How can I possibly catch this blog up on our lives over the past few years?
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .
No, no, that’s not quite right.
Somehow (actually I know how – we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us), we have made it through the worst of times and are now, in so many ways, in the best of times. If you know what we’ve been going through of late, I’m sure you’re scratching your head at this – typically unemployment is not within the scope of the best of times. But we’re together, and we’re happy, and we have people in our lives who we love and who love us, and best of all, we love each other. And God is opening doors and giving us glances at dreams we in some ways had given up on.
In the past year or so we became parents again to number 10 – Elijah. A couple months later we became grandparents. God is so good to give us blessings upon blessings. We also saw Daughter Number 3 become a newlywed to one of the finest young men we know. More blessings. We continue to live the dream in Wimberley, Texas, a little gem of a small town in the Hill Country. We continue to homeschool, train up our children, and seek after Jesus and His ways. Our son, Noah, who has Down syndrome and apraxia of speech is now 10, full of love, and still struggling with speech. He continues to use a lot of sign language that increases his vocabulary and intelligibility.
My “little Etsy machine embroidery store” is growing in leaps and bounds, and I recently was challenged by a young entrepreneur, Andrew Epps of http://www.andrewepps.com, to share the story of that store, http://www.21reasons.etsy.com, and the products I sell. As I listened to Andrew Epps’ presentation at the Mother Earth News Fair in Belton, Texas, the picture of what God has been preparing for us through the years suddenly came into focus. This blog has been a lifeline to me – a way to share my experiences as a new mother of a child with Down syndrome, a way to give back to the special needs community through printables and ideas, through friendships and counsel. But here it sits. Not being updated. For many years the main focus of my life was on Noah, just trying to get on top of this thing they call Down syndrome, this thing they call apraxia of speech, this thing they call special needs. And honestly, this is still a big focus of my life. But there’s more.
And so here I sit surveying just what the more is.
And I’m getting excited about sharing it with you.
Blessings,
Alyson
wordsofhisheart 