Crystal Accepted Jesus too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. Tonight Crystal came to me and said that she really wanted to get saved. I asked her why and she said that she needed to quit sitting and thinking about hell. I took her to the same quiet spot that I took Andrew to just a couple nights ago.

We talked for awhile. I reminded her of all the stuff that I reminded Andrew of in the previous post. She was very serious. I knew that it had been on her mind for quite some time. About 6 months ago I found a letter she had written to God about how she wanted to get saved. With most of my kids that would be an immediate time to talk. The problem is that if I push RAD kids toward something then they go the other way! I had to wait until it was something that she came to me about.

I asked her what "sins" she had committed that she needed Jesus to save her from. She told me that a lot of them were "hate". She went on to tell me things that I very well knew, but had never had her outright tell me. She said that when she came here she knew that we loved her very much, but that she always "hated" us very much. She cried a lot. She said that she knew that God wouldn't want her to hate us and that she did a lot of other sins too.

Crystal asked Jesus to save her and He did! She was very happy and I hope that I see a lot more of her happiness. She has been giving me hugs for awhile now. Tonight they were a little sweeter. She told me that she does love me and that she is glad that we are her family. WOW GOD IS AMAZING! Of course, when God comes into someone's heart there must be LOVE there because GOD IS LOVE!

I ask again, as I did about Andrew, that no one give them attention as a result of this. They need their salvation to be about a relationship with Christ. Attention is so bad for the RAD kids that it could get them completely off track. As their mother I am so THRILLED that they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. At the same time, I am terrified that people will show them "normal" attention like they would others. I'm terrified that a little of that could get them completely off track. Please join me in praying for God to spare them from that and continue to make their hearts to heal.

Andrew Got Saved (yes him too!)

Thurday evening at dinner Andrew told me that he was going to get saved when he was a teenager. I told him that was fine. He said that it was because when he is mad at me, he thinks about how he will do it then since he knows that I want him to do it. I told him that his salvation was just between he and God. I told him that him doing it as a teenager works fine unless he gets killed in a car accident or Jesus comes back before then. I told him that he could leave my thoughts out of it because it was between he and God.

Right before Andrew went to bed, he came to me and said that he needed to be saved right then. I talked to Andrew for over and hour from beginning to end. I wanted to make sure that he understood that salvation was serious. I talked to him about how Jesus literally DIED for him and how it would be spitting in His face as He hung there to not be serious about it. I let him know that asking Jesus into your heart is supposed to mean not only that you don't want to go to hell, but that you want to live for Jesus. I talked about how God is LOVE and he admitted that he'd had a lot of hate inside just out of the blue when I mentioned that. I told him that God KNOWS everything and that He can't be manipulated or tricked or deceived. I reminded him that while many people can see his smile and think it is real even when it is fake, God isn't like that. I reminded him that while he has said he was interested in salvation before, but it was just for attention that God always knows the truth.

I really am 99% sure that Andrew asked Jesus into his heart Thursday evening. I was only 98% sure that night. He seemed sincere and I don't fall for his games too easy. Since then I have seen a huge turnaround in his behavior and even in the look in his eyes. A lot was said and I have seen a lot of "action" that backs it up the past couple days. Please pray for him. I know the devil is going to fight him hard.

Also please if you know us in real life, don't give him attention for this (or anything else for that matter). I really need him to know that he should feel blessed and it is about a relationship with God. Attention will make his RAD flair up really badly.

GOD IS AMAZING!

Destiny Got Saved

Well Wednesday evening Destiny came to me right before we left for church. She said "Mommy, Dayton and Denzell don't have their sins any more because Jesus took them, but I still have mine because I haven't been saved. I need to be saved Mommy!".

I have lead a lot of my kids to the Lord. I don't know why her saying that made me want to sob and cry. It did though. God is so amazing! Destiny is the child that they told me was "mentally retarded" and who was such a mess when she got here. She was scared. She only spoke in echolalia. If I raised my hand she would flinch and jump back. She never expressed any emotion that was good at first except that she always looked scared. Since then she has become my bubbly happy girl. I knew that the AWANA verses she was learning seemed to be sticking, but I wondered when she would for sure make all those connections and be able to express them. Her doing it sent me into tears. I hurriedly said "Ok we are going to be late for AWANA if we don't hurry so we'll take care of it there". She was happy and so was I!

She spoke with "Billy" (I've heard his name mentioned in every prayer since then that she has prayed out loud.) and prayed to ask Jesus to take away her sins and save her. She was so excited! She even got up front and wanted to tell all the other people about how "Jesus took away Denzell and Dayton's sins and now He took away mine too! He saved me and made me very happy!".

God is amazing! I've got two other posts coming up with just how amazing!

The Grinch Must Have Been RAD

We watched the Grinch movie the other night. It was a stark reminder and parallel to my RAD kids. The Grinch was green and ugly to the world though so the world immediately thought that something was "wrong" with him. My RADishes are cute and "charming" to the world so no one notices that their hearts are "two sizes too small".

As I watched the Grinch I thought of so many specifics. The Grinch was left outside too long the night he was delivered and no one "noticed him till morning". That is the picture of how my RADishes got their start. No one cared for them in their early years. No one made sure the were safe, warm, and loved.

