Join Me On the Journey

Have you ever noticed how quickly something can become “old hat?” Perhaps it’s just a personal quirk of mine. (I do tend to live so much in the present that I forget what I had for breakfast, LOL.) But, I am frequently amazed that I cannot easily remember what my life was like before major changes occurred.

I will be married only eight years on the 13th, but, I have already forgotten what it felt like to be single. I have four incredible children and already, I have forgotten what it felt like before I was a mommy. I worked for nearly ten years as a physician, and I have to stop and remind myself what it felt like to work outside the home.

There have also been people who have come into my life and influenced me–not directly, but via their teaching. Andrew Wommack is a big one. I have literally listened to hundreds of hours of his teaching and it has changed my life. Recently, I have been receiving from the ministry of Cindy Rushton and many of the people she is affiliated with.

And, I have been writing here for just a few weeks, and already, sharing my thoughts here seems old hat…like I’ve been doing it all my life…something that fits me and feels so comfy. Now, perhaps that’s not exactly what you think of when you hear the phrase “old hat.” Perhaps you think of something that’s out-dated and out of fashion. But, that’s what I think of, and I have found myself using that phrase over and over again in my life.

What is it about people (or, maybe just me, LOL) that makes us fall so naturally into a new situation? Is it part of how God created us? All animals were created to adapt to their environment. Is it a defense? If we didn’t have that tendency, would we always be looking back?

I think that part of it is my personality. I am a sanguine poster child. I would never have been like Lot’s wife; looking back and grieving over my lost life. (Of course, I may very well have looked back because I was dying of curiosity! )

But, part if it is just human nature. Life often sneaks up on us. We live day after day and before we realize it, we’re in a different place. Often, not a place we purposed to go.

That’s why it’s so incredibly important to live life and not let life live you. Stop and think! Think about your dreams. Write them down. Purpose to walk toward them.

There have been times in my life when I’ve just curled up in a ball and not moved forward at all. There have been times when all I could accomplish was to put one foot in front of the other without regard to where I was going. But, now that I am strong; and now that I have a husband who loves me with all his heart and children that think I’m the cat’s meow (you remember though, they’re only little yet, LOL ); now, I am ready to move forward. I’m ready to walk toward the dream that I have of reaching out and touching others with the experiences I’ve had and the wisdom that God has given me in my 40 years on this planet. (I can say that because I won’t be 41 until next Tuesday, LOL.)

I hope that your life will be changed through something I write here. Perhaps someday, you’ll say, “I can’t remember what my life was like before I ‘met’ Tamera on the internet.”

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Today, I would like to share an email from a dear friend of mine. I hope it may help someone!

As many of you know we are homeschooling our boys this year. One of our reasons for homeschooling them was because of Brandon’s struggle with reading and more specifically reading comprehension. I have had them home with me for 6 months now. Brandon is/was still struggling with reading comprehension. I have tried numerous things with him to no avail. This was Brandon.

Now I will share Preston’s problems. As soon as I brought him home I knew he had a problem. He could not read. If I gave him an easy book with pictures he could picture read and/or memorize the book and read. Anytime I would try and have him read a book without pictures it was a disaster. I tried starting over with a phonics program with him and that didn’t help. It seemed to help when I would cover all the words except the one he was reading. Although he still had trouble with switching letters around. I questioned dyslexia with Preston and I did talk to someone who works with kids with dyslexia but I didn’t like the answer I got so I didn’t research it further. I just kept struggling and not really getting anywhere with him.

Both boys were having trouble but both were completely different problems. Brandon was a good speller and was a fairly fluent reader but can not comprehend what he read. Preston cannot spell and struggles with reading but he can comprehend what he did finally read. Brandon struggles with memorizing math facts Preston has them down.

Then a dear homeschool friend of mine suggested getting colored transparencies. So after much prayer from and with my dear friend, in January I finally started researching an email I received in October from my Godmother about the Irlen Method. The more I read about it the more I realized I had to get my boys tested. The final kicker that had me make an appointment to get the boys tested was one day I yelled at Preston because he wrote on the table with a marker. Anyone that knows Preston knows that we have called him our “Space Man” since he was very little. We have called him that because he is always walking into things and is a klutz. After I yelled at him I realized I just yelled at him for something he has no control over. Earlier that morning he went to throw something in the garbage and bent over and hit his head on the counter. One of the symptoms of Irlen’s is poor depth perception. So he didn’t mean to write on the table but did because he couldn’t judge where the edge of the paper was. I apologized to Preston about yelling at him and started looking for a screener.

We finished our initial screening today for the two older boys and they have both been diagnosed with it. The correction is either colored overlays and/or colored lenses. The difference the colored overlays made for Brandon brought tears to my eyes. I wish I would have known about this 4 years ago when all his troubles started. This is something that is hereditary. I did sit in on the test and watched and listen to them ask the questions. After we were all done the screener asked what I saw and we decided it would be beneficial for me to get tested too. The boys need to go for testing yet so that they can get colored lenses or tinted glasses.

My hope with this email is to bring awareness to as many people as possible about Irlen Method. They say that 20% of the population has it. Anyone who is a teacher I BEG you to read about this on the web at www.irlen.com and talk to your schools about getting testing for this for the kids. Anyone who is a parent and have any of the symptoms I list, contact me and I can get you in touch with a screener or even talk to you more about it.

