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I recently came across an amazing interview on Oprah this week. This is a video that everyone should watch featuring a guest speaker, Nick. Take a second to watch this clip!. “Even the worst part of your life can come together for good.”

teach your children

The guest on Oprah’s show, Nick Vujicic, was born without arms or legs. He had a rough start to his life and by ten years of age, he was ready go give up. That is when he decided to MAKE A CHOICE to take control of his life! Since he made that choice, he has been living his life to the fullest!

Nick has traveled to over 40 countries, he has gotten married and is expecting his first baby boy. He is an inspiration to everyone. He said “All things come together for the good for those who Love him”

When you think about what is going wrong in your life, think about if you are making a choice to change it. If you dislike your job, are you actively looking for something better?

If you dislike the ‘mess’ in your home, are you working on getting it organized?

If you dislike the way that you look or feel, are you working towards making a healthy change?

If you dislike the way that your marriage is working, are YOU working towards making it better? You have to make a choice to change your life for the better!
Take control of your life.

The most important thing that we, as parents, can do is to encourage our children. Teach them that THEY can do anything when they decide to and when they put their mind to it. On our oldest son’s first day of Kindergarten, I knew that he would be feeling anxious and he had told me that he did not want to go. I reminded him often that he will be wonderful. “Jack, remember today that you are smart, funny, handsome, strong and AMAZING! You will have fun and you will make friends. You will love your teachers. You will do your very best and you will be great! Remember that God is with you & loves you. Lean on Him today.” I tucked a note into his lunchbox that said “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’ Philippians 4:13
I read it to him before he left and his teachers read it to him at lunch.

Nick, the guest on the Oprah show, said that his biggest encouragement has been his parents and their constant support. He stated “I had parents who were my heroes. They always said, Nick, You can either be angry for what you don’t have or be happy for what you do have. Do your best and God will do the rest.” What a wonderful reminder for our children! Every day we have the choice to lift our children up or tear them down. We can encourage them and teach them on a daily basis. We can help them be amazing adults. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbss 22:6

We can teach our children to be hard-workers.
We can teach our children to be respectful.
We, as parents, have the power to teach our kids to make good choices. TEACH them!

Read the bible to your children at night, read their devotionals, pray with them and pray for them (aloud & to yourself).

I am following a blog by Paster Jan Brittian that has been encouraging. She is doing “A hop, skip and a jump” through the bible and she is taking us along with her through her blog. This may be a great jumping off point for you and your family.

I have become even more dedicated to the Lord since our second son was born.

In 2008, our second son was born. Beau was born early after having a hard time growing (IUGR) in-utero. When I was pregnant, several things went wrong. We were close to losing him on several occasions, but he is a fighter. He was born beautiful and tiny, at four pounds, but he was able to come home with us. After a few months, we noticed that something was wrong with the way that his muscles seemed to be developing. His muscles were extremely tight. We could not lift his arms over his head without a stuggle. His feet were always flexed. His hands were always clenched.

We took him to seventeen Doctors over those next few years– from Duke to Chapel Hill. He had also developed a severe case of vomiting. He literally threw up EVERYTHING that he ate. Not just a little spit up. His body wouldn’t accept anything- food or drink. I was giving him only breastmilk and he couldn’t keep it down. We tried formula and the same thing happened. Nothing worked. When he started on solid food, it wasn’t any different. Everything that he ate caused him to vomit. He started refusing foods and drinks around six months. He would go four days at a time without anything. He had to be hospitalized often for dehydration.

He tested positive to everything that they tested him for with food allergies (EVERY FOOD- they tested for 27, I think). We didn’t know what to do. (I learned five years later that he had FPIES).   Our Doctors told us that he may never crawl or walk. His brain may not work.

They had no idea what the outcome would be for him. So we prayed. We prayed over him day and night. I prayed for our son more than I think I have ever prayed for anyone. I was on my knees holding him, asking God to help him. The only other time that I prayed this hard was when my Aunt had my cousin very premature and the Doctors gave them both little chance of survival. Prayer worked that time and I prayed that it would work this time, too. Every night, my husband and I would lay our hands on his head and body and pray aloud for him. We asked God to heal him or to make him into everything that God had set him out to be.
how god uses mothers

My mom reminds me that when we say “We don’t care about the gender, as long as he/she is healthy”, that actually doesn’t matter, either (the “if they are healthy” part). If anything, its just the opposite. It just makes you love them more. You develop a bond so early in their life as you are learning about them and learning what you can do to help them. You are fighting for them. We didn’t know if his brain would work at all & it didn’t matter- we loved him. We were his parents, God entrusted him to us and we would take care of him and love him.

