Chance
By Kathleene S. Baker
http://txyellowrose.com
Lainie's career flourished after her move to California. She loved her job, the mild weather, and the circle of close friends she acquired. At 35 years of age, Lainie was content with everything in her life, except the deafening tick of her biological clock!
Lainie's last few birthdays had been dreaded reminders that she was still single and childless. Being the product of a large family, five siblings to be exact, she yearned to have a child of her own. She worried, she stewed, and studied her financial situation. Once sure she could handle all aspects of being a single mother, she discussed the situation with close friends, as well as her mother. After a bit more deliberation, she opted to “go for it.” As if by design, her first attempt at invitro fertilization was successful. Lainie was thrilled!
The first 27 weeks of Lainie's pregnancy were perfect and each day her excitement soared. At 28 weeks things changed in a heartbeat; the situation became critical and she was terrified. When preeclampsia reared its ugly head, an emergency C-section was the only option. Moreover, it came with no promise of survival for Mother or child. Lainie had already named her unborn son, Chance, and she prayed to God for just that—a chance of survival for her child.
Weighing in at 1 pound and 15 ounces, the premature baby boy had been aptly named, for he was given a 50-50 chance of making it through his first night. Should he survive, he faced the probability of numerous health problems: mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blindness, and cystic fibrosis, to name only a few. The doctors were straightforward and not encouraging.
Lainie remained in intensive care for 10 anxiety-ridden days while her tiny son struggled to live. She held him for the first time when he was one week old. After three months in Neonatal Intensive Care, an overjoyed, yet fearful Mother took her still-fragile infant home. Lainie's mother traveled from Kansas to aid her youngest daughter and brand new grandson.
Due to chronic lung disease in premature babies, Chance would not be a daycare candidate for 2 years and Lainie was forced to make several major decisions. She left California and moved into her mother's roomy home in Kansas. Mom was more than willing to provide the emotional support Lainie needed and to help care for her young grandson.
Lainie was unable to continue her established career path in Kansas. Instead, her employment took the route of temporary jobs. Chance's therapy sessions and endless doctor appointments required her schedule to be flexible.
At 18 months of age Chance lags behind developmentally for a child his age, but he makes progress daily. It appears he has avoided all of the possible maladies that once loomed in his future. Furthermore, Chance dodged two additional obstacles that were thrown in his path—those being, kidney and heart surgery. Both issues resolved themselves with no logical or scientific explanation! Since birth, it seems Chance has been cradled in God's loving hands.
When I last visited Chance, his bright eyes danced and he giggled while giving grandma “high fives” one after the other. In addition, the smile that graced grandma's proud face was priceless.
Despite all adjustments and challenges encountered, Chance fills Lainie's life with love, light, and joy daily. With mountains of love, a multitude of prayers, and the grace of God, “chances are” that Chance will lead a completely normal life...
© Kathleene S. Baker 2007
http://txyellowrose.com
About the Author: Kathy resides in Texas with her husband, Jerry. She is a freelance writer and has contributed to ezines, newspapers, anthologies, and magazines. She also writes a weekly column for Frank Talk Magazine entitled Heart of Texas.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Why Can't I Touch The Sky?
Why Can't I Touch The Sky?
By Robert Hunt
http://myselfdevelopment.net
My six-year-old daughter Sophie and I were playing a rhyming game the other day and out of the blue she asked me, "Why can't I touch the sky?" I laughed inside and thought for a few moments. I tried to explain it from the Jack and the Beanstalk story, but she just looked at me funny. Then I tried the old earth space thing, but that was too technical. The more I tried, the clumsier it got when finally I realized I wasn't getting through.
Then I had a realization. What if my daughter had asked the same question to another six year old? What would the other child have said? Some six year olds think they know the answer to everything and its fun to listen to what they have to say. Something tells me her friend wouldn't have the slightest difficulty in explaining the answer. Chances are, they would have argued and discussed it until finally reaching agreement. I wished I could have turned the question over to an imaginary friend and then sit back and listen to the conversation.
That night while lying in bed, I kept thinking about her question and why I couldn't come up with a really cool answer. Was it because I had "grown up" and now used my imagination like an "adult"? As I grew, the maturation process obviously had boxed me in. And worse yet... I knew that someday, my little girl just might lose her pure and trusting imagination to adulthood and maybe stop asking these wonderfully creative questions.
