Hi everyone, I need to ask for your prayers for my son Bill. Bill was our first adopted child. We got him as a foster child when he was two and adopted him when he was three. He will be seventeen on Wednesday. He is mentally handicapped and has an IQ of about 67. He is in a regular high school in an Occupational Program. He needs to have a job that earns hours toward his graduation. He is behind in hours because he didn't go to this school as a ninth grader. Now he needs to find a job and that is not easy for him. Last school year he was able to work at the YMCA in our county and the school took him, picked him up and paid him. This past summer he couldn't find a job he could do. He is too young for Walmart. The grocery store is laying people off and most other places say eighteen or older. We may have found a job that will be perfect for him if we can get it approved. Our church is large and the janitors say they need more money to do all the work. We are hoping instead of paying them more, we could let Bill work doing jobs he could handle and we would give the church the money to pay him. He wouldn't even have to know that part. He knows the church and everyone who works there. My sister is our youth minister. He would be safe there and it is close to our house. I am there on Wednesday afternoons for afterschool anyway so he would not be alone most of the time. I think this could be a place he could stay and it would make him happy to be there so much. He loves our church. Now I am waiting for the teacher to return my call and see if this job meets all the requirements for his hours. Thanks for letting me share all this. Bill really is a gift from God to our family. I tell him he saved my life the year my Daddy got sick and died in three weeks time from lung cancer. I was so devastated that if Bill hadn't been here and needed me so much well I just don't know what might have happened in my grief. This just has to be the answer. Thanks, Beth
I think I am being tested! My unofficial grandboy just got here. He doesn't usually stay with me on Fridays but his mom needed to do some extra work today. She brought him after his eye doctor visit. She is pretty upset. It seems our boy needs glasses. I know that is no big deal but this baby already wears hearing aids. His mom is just so worried about how other kids will treat him and it all seems so unfair that he has to deal with this too. She will be fine I know but for right now she is hurting. Please pray for this special baby boy and his family. They are such great people and have had to deal with so much in the short year the boy has been alive. I still can't believe he is a year old now! Thanks, Beth
Beth, the Word promises that where His children have needs, there is always provision, though it has tested my faith nearly to the limit many times, searching & waiting for that provision! Praying for you while you wait on the answers... Also, 'just want to share some words our pastor's wife told me once, when I fretted over how much one of our children was having to deal with. She asked, "Do you think this situation surprised the Lord? Or caught Him off guard? If a child has a special challenge, the Lord will give HIM the grace to deal with it--not necessarily the mother!" Those words have helped me through the years. The challenge to ME is to TRUST that God really is in control of every detail. I hope this helps you. My heart goes out to the baby, to you, & to the dear mother.
Wow, Prairie Home I am so moved by the words you shared from your pastor's wife. All I can think of is thank you. Beth
Thank you all so much. I never got a call back from the teacher about Bill's job. Imagine that. But my grandboy's mom picked him up a while ago and she is much better about it all now. It was just too much on top of all the other things he has been through. Thanks for thinking about us. Beth
I will pray things work out for the best. Which we know they always do with God in charge even when it doesn't seem that way. Remember the bible teaches that all things come together for good for those who love the Lord. I always have to remind myself of that!
Thanks for asking about my boys. Bill is doing fine. He had a big birthday this week and is thrilled with his new TV. He is really growing up and is asking questions about his birth mother and has even been trying to find her. He made up posters and tried to put them around on our street. He told me two people at school have been talking about her to him. They both have found out she moved back to our town and he is so anxious to find out more about her. I don't know why they felt like they should tell him about her but I am not angry with them just frustrated. We just don't want him to try to go see her and get hit by a car. So after praying about this and talking to babyboy's mother, who is a child phsycologist, I called his old social worker and we came up with a plan that is making Bill very happy. I let Bill dictate a letter to her and I mailed it to the social worker who is taking it to the mother. The birth mother is also mentally handicapped. She cried when the social worker called and told her about the letter. She had the social worker read it to her right then. Next week the social worker is going to go see the birth mother and help her write a letter back to Bill. He is going to be so thrilled. I know some people would not agree with doing this but I know the birth mother can't help all the stuff that happened when Bill was little. His birth dad is the bad guy. Mother just can't mentally handle raising children. She can learn a task but can't transfer it to another situation. Like she can learn to handle a skinned knee but couldn't transfer that information to a skinned elbow. I know it sounds strange but she is more limited than Bill. At the time he was taken away, she wouldn't give up the man, Bill's dad, for the kids. I am anxious for the letter to get here and see how he acts. I need something good to happen for him before he gets some bad news we are keeping from him. His oldest friend, who moved away from here but he still loves very much, has tried to kill herself. She is still in hospital and may not recover. Please pray for this young girl. She has so many problems. She is actually very smart but so mixed up. Our grandboy may go get his glasses tomorrow. His parents are over the shock now and doing fine. He is a good boy and they will do whatever it takes to help him do his best. Sorry this is so long. Beth
Sending more prayers. God is Great. He already gave them you and you to them. This was the start of his plans.
Beth, you have an interesting life! And God is letting His Light shine through you to many, many people! All of our children--whether they came to us through birth or by adoption--are just on loan from us from the their Heavenly Father. We are their temporary guardians to guide them for a while. Those who were adopted have some additional tasks to perform, & I pray for wisdom for you as you guide your dear son through this passage in his life.
I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going here. Bill still hasn't heard about the church job. He is on cloud nine right now anyway. He got a letter from his birth mother and he is so happy to hear from her. She wrote a sweet letter and he wants to write back soon. He is finally healed up from his fall at the football game where he got all banged up. Babyboy is wearing his glasses now. He can only see about five inches from his nose without them. Now it is so sweet to see him looking at things that were just blobs or dark shapes to him before. He is so precious and we adore him. Crystal is still on the couch recovering? from her ankle injury. We finally got her MRI results yesterday. Now we have to go see an orthopedist because she has a double sprain in her ankle and a cyst has formed where there appears to be ligament damage. I am really anxious to get her seen so we can get something done! I told our doctor, if the local ortho guy can't see her soon we will take her to the big hospital, which is a teaching medical center, about an hour from here if they can get us in there sooner. She hasn't been able to put weight on it in two and a half weeks. Now she may need surgery on it and I am concerned about how long she will have to stay off it then. She is going to miss basketball this year. I am not taking a chance on another injury to her ankles. She is disappointed but this is her third sprain in a year. On a positive note. We went to the library yesterday with Crystal on crutches and ran into some homeschool kids. Emily loved that. She had been in school with two girls her age so they had a lot of fun in the kids section. They exchanged phone numbers and promised to call each other soon. The mothers seemed very nice and talked to me some. I don't think they have kids as old as Crystal though. Crystal is helping with a project in the homeschool group. She is raising money to send packages to the troops. They have a walkathon planned for Nov. 9th and you sponser them to walk. Kind of funny when she can't walk right now but she still wants to do this so I guess she will help pack the boxes while the walking is going on. So far she has $35.00 pledged. She just started Thursday. Please continue to pray for healing in her ankle. She is only 13 and I hate the idea that she will have trouble with it right on and on. Thanks, Beth
Thanks for the update, Beth! 'Sounds like you have good advice to Crystal not to play basketball this yr. I hope she'll see the wisdom in that, even though this is a difficult time for her. A teaching medical center might not be a bad idea, especially if they can do the work sooner. I pray continued blessings for your family. "Prairie"
We're coninuing to lift up prayers on your behalf. Please continue to keep us updated on the progress!
