As it is with change in any home, there is an adjustment period. We have definitely felt the need for adjustments! We've had quite a few changes in our home with more appointments to go to, people coming in to our house for a variety of therapies, and also the addition of 2 new pets. With the pets, they stay with us all day, every day and night, so we've needed to adjust how we do things and get use to a new normalcy for our home. I guess we just want to invite change in to our lives even more, so why not? Right?
Enter Gus. Right now we've had him for 9 weeks--over half of his life! He is growing by leaps and bounds. He can sit and lay down. He can go to the door and bark when he needs to go out. He can scratch at the bathroom door when he needs to get his food. He goes to his kennel and lays down at night time to go to sleep. He loves one of the lids to my canning pots, so we put ice cubes in it for him to lay down in the living room to eat, lick, and play with. He loves all of his toys, most of all Pickles the cat! LOL I think Gus thinks that Pickles was placed here in our house for the sole purpose of him to play with.
So far Biscuit is still having a difficult time playing with Gus, but last night I think we had a "break through" for him. He was actually chasing Gus and my youngest son as they ran "around the loop" on our main floor. It is a good thing! He hasn't done it today though. We'll see if it is a behavior that Biscuit repeats. It is certainly funny, though, how this little dog loves to play with Rustie, but with Rustie getting older, he doesn't want to play so much any more. When we got a puppy, Biscuit didn't take too kindly to him and still doesn't want to have anything to do with him at times. LOL We call him "Napoleon Jr."
Our "New Normal" looks so much different than our life did before this year's occurrences. I am certain that when we lay our lives down for God to "use me as You wish," that He definitely has something in mind for us (anyone, really) that is far beyond anyone would ever be able to comprehend or imagine. We have been introduced to people only God could have place in our lives to express our concerns to, cry with, talk with, celebrate with, and to pray for. So many times as homeschoolers, we've been ingrained with the fear, of sorts, of having someone knock on our door for an inspection due to a report from CYS. I can honestly say that we've had interactions with therapists, social workers, rehabilitation folks and case workers INSIDE our home. We've welcomed them in to our home and we have had ALL of our concerns dispelled about anyone reporting us due to their presence here. That being said, we're still a bit guarded with our lives because many times these folks have not had any exposure to homeschooling and how we do school. Their misconceptions and limited understanding is being clarified and they're being exposed to Christianity. While many folks can bring their beliefs with them, others are not so comfortable sharing that with us. Needless to say, the Lord has opened up an area to share and "go deeper" with some of these folks and it is blessing us in return. We are growing more too.
If you are one of our local friends (ie: within 2 hours drive of us), and you'd like to get together, we'd love that! We are, however, very schedule bound now. Planning ahead, thinking ahead is one of those things that are paramount. Please let us know when a good day and time is for you and we'll see if we can work things out so we can visit.
Once Upon a Time, I use to say, "I can't wait until........" Now, not so much. The Lord has brought me many new lessons over this season of life. I needed to simplify things, rearrange my thinking, my teaching, and challenged my menu planning (yes, even THAT has changed!) I needed a swift "kick in the pants" at times, and the Lord saw fit to do that. As it turns out, it was for the better. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I am still in need of God's saving grace and forgiveness, moment-by-moment. But, He has given me a deeper insight, albeit through a very small keyhole, in to the needs of my son. We've adapted and are on the other side of the huge chasm we've had to climb as a family. We're not finished with needing the rehab, therapies, counseling, group therapies, or anything else by any stretch of the imagination. But, we're closer as a family than we ever thought. We know one another more than we knew. We are stronger now than we were before. We still have some issues, major ones at that, that we need to work through, but it is progressing. When you go through something like this, you don't heal over night.
By God's grace, we're healing. It is a process that will take some time.
