Perspective

It's amazing how a few years can totally change how you see things.  I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately, on a lot of levels.  But much of it has been about my youngest, who is now the second child we have, that was born with low vision.  It didn't seem quite as devastating the second time around, but most of all, now that I'm not "new" to this, I'm not wrought with feelings about what she will or won't be able to see, etc.  The most recent was when I found an old pair of glasses that used to belong to Princess Cuddles. They were definately too big for Princess Sunshine, but I wanted to see if they would help her, so I put them on.  I was astounded at her reaction.  It was like she was opening her eyes for the first time.  They were big with wonder, almost like she was really seeing each of us for the first time.  At that point hubby & I both realized she'd probably be in glasses sooner rather than later.  But I was equally shocked at my reaction. I was happy! This was a complete 180 from 7 years ago when Princess Cuddles got them.  Back then, I wanted her to be able to see without them, not to mention, I was afraid people would tease her. This time, the joy was because I KNEW how much they could help her. 

This whole ordeal got me thinking, and I started comparing how I see things now, to how I looked at them 5 years ago, 10 years ago, etc.  It's your perspective on things.  So, I decided to look it up.  This is the definition I was looking for.

Perspective - the state of one's ideas, the facts know to one, etc.

 

It's the facts that I now know that have changes my perspective.  I know how much help they can be, and I know I want her to have the best chance of seeing that she can.  What other people think just doesn't matter anymore. Long story short(er), we took her and they did give her a prescription for glasses. She's a little on the younge side, and they probably would have waited another 6 months or so, if it hadn't been for the reaction she had to the other ones.  Now all we need is for her to like them!

Anyone have any ideas on how to get a one year old to leave them on??? My other daughter just did. Never touched them. Princess Sunshine will only leave them on when she's outside. She's super light sensitive so the tinting makes her realize they help.

On a side note, I haven't been very active with this blog lately.  That's another thing I've been pondering.  I almost closed it down, but I really felt God led me to start it, so I'll work on keeping better tabs on it :P  I've been feeling like I'm supposed to do some blogging about raising children with low vision, so bear with me if you can't relate. Those won't be my only posts.

My Conversation With God

God has given me words of encouragement and spoken to me through different people, or scriptures, over the years.  There are even times I just know He has spoken to me even though I didn't hear His voice.  I can only count on one hand the number of times where I actually heard His audible voice like He was right there next to me.  I haven't shared this story with many people, but it has been weighing on my heart that someone may need to hear it.

In March of 2003 I gave birth to my 3rd child.  She was called a "toehead" more times than I can count.  But by the time she was 4 months old we started to realize it was something more.  Soon after she was diagnosed with albinism, which is a genetic condition where you have little or no pigment in your eyes, skin, or hair. 

My disclaimer - While most people know the term "albino" I have a hard time with this word.  This is my own personal opinion but, I feel, 'albinism' refers to the condition, whereas 'albino' refers to the person.  She's my daughter first, not an albino.  Ok, back to my story.....

Within that first year, I had a dream that God healed her.  I know, without a doubt, that someday He will.  Until then I pray, and wait.  I'm learning as I go, but on one specific occasion God left me speachless.  To this day I'm still speachless when I think of the conversation I had with Him.

I don't remember exactly how old my daughter was, but I think she was about 1 1/2 (so this was about 6 years ago).  I remember sitting at my kitchen table praying, crying out to God to heal her.  I wanted her to be able to see the deer in our backyard, or the butterflies, or any number of other things she can't see.  Part of the conversation left me awestruck, and I still remember the words exactly. 

This is what I told God.....

"You don't understand!  A mother just wants to make things better for their children!"

To which God responded.....

"She's mine too, and I know what I'm doing."

My jaw about fell to the ground. My heart started to race.  I didn't have any response.  I was speachless.  My heart still races when I think of that short, but direct conversation.  My heart still breaks, and I could still cry, over the things she can't see.  But I now have a peace about it that I didn't have that first year.  I don't know why I never thought of her as HIS daughter too.  Never dawned on me that He had a plan in all this.  That He might actually use her/this as a testimony.  So I wait.  And I still pray.  But I believe God's plan is so much greater than I can even fathom. 

Uplifting Your Spouse.....Even When You Don't Think Anyone Is Watching

What we say is so powerful.  We need to be consciously aware of this.  I am so aware when I hear people complaining about their spouse.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect or exempt here.  I don't bad mouth or complain about my husband, but, I've more than once, snapped at him in public because he didn't understand what I was trying to say.....or because I was tired.....or because.....well the list goes on.  He has never snapped back, and only once, has he ever said to me that I needed to check myself because others were worrying that there was something wrong.  I am so grateful God put us together.  I strive to think before I speak.  Needless to say, I'm still a work in progress.

Do you complain to your friends about your spouse? (I'm not looking for anyone to answer).  Or do you say uplifting things even though they're not there to hear?  This may make all the difference in your marriage.  Here's why...

My husband, and a bunch of guy friends, get together on a semi regular basis for breakfast and fellowship.  At one of these recent get togethers he decided he wanted to have a "chainsaw competition" with a friend of his. (don't laugh-lol).  He decided he was going to take my camera, which has video on it, and have someone tape it.  When he came home I loaded the video onto the computer for him.  As he was watching I heard him say, "Oh wow, they forgot to turn it off when we were done.  They got that on video?"  He did not sound surprised in a bad way, just surprised.  He called me over and told me to watch.  I couldn't believe what I heard!  He was complimenting me as a wife in front of all his friends!  Not bragging, just complimenting.  I can't tell you how much that meant.  I've never thought he would complain to them, but I didn't consider he would build me up either. 

That wasn't the only time.  About a month later he was sending out a text message and I happened to be walking up behind him.  Do you know what it said?  "My wife rocks!" with a picture of his birthday gift attached to the text. You see, I had bought him a smoker/grill for his birthday. Something I knew he would like.  But to him it was more.  He felt I had paid attention to what he would like. 

This got me thinking.  It's about building each other up.  Not tearing each other down.  Especially with our words and actions.  Words are SO powerful!  We need to consciously think everytime we speak.  And on the flip side of this, sometimes I think men need to hear these kinds of things even more. That's what I'm working on.  Call it my personal challenge....think before I speak.  And not just about your spouse.  We should be think before we speak about anyone or anything. 


~Kristine

I am now the mother of an adult child!!!  Happy 18th Birthday to my firstborn....

As 2010 comes to a close, I have been looking back over the past year and all that has happened.  My life has changed and I am learning to listen to God and follow the path He has for me.  Here is a small recap of why I have disappeared much more than I wanted to this year.

• In Feb. I gave birth to another beautiful little girl.
• Now that I had a 2 year old and an infant, we struggled to finish out our school year.
• I "broke" my 2 year old of her pacifier addiction. (what a nightmare!!!)
• My new little girl does not like to sleep.
• We took a much needed vacation this summer.
• I officially opened my own crochet pattern business. It has consumed much of my time trying to get all my patterns in pdf format so I can sell them. (If I had listened to God I would have done it MANY years ago! But that's another blog story) If you crochet you can check it out at http://www.ambassadorcrochet.com/

Not great excuses, but all consumers of my time.  As this year comes to a close I am at the realization that next year will bring it's own set of changes.  There were so many things I wanted to blog about this year, but just couldn't sit down to get them typed up.  Now I feel God leading me in a completely different direction.  I have a couple of topics I feel led to blog about.  The first being my 2 children who were born with low vision.  I feel God wants me to share what I have learned, and what He has shown and taught me through this journey.  I look forward to a new beginning in 2011.

~Kristine