• Do you have night blindness?
• Do you have trouble catching a ball?
• Are you tired of re-reading for comprehension?
• Do you have trouble staying on task?
• Do you or your child guess at the words?
• Do you lose your place?
• Do you hate math?
• Are you bothered by headlights at night?
• Are you easily distracted?
• Are you bothered by florescent lights?
• Does reading become harder the longer you read?
• Do you have trouble spelling?
• Do you reverse numbers or letters?
• Do you or your child have ADHD?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions you could have Irlen’s and CAN be helped. I have lived with it for 30 years and I am excited to have my turn to get screened and helped. I would had never thought I had it until I sat in on the screening of the boys today.Thanks for taking time to “listen” to me.

Peace and Love
Jolene

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Did you know that God is a canner?

Now, many of you who LOVE to can, must have already known this, but it was news to me!

I wrote a few days ago about the fact that when you accept Christ, your spirit is made righteous and holy.

“…put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

At that moment, your spirit is instantly changed as it talks of in II Corinthians 5:17.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: behold all things are become new.

Our spirit is then “sealed” with the Holy Spirit as it says in Ephesians 1:13:

In whom (in Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Now, the word sealed can have several different meanings. For example, you can stamp an official seal on a document to warn people not to open it. And this is the way that several other versions I looked at translate this passage.

However, you can also take an illustration from canning. When you put up jelly, you “seal” the fruit with paraffin. The paraffin keeps out contaminants. In the same way, our spirit is sealed with the Holy Spirit and this protects us from the sin that we continue to commit despite our best efforts.

My spirit is sealed by the Holy Spirit and no impurities can come in and contaminate it. Why is this so important? Because my spirit is the part of me that communicates with God.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for sealing my spirit! Amen

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Recently, I have realized something that has just set me free. There is a difference between schedules and routines. Either will work, depending on your situation and temperament.

You see, I had struggled for YEARS to try and “get myself on a schedule.” I tried to knuckle myself under. I tried to “be a good soldier.” I had the best of intentions, but it would only last for a few days. Having a schedule is just difficult for me. I am Sanguine and for those of you who know me or who know what that means when I say I’m Sanguine, I just don’t do well with a strict schedule. Gradually, I have realized, that I just function better with routines.

A routine is different from a schedule. A schedule says, “From 6:00 to 6:30, I have my quiet time. From 6:30 to 7:00, I walk on the treadmill,” and so on. A routine says, “When I get up in the morning, I have my quiet time, exercise and have my shower before the kids get up.” A schedule untilizes the clock, a routine utilizes blocks of time.

As the weeks have passed, I have combined both methods into my life and it’s working well. There are a few parts of my days that are scheduled but most of my day is made up of routines…certain things that happen during certain blocks of time. It has taken some experimentation and a willingness to try a different way of doing things, but I’m glad that I did. Life is quite a bit smoother now.

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This morning, while I was reading in Deuteronomy, I came across this phrase.

Don’t pretend you did not see it. Deut 22:3b (NLT)

It made me think of what I’ve been reading and hearing in other places about keeping my house clean.

First of all, let there be no question in your mind…keeping a house is not my forte. My mother keeps a beautifully organized house. I have a sister who has a house straight from the pages of House Beautiful. When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

However, the reality is, I have struggled for all my married life to keep my house clean. Granted, the first five years of marriage, I worked outside the home as a physician and I commuted 80 miles one way to work. But, even since I came home nearly three years ago, I have continued to struggle. Only in the last year have I felt that I have obtained the good habits that help me to keep my house clean.

There are many online sources of help. Here are just a few.

Flylady http://FlyLady.net/

Messies Anonymous–Home of the Organizer Lady http://www.messies.com/

Sidetracked Home Executives–The Slob Sisters http://www.shesintouch.com/

Personally, I have taken ideas from all three sources. Plus, I’ve read literally thousands of pages from books and online articles.

The bottom line is, change only happens when the pain of staying the same is more than the pain of changing. No doubt about it, change is painful. But I had finally come to the point where that didn’t matter any more…I had to do something. I could no longer live the way I had been living.

So, back to the thought that sparked this entry.

When you see something that could be done in less than 30 seconds, just do it! Don’t pretend you don’t see it.

Obviously, you can go overboard with this concept. You could run around all day doing 30 second jobs and never accomplish what truly needs to be done for that day. When you’re cooking dinner, for example, doing too many 30 second tasks could help you right into burning your dinner!

Generally, though, this concept has really begun to make a difference in my ability to keep house. It’s a little thing that can make a big difference.

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OK. I finally realized last night while I was listening to the audio from Cindy Rushton’s writing seminar that I don’t yet have the tools I need to start seriously writing.

What a relief! I was thinking it was just me being indecisive and lazy!

From the time of the seminar until now, I have been just burning…wanting to start writing…wanting to start ministering, and yet I found myself hesitating and restless. Now, I understand why.

Writing is a process. There are logical steps. Until I learn those steps, I run the risk of foundering.

So, I’ll be patient. I’ll just sit at the feet of Jesus and write in my journals and my blog; work on my website and learn the mechanics of writing from a great lady who has been kind enought to offer to teach them to me and others.

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