I didn't feel like it was right that I progressed up the ladder of maturity only to lose what I feel is a very important concept: the ability to retain and possess a childlike quality to explore other possibilities. Where did my childlike imagination go? Why did it go? I thought I would ask Sophie this question to help me understand why some adults tend to lose sight of this magical way of thinking and why others make a living by it.
She looked at me with a puzzle on her face and then I knew. It never occurs to her that there's any other way. Why on earth would a six-year-old little girl dream she couldn't touch the sky unless somebody told her she couldn't?
I watch my little girl as she plays. She conducts an imaginary reading class and makes sure each doll pronounces the words correctly. She dresses her babies and gets them ready for they're day. Her imagination takes wing each and every day to places I'm not aware. Sometimes I can catch a glimpse of her inner world when we sit and talk about her day or what her plans are for tomorrow.
Remember when we were younger, when we used to talk about and imagine what we would become when we grew up? I wanted to be a policeman and my friends wanted to be fireman and race car drivers. We believed anything was possible and we could become whatever we wanted, never doubting the possibilities. As children, we dreamed big.
Children are visionaries, and it seems a little sad to think our childlike imagination seems to disappear as we grow older. As we age, the ever-increasing intrusions of the world on our minds seem to frighten that childlike imagination into full-blown retreat.
As we grew up, we learned why the sky really is blue, and why grass is green. Why flowers need sunlight and how birds really fly. We lose a little bit of the wonder of life around us as we schedule the next meeting or plan tomorrow's agenda.
I have my daughter to thank for asking her question. It connected me, once again, with my priorities. She made me think about my own potentiality and how I may be limiting myself. Maybe I need to reconnect with my childlike imagination and think more outside the box of adult creativity. If I do that, maybe I can explain in my own six-year-old way, why she can... touch the sky.
About the Author: Robert Hunt is the creator of MySelfDevelopment.net - Click here to download your free copy of the timeless classic - As A Man Thinketh.
By Robert Hunt
http://myselfdevelopment.net
My six-year-old daughter Sophie and I were playing a rhyming game the other day and out of the blue she asked me, "Why can't I touch the sky?" I laughed inside and thought for a few moments. I tried to explain it from the Jack and the Beanstalk story, but she just looked at me funny. Then I tried the old earth space thing, but that was too technical. The more I tried, the clumsier it got when finally I realized I wasn't getting through.
Then I had a realization. What if my daughter had asked the same question to another six year old? What would the other child have said? Some six year olds think they know the answer to everything and its fun to listen to what they have to say. Something tells me her friend wouldn't have the slightest difficulty in explaining the answer. Chances are, they would have argued and discussed it until finally reaching agreement. I wished I could have turned the question over to an imaginary friend and then sit back and listen to the conversation.
That night while lying in bed, I kept thinking about her question and why I couldn't come up with a really cool answer. Was it because I had "grown up" and now used my imagination like an "adult"? As I grew, the maturation process obviously had boxed me in. And worse yet... I knew that someday, my little girl just might lose her pure and trusting imagination to adulthood and maybe stop asking these wonderfully creative questions.
I didn't feel like it was right that I progressed up the ladder of maturity only to lose what I feel is a very important concept: the ability to retain and possess a childlike quality to explore other possibilities. Where did my childlike imagination go? Why did it go? I thought I would ask Sophie this question to help me understand why some adults tend to lose sight of this magical way of thinking and why others make a living by it.
She looked at me with a puzzle on her face and then I knew. It never occurs to her that there's any other way. Why on earth would a six-year-old little girl dream she couldn't touch the sky unless somebody told her she couldn't?
I watch my little girl as she plays. She conducts an imaginary reading class and makes sure each doll pronounces the words correctly. She dresses her babies and gets them ready for they're day. Her imagination takes wing each and every day to places I'm not aware. Sometimes I can catch a glimpse of her inner world when we sit and talk about her day or what her plans are for tomorrow.
Remember when we were younger, when we used to talk about and imagine what we would become when we grew up? I wanted to be a policeman and my friends wanted to be fireman and race car drivers. We believed anything was possible and we could become whatever we wanted, never doubting the possibilities. As children, we dreamed big.
Children are visionaries, and it seems a little sad to think our childlike imagination seems to disappear as we grow older. As we age, the ever-increasing intrusions of the world on our minds seem to frighten that childlike imagination into full-blown retreat.