Fast forward a few years years- we have an AMAZING, vibrant, funny, strong, loving little boy. He eats everything, he does everything! He is tiny because of all of his digestive issues (which were due to his tight muscles). We went through many years of therapy, but look where God has brought us. They still don’t have a true diagnosis for our son. Our neurologist (This is another gift from God- He put me in the right place at the right time to learn about an amazing Doctor that has been a wealth of knowledge for us!) calls it “hyperexplexia” (in other words- high muscle tone with a few other things thrown in). We plan on letting him wrestle next year- he is so excited about it and I know that he will be AWESOME! He has the muscle strength of a teenage boy! He can do pull-ups without any problem, he can do push-ups on one arm while holding one leg in the air (he is four)! God certainly proved to me that I just need to “have a little faith” because He can do all things.

As Nick told Oprah & teach your children, “Stop looking everywhere and just look up!”

 

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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14 Comments

  1. Wow, wow, wow. What an awesome God we serve! I love your faith and I love that you’re sharing what He’s done with the world! May He receive all honor, glory, and praise! I, too, saw Nick’s story on Oprah and was so moved by his love for the Lord…what a blessing!

    Thanks for linking up with Tuesday’s Prayers today! It’s an honor to pray for and with you!

    Christie
    http://www.satisfactionthroughchrist.com

  2. I saw that one as well- he has really gotten around and shared his story many places- he says he still gets down but keeps moving forward- puts everything into perspective I think- It is important for all of us to stop looking around and just look up all the time!
    just saying hi- kelly

    1. Thanks for stopping in! I agree. Tonight I am posting on that I feel equally as strong about. It’s going to go up around 9.
      Have a great night!

  3. What a faithful God we serve! I am overjoyed to hear about how well your son is doing 🙂

    As a side note: I have read one of Nick’s books before. He is truly an asset to the body of Christ! I love his story and hearing how God has used him despite his ‘limitations’.

    (found you on blog hop of A simple country life)

  4. i’m so happy to read that everything is fine!!!! i really really am! 🙂 i have no idea who you are,who your kids,or husbad is,but i know we love the same God 🙂 GBY & your family <3

  5. Awesome testimony. I totally agree that we have to teach children to first look up.

    I received this revelation when I was going through some challenges and I learned from the Book of Job that friends, even well meaning ones can give the wrong advice based on how they see your situation because Job’s friends thought he was suffering because of having sinned.

    But, when we look up to God first for advice, He can solve our problems Himself or direct us to the right person to help us solve them.
    Thank you.

  6. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this! My son is also the same, preemie, IUGR and now he also has tightness. He has an MRI abnormality in his brain called PVL due to less blood supply. He is 16 months old now and beginning to roll over. I am also a doctor and I sometimes think it’s been a curse for me because I always think about limits and not about the possibilities.Its hard to remember that god is greater than our understanding. I was a strong believer but this has shaken me up really badly. I really have to remember to look up.

  7. Hi Becky, We are a family that lives in Switzerland today and we have our little kid that has hypertone and hypotone and we are working on that since he was born.
    As a parent you can imagine that it is really difficult to manage such situations and we’d like to try whatever is possible for our kid that is in the meanwhile 19 months.
    We tried doctors and therapists in Belgium, Italy and Switzerland nowadays.
    If possible we’d like to be in touch with some of the parents that are facing the same situation as us but at the moment I see this is possib only through Facebook.
    Do you know if there is any other way to approach this people in order to hear what they did in their situation, how they could afford this unbelievable pain?
    Thank you for having created Your Modern Family,

    Giuseppe

  8. So great to see how God have been faithful to you and your family Becky. I’m expecting our first baby, and it has been amazing to see His goodness in the change of my marriage preparing for the coming of the little one. The Lord have so much to show us through the little one and I am so grateful that everything that He gives is a good gift from our heavenly Father. Praising the Lord for you and yours.