So many depressing things in the news these days. But every so often, if we’re paying attention, we find something good. Take this story, for instance. There’s no way you can read it and look at the many photos with it and not feel your heart soar. Made my day!
Then there’s this adorable six-minute video that’s so cleverly made:
Yep, made me smile too š
My son and I have a daily routine of eating breakfast together while I also try to read my Bible and a chapter of a Christian book.
I use the word try because while Iām trying to read, Josh is trying not to interrupt me. He has access to me all day long, so itās good for him to learn not to interrupt. He just hasnāt learned it yet.
This morning he was discussing his desire to buy a black car, in which he will drive to the next state to see our old neighbors, his best friends from childhood. After a little while, he segued into his plans to get married and have a baby boy and baby girl. (Weāve heard this lecture more frequently since his first nephew was born last fall.)
We listen to him talk about his plans all the time. Without the right mindset it can be quite depressing, because heās not ever going to be able to buy a car (most people with Down syndrome canāt drive, and heās not able to hold down the kind of job, i.e. most jobs, that would allow him to save up for a car anyway). As for becoming a parent, even if he had the maturity to be a parent, which he doesnāt, heāll never have the ability because men with Ds are sterile.
And yes, these facts have depressed me in the past and occasionally still do. The irony of this morning is that the book Iāve been reading after my daily devotions is Heaven by Randy Alcorn, and check out what was in todayās chapter:
Joni Eareckson Tada writes from her wheelchair, āI havenāt been cheated out of being a complete personāIām just going through a forty-year delay, and God is with me even through that. Being āglorifiedāāI know the meaning of that now. Itās the time, after my death here, when Iāll be on my feet dancing.āā¦.God is big enough not only to fulfill your dreams but also to expand them as you anticipate Heaven. When you experience disappointment and loss as you faithfully serve God here, remember: the loss is temporary. The gains will be eternal. Every day on the new Earth will be a new opportunity to live out the dreams that matter most.
I believe in God, not coincidences, so I know this specific passage turning up in my reading while my son was expounding on his future (impossible) plans is God reminding me that while there are many things my son will not be able to do on this earth, he will not be hampered by his disability in the next life.
I find this very comforting, and I hope other parents of kids with developmental disabilities find it comforting, too. But it also applies to parents of kids who donāt achieve their dreams: parents of the lovely young woman who dreams of the satisfaction of marriage and children but never finds a good man to share that dream with, or parents of bright young people with promising futures who suffer brain injuries in accidents and are left seemingly a shadow of their former selves.
Itās so easy to get caught up in an earthly perspective that makes you view everything in terms of now, but the book Heaven is reminding me that my perspectiveās timeline is much longer than merely ānow.ā Great book, by the way; many thanks to my husband for recommending it to me.
Even before I read this headline, I already suspected (and feared) that the latest young male mass shooter was homeschooled.
The first reports mentioned his name, Nehemiah, a name from the Bible. That his dad was a pastor. That there were ten kids in his family. Sure sounded like homeschoolers to me. But now I know for sure.
Previous mass shooters had attended school, and had often been bullied. There would be mention of violent video games (something this shooter wasnāt allowed to play). And of course plenty of blame has been put on the violence kids see on television and at the movies (but this boyās parents didnāt allow that).
So how did this happen? What made this boy snap?
The first article quotes sources as saying the boy had long had murder/suicide fantasies. I have to wonder if he was on psychotropic meds. Many kids are these days. The more kids that are prescribed these drugs, the more kids we will see suffering from side effects that include suicidal and homicidal impulses. Could that be related to these shootings? Because now that weāve ruled out school bullying and violent video games and movies, what else could be causing this horrible trend?
This family and their friends and loved ones are in my prayers.
Thereās a wealth of information in this 15-minute interview with Professor Walter E. Williams. If I were still homeschooling, Iād have my kids watch this interview and then let the discussion go from there; itās that good.
Note that he mentions Dr. Thomas Sowell, another economic expert who has written many, many books full of common sense. I used his Basic Economics with my younger daughter when she was a homeschooling teen. We both learned a lot from that book.
(Interesting sidenote: the interviewer, Ginni Thomas, is married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.)
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