As we grew up, we learned why the sky really is blue, and why grass is green. Why flowers need sunlight and how birds really fly. We lose a little bit of the wonder of life around us as we schedule the next meeting or plan tomorrow's agenda.
I have my daughter to thank for asking her question. It connected me, once again, with my priorities. She made me think about my own potentiality and how I may be limiting myself. Maybe I need to reconnect with my childlike imagination and think more outside the box of adult creativity. If I do that, maybe I can explain in my own six-year-old way, why she can... touch the sky.
About the Author: Robert Hunt is the creator of MySelfDevelopment.net - Click here to download your free copy of the timeless classic - As A Man Thinketh.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Lessons Learned From a Child and Her Dog
Lessons Learned From a Child and Her Dog
By Cyndi Krupp
http://www.PracticalSpiritualityTeachings.com
So teach him to close the door", my daughter Emma responded after listening to me complain, again, about the dog coming in from the back door, bringing with him a blast of Buffalo January cold air.
Teach a dog to close a door behind him? You got to be kidding. That has got to be a really, really hard thing to do, and I do not have any dog credentials following my name.
But then she took it a step further. "Come on Kolby", she said, grabbing some treats and positioning him in front of the open door. "Touch."
And "touch" he did, which moved the door to a closed position. She rewarded him with a treat, smiled, looked at me, and said "see!"
And I saw and became convinced. Over the last few days I have been consistent with Kolby. Each time he comes in I bring him back to the open door and ask him to close (I changed the target word, making the command more specific). There have been failures, but lately more and more successes. And I knew we turned the corner this morning when he asked to be let out just so I would open the door, so that he could close it and be treated.
WOW
There remains work to be done. I have to remove the hand signal and work so that he will close the door from a distance. But, I now realize, with consistency of focus the task will be completed, and, with the way things are progressing, completed quickly.
What a wonderful treat to have a dog that can close the door after himself. Even more wonder can be found in the lessons I learned so clearly from both Emma and Kolby.
A wish is just a wish until you decide to take action.
Once you decide to accomplish a goal, and decide that it "is" easy (remember Emma's assurance), than it becomes easy to do what needs to be done. Just start doing it.
As long as one holds on to the belief that it is "too hard", than it remains "too hard" and out of reach.
Working towards the accomplishment of a goal can be loads of fun, and full of lots and lots of treats.
So what have you been wishing for lately? And what has been stopping you from getting started?
© Rev Cyndi Krupp
About the Author: Learn more about Rev Cyndi's teachings by visiting http://www.PracticalSpiritualityTeachings.com today
By Cyndi Krupp
http://www.PracticalSpiritualityTeachings.com
So teach him to close the door", my daughter Emma responded after listening to me complain, again, about the dog coming in from the back door, bringing with him a blast of Buffalo January cold air.
Teach a dog to close a door behind him? You got to be kidding. That has got to be a really, really hard thing to do, and I do not have any dog credentials following my name.
But then she took it a step further. "Come on Kolby", she said, grabbing some treats and positioning him in front of the open door. "Touch."
And "touch" he did, which moved the door to a closed position. She rewarded him with a treat, smiled, looked at me, and said "see!"
And I saw and became convinced. Over the last few days I have been consistent with Kolby. Each time he comes in I bring him back to the open door and ask him to close (I changed the target word, making the command more specific). There have been failures, but lately more and more successes. And I knew we turned the corner this morning when he asked to be let out just so I would open the door, so that he could close it and be treated.
WOW
There remains work to be done. I have to remove the hand signal and work so that he will close the door from a distance. But, I now realize, with consistency of focus the task will be completed, and, with the way things are progressing, completed quickly.
What a wonderful treat to have a dog that can close the door after himself. Even more wonder can be found in the lessons I learned so clearly from both Emma and Kolby.
A wish is just a wish until you decide to take action.
Once you decide to accomplish a goal, and decide that it "is" easy (remember Emma's assurance), than it becomes easy to do what needs to be done. Just start doing it.
As long as one holds on to the belief that it is "too hard", than it remains "too hard" and out of reach.
Working towards the accomplishment of a goal can be loads of fun, and full of lots and lots of treats.
So what have you been wishing for lately? And what has been stopping you from getting started?
© Rev Cyndi Krupp
About the Author: Learn more about Rev Cyndi's teachings by visiting http://www.PracticalSpiritualityTeachings.com today
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