The Tough Stuff

 It's been a while since I've done a "serious" post... and after today, I really should spend about three days breathing into a bag before I put anything in print. However, since the writing helps me, here I am.

I am parenting a few kids that came with baggage. I would say that I am dealing with significant challenges with four children at the moment. (To be completely fair, one of those is a biological child; so I know all too well that some of these things aren't adoption related.) On any given day, I am overwhelmed at just the thought of helping even one of them deal with the things that their young brains aren't capable of processing. The real frustration is when the child resists the help and the struggle becomes me and the child, rather than us and the problem. I have to continually remind myself that it isn't my job to "fix" them - I am just supposed to be faithful in parenting so that God can reach their hearts.

I thought I'd show some of the tools that we are currently using. I have been watching "When Love is Not Enough" DVDs while I fold laundry. It's taking me forever to get through them, but they offer practical understanding on why kids with trauma do things that they do.

JD and I are watching Shepherding a Child's Hearts at night while we rock the girls. While the information is so, so good, the delivery often puts us to sleep since it's late and we are sleep deprived anyway. If you have never read the book, I highly recommend it.

The Boy's Passage, Man's Journey is new and we haven't started it yet, but we are big Kirk Cameron fans. He is putting out some wonderful family materials these days.

I am super excited about this! It is the "at home therapy" kit by the National Center of Biblical Parenting. Our church just hosted a conference by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller and it was the best parenting event I have ever attended. Scott also has adopted children, so it was so nice to hear someone that had that as a reference point. We came away with this kit that has 8 CDs and booklets to work through. I listened to CD number two yesterday and it was very powerful.

Here is the other pile of books we purchased at the same event. We are going to attend a Sunday night group using The Christian Parenting Handbook; the rest is in the "to be read" pile. The Family Time Activities my kids are going to love. It has hands on projects to accompany a Bible story. Some are along the lines of science experiments; I can see it making some valuable and fun family memories.

This picture was taken of Julia yesterday when I picked her up from school early so she could hang out with our visiting friends. She is doing so well in school, yet she told me today that she wants to stay home with me. I told her that she will in a year or so. That challenges me to work hard to get her past some of the difficulies she seems to have at home, but not at school.

Beyond all the parenting and therapy guides, I am also trying Essential Oils on my kids for their "troubled" areas. I will be quick to post when I see any results in any areas. I'm also going to check what they recommend for stressed Moms!