Every January my husband and I write down our goals for the new year.  We suck at keeping new years resolutions, but we’re pretty darn good at achieving our goals…go figure. We started our goal sheet back in 2011 when we became serious about paying off our debt (thank you Dave Ramsey…we’re almost there).

This piece of paper we keep up with is nothing fancy, but it sure is effective. We have several categories including physical goals, spiritual goals, marriage goals, financial goals, house goals, and we even have categories for Laynie’s goals and Gideon’s goals.

Sadly, in 2014, we didn’t set any goals. Gideon stopped eating last January and my goal for the first few months was to simply keep him from starving. Plus if I’m being completely honest, when I sat down last year to evaluate the 2013 goals, I became depressed.

When we set Gideon’s goals for 2013, we had no idea I would soon give birth to a child with a genetic disorder. By the time he was 7 months old, it became apparent that most of Gideon’s goals would not be achieved.

I think it goes without saying that it’s hard to set goals for a child who has a shortened life expectancy. It’s even harder to set goals when you have no clue what your child will ever be able to accomplish, physically or mentally.  In fact, I still don’t know what to expect from Gideon. But Gideon is not the problem here. The problem here is me.

It’s more apparent to me now than ever (especially since I’m crying as I type this), that my biggest problem is that I fear failure. Which is so stupid because looking back at our goal sheet from 2013, we achieved so much that year in every other category. And that was the same year our son was given a death sentence!

So we are setting goals again for 2015. I’ve rejected the lie that somehow I failed my son. Want to hear something funny?? 1 out of 5 goals got met for Gideon in 2013; but in 2014 all those goals from the previous year got met…all except one!!

I’m not sure if you’re a goal setter. Maybe you’re a perfectionist like me and secretly it scares you to fail. Maybe you have a child with a disability or a shortened life expectancy and goal setting seems pointless. Can I offer you some encouragement?

Set some goals anyways!!

You’ll be surprised at how many you accomplish. And the ones you don’t, transfer them over to next year and try again. That’s what we are doing with Gideon. We’re putting walking back on the list. He probably won’t accomplish it this year, but that’s okay. That’s why we’re giving him more than one goal.

Going forward, someone besides me needs to hear this- God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He already sent his Son Jesus to fill that role! As we outline our goals, it’s my prayer that first and foremost we would seek to draw closer to Him. God wants us just as we are…broken and imperfect. The beauty of the cross is that we don’t have to accomplish any goal before we come to Jesus. We can come just as we are and He’s faithful to take it from there.

Happy goal setting and Happy New Year!!

It’s 3:45 am and my son is up. He’s ready to get this day started and he’s trying his best to let the whole house know about it.

This is typical with children on Christmas day, right? They’re excited to open presents, pour out their stockings and just play, play, play. Unfortunately, my Gideon doesn’t know it’s Christmas. You see, he’s blind and deaf and so really, this morning is just like any other…and right now, he just wants someone to come get him up.

Christmas is just different for me now that I have Gideon. You see I’ve been trying for the past 2 years to figure out ways to make Christmas special for my son who can’t experience this day like other kids. I’ve bought everything from dog toys to special needs toys; and what I’ve finally come to realize is that Christmas presents will never be special for him because that’s not what my son’s heart desires.

It’s finally so obvious to me, that the gift my son desires the most is one that cannot be bought and yet it’s worth far more than anything that can be bought. You see Gideon doesn’t want our presents, he just wants our presence.

He longs for a person to rescue him from the quiet, darkness that (while he’s on this earth) plagues him. Fancy paper that feels cool and toys that vibrate- those can never compete with his need for our physical presence. And why should it? We were created with a need to be in the presence of love.

On this Christmas day it’s my hope that you, like my son, will understand that your Christmas presence is needed so much more than your Christmas presents. I hope you willing choose to see past the flashy media version of what today really represents. Because more than 2000 years ago, God sent the greatest present that humanity has ever known….and it came in the form of His presence. Jesus, the Son of God, came down to light the way and rescue us from the darkness that would otherwise forever plague us.

Embrace His presence today.. and everyday after.

Merry Christmas!

“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:11-12

This past Summer we attended an event put on by RISE Adaptive Sports. There we met some of the most amazing people and families. One of those was the Rose family.

Brian and Heather Rose have two children and their youngest Abel, has spina bifida. To say their sweet boy is an inspiration would be a huge understatement. You can’t help but be drawn in by his beautiful eyes and strong spirit. One look at him and you’ll forever question any doubt or complaint you’ve ever had about your own life or abilities.

We have been so encouraged by Abel and all that he’s accomplished in just 3 years of life. While Gideon’s diagnosis is completely different from Abel’s, the Rose family has reached out and loved us as if we were part of their family. They took it upon themselves to make Gideon a homemade wheelchair, just like the one they made for their own son. Talk about raw talent!!

We met up with the Rose family last night and they presented us with Gideon’s homemade wheelchair, pictured above. Unfortunately Gideon was passed out  tired and we weren’t able to get him in the photo. Upon arriving home, Gideon was wide awake and so we decided to put him in his new chair.

At first he seemed pretty content (he has a regular bumbo seat that he’s familiar with). But because it was so late, we were only able to work with Gideon for about 15 minutes before he had had enough. If you go to my Facebook Page you can watch a video from his first time in the chair. He only manipulated the wheels for a few seconds, but it was really heartwarming to watch.

We absolutely love the Rose family and are so grateful that Brian took the time to fashion this chair for our little man. It turns on a dime and I would put it up against anything the medical companies manufacture.

It just goes to show you that there are amazing people in our world willing to do so much for others. We are blessed to know so many of them, including Abel and his family.

If you’d like to know more about the Rose family and what sport Abel is doing this month, you can follow them on Facebook. Also, if you have an athlete with a disability, check out the Challenged Athletes Foundation.