially with a big family so there's really no need to get upset....just stop the fire and keep on going. There was a father-son football bowl occurring the first weekend after meeting my boys, Mr. Sheets asked my sons to join his team. A kind offer goes a long way and is a great way to start a friendship. Mrs. Sheets shared that just after getting married, she found a stranger's clothing left on her bathroom floor. When she inquired, her husband said he had picked up a homeless man and allowed him the privilege of taking a shower. Always be willing to share what you have and live your faith out in action as you love others. After going through a time of trauma, I found rest in their household. Ok. "Rest" can be defined in a couple of ways. The Sheets house was full of activity and buzzing with noise at all times, but I did find peace in all that. I'd find myself sitting at the kitchen counter chatting about life stuff while two little guys scrambled up to the counter to fix their own food, while a high school student stressed about ACT and SAT scores and prom, while one of the older kids strolled in to share the gender of the next new grandchild to enter the family....there was "rest" in all that. I loved being a part of their family and was shown the importance of supporting each person in each season of life...no matter if that season was a good one or a bad one...always be there for them. While we lived there for just six months, I took in a lot. No matter how many books I had on my shelf about how to parent and raise kids, nothing compared to the knowledge I gained during our stay with the Sheets. They put their faith into action. They helped start an organization I Am Second (http://www.iamsecond.com/), placing God and others first and yourself as second. My family is incredibly blessed that we got to see the Sheets live this out daily. Every couple of days, one of us comments, "Remember when the Sheets did this?..." Life with the Sheets taught me many things but most importantly, to love God, your kids, and family, to laugh with them, and to hold on tight to them no matter what the circumstances. ***At one point, I prayed:" Lord, please let me be treated like a princess. Life is hard. ". When I drove up to the Sheets house, the first thing I noticed were the turrets (yep, like as in a castle). I knew God wanted us to be there. Thank you, God. Thank you, Sheets family! |
AuthorFun-loving mom to 4 kids and 1 big puppy. Fifth grade teacher of amazing little people who have never ending things to share with me. Love to discuss Jesus, diy projects, and life. Trying to keep it simple: Love Jesus, love people. Archives
December 2021
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