The Grinch didn't bond to his caregivers, but tried to with a girl at school and cared about what his peers thought in a strange (not by any means normal way). You could see the Grinch cringe when he arrived at that party and realized that his caregivers were there. (I will give you that they were a little wierd, but all the characters on that movie were. lol) At school as a child he didn't do well with the other kids. Part of that was the fault of the other kids who insulted him repeatedly for being "different". As the parent of a RAD child I just wonder what all happened when the camera wasn't rolling. (Please don't think I've gone completely mad. I do know that this was a cartoon, but I'm paralleling it to my RADs.) I know for a fact that RAD kids push every button they can with their peers. They only want to manipulate and not build a relationship.

The Grinch HATED Christmas. See Christmas represents what everyone else LOVED. Being a RADish the Grinch just couldn't conform and love what he should. He had to HATE what those around him loved. Just as my RADishes continue to push away Jesus because they know He is worthy of love and that we love Him. Christmas was a time of joy for the whole community and his family, so the Grinch did everything that he could to ruin it for those around him. He wasn't happy inside and he didn't want anyone else to be happy either. The Grinch had been rejected and was making sure to reject all those around him before they had a chance to love or reject him. He had a miserable existantance and was very happy about that. He didn't want anyone to interject in his self loathe.

When the Grinch did agree to go to the party it was purely to try and make someone else mad or miserable. He went to the party because the little girl told him that it was making the mayor mad. See a RAD gets great joy out of causing others to feel bad. The Grinch was no different.

When things didn't go the way that the Grinch had planned (the "enemy" being sad, though the mayor was cruel), the Grinch went nutty. He threw a big old RAD tantrum! He didn't care how it looked nor did he care if people who did nothing to him suffered. RAD all the way!

Seeing other people happy despite his best attempts to make them unhappy nearly did him in. He couldn't stand that they were happy. How dare anyone be happy! Happiness of anyone else made the void inside of him apparent. RAD some more!

Finally the love of the little girl and the love of others broke through. His heart grew and he was able to love and care about others. He suddenly had a sense of right and wrong that he didn't have before. He was changed!

I am so praying that God will make the heart of my RADishes grow to a normal size. I want them to feel love, know love, and care. I know that God can break through their hearts of ice and bring them out of their misery.

My little Grinches are going to come through this - I just know it!

SNOW!??!!

I was writing the previous post when out of the blue my husband reads me the forecast! On Saturday there is a chance of SNOW! It won't stick and it won't be gorgeous outside, but it may SNOW! There is a chance of snow showers on Saturday morning.

Later in the day there may be rain showers. I don't care one way or the other on the snow showers. I do care a lot about the SNOW SHOWERS! I may even get up early on Saturday morning just to try and see the first flakes fly of the year. (Ok, more than likely I will tell Brent to wake me if there really are snow showers. ) I really like to sleep in uninterrupted on Saturdays, but SNOW is important. SNOW is a sign of Christmas time!!

SNOW is a sign of Christmas time! (Yes, I know I said that twice. ) Snow will look pretty falling around my Christmas decorations. Snow will make me bake. Snow will make me fix chili and turn on the fireplace. Snow will make Destiny say "Wow Mommy! Look at those BEAUTIFUL snow flakes!". Snow flakes, even if it just a few, will make my kids gather at the window.

Later in the season, snow will mean that Destiny stays home from school. Snow will mean then that I get to sleep in. Snow will mean that I get to bundle them all up and play with them outside. Then I will come in and make hot cocoa and warm cookies for them to have when they come in.

I LOVE SNOW! Now if this year has tons of small snows like last year then I may get a little tired of it, but for now I AM READY FOR SOME FLAKES!

(My mommy brain can't help but wish that all my kids were here for it though. Now I may have a few tears. Doggone this waiting! Even the stuff that makes me excited still makes me sad too!)

Losing Space in Order to Gain It

I am in the process of figuring out what to do with all the bajillion (that would be a word if you looked in there) things that are in the sensory room. I've had to move ottomans into bedrooms in order to make room in the family room for the extra loveseat. I have to put our "climber" outside for a few weeks. All of the ball pit balls will have to be packed up and put in the attic until the new space is done. A whole bunch of books and toys will have to also be packed up and put up there as well.

I have no clue what to do with some stuff. The main thing that I can't find a location for is a large palm tree that lights up. That thing looks awesome in the jungle themed sensory room with all the animals, but I have yet to find anywhere else to "stow it" for this changeover.

I am looking forward to all the new space. It should just be a few more weeks surely. I can only imagine the kids excitement with all the new areas. I can surely imagine my own though. haha I can't believe how hard it is to lose that sensory room for a little while. I have so much stuff in there! Soon the sensory room will have a floor that is level with the rest of the house. The last sliding glass door (oh how I hate to clean the bottoms of those monters) will be gone! The sensory room will be relocated into the new section of our home.

For now, I must hang on. The disorganization is very difficult for me! I know it will be worth it in just a few weeks!

WOW This is a great video and Message!

A friend led me to this music video. I've never heard it, but am thankful that I did. It goes along so much with our church services today. God is so good! We should be spreading that far and wide. How can the world see the love of God if we aren't willing to step out of our "comfort zone" and show them that love? I hope this song challenges you to try and change the world!

Click the title to hear for yourself!