Family

I think it’s appropriate to write a blog about family on Family Day!

I love this holiday!  A way to spend time with family however you like.  In our house, we participated in the church scavenger hunt, we watched movies and played some games, did some shopping – divine!

I must say that I love shopping with each of my children for different reasons. I love shopping with my son! We love antiques, and unique things as well as looking for cool games and he is my wing man for grocery shopping, which I absolutely love!

I love shopping with my daughter because it’s always about something artistic!  Something she wants to make or do for someone and I love being able to take her out for special treats that I can’t do with my son because of his many food restrictions. When you have children with different needs and abilities, sometimes you have to be creative in what you do and also let them be their own person by their own expression.

Many times throughout the week, we don’t have a chance to just do things together. In fact, we are on so many different schedules that many times we are just passing each other, with minimal conversation. So this day was nice and relaxed for us. Quiet time spent at home with family members and memories made that will last forever.

It’s also the weekend of our son’s birthday which made it very special as well. We had a celebration with family and we just got to hang out together even if it was for just a little while.

I love that his birthday always falls on this weekend because it feels like we are more connected as a family.  It’s nice to be able to celebrate the milestones that he has achieved that we didn’t even think were possible when he was younger, but they truly happened. That’s why you always have to have faith, believe and do the work. Honestly without our faith, I don’t know where we would be. It has helped us so much especially with our children.

When I think about family, I always think about my Dad who passed away many, many years ago. I miss him every day so very much.  But I take comfort in the fact that I have my heavenly Father who I know is always with me and will never leave me. He watches over me each and every single day and I can always talk to Him through prayer any time I wish. I feel His comfort and when I am really feeling down or alone, I imagine Him carrying me or holding His hand. This feeling is incredible!

God promises to love us like His own. We are His children and He will always protect us and watch over us.  I love the verse Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble.”

The next time you feel down don’t forget this!

Shelly Wedge
Exceptional Families Coordinator
Amberlea Church

Gratefulness

I’ve been thinking a lot of about gratefulness lately. I’ve been watching a particular channel on YouTube and it has really given me a lot of insight.

One of the things that stood out to me was as we go through our day, doing what may seem like mundane activities are we truly grateful?

When we look at the car that just got into that accident, and we mumble to ourselves that we are glad that it wasn’t us because we just don’t have any time for that today. When we are waiting in line at the grocery store and we perhaps get in the wrong line that isn’t moving. Are we grateful that we have the ability to go shopping?

When we complain about dinner that night, are we grateful that we have food to eat?

There are truly so many things to be grateful in the course of a day. When I pray in the morning, I thank God not only for the sleep of the night but that I have another day where I woke up and that makes me truly grateful.

I think about our life with autism and I am truly grateful for some of the things that my kids don’t do, rather than what they haven’t learned how to do yet. We used to spend a good chunk of time dealing with behaviours, meltdowns, tantrums – things like that. When I look back today, I realize how grateful I am that these things no longer consume our days and nights . Yes, I may want to see faster progress in some areas with my kids, but I am so grateful for what they have learned to do and what they have stopped doing that was not constructive. I smile sometimes just to myself when I think about this and it makes me really happy!

I know that without God I would not have had the strength to get through some of the difficult moments in our life. Our life was so consumed with negativity at one point in time, it physically and emotionally drained us.

God wants us to seek Him for help in times of trouble. He also wants us to thank Him for protecting us and watching over us and giving us strength to get through each day.

I am truly grateful to God for giving me comfort, for giving me strength and for giving me a purpose in this life.

I want to tell you that if you are dealing with children with special needs, I know how challenging this can be.  Whatever your situation is we would love to pray for you so please feel free to reach out for our support. We are a community and we are here to help each other along.

God promises that He will never leave us. In Deuteronomy 31:6 it states “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

You are blessed.

Shelly Wedge
Exceptional Families Coordinator
Amberlea Church 

Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

New Beginnings

I love the New Year. It’s a time for new beginnings for all of us. We can put the past year behind us and start fresh with new goals, new adventures and new promises.

It’s hard not to think about what has happened to us and our world in the past year but moving into a new year gives us new hope and new promises that things may be different and look different.

If you have a child on the spectrum, you may hope that things improve over the next year. It could be behaviour, learning challenges you’ve been experience, developing speech, fostering or creating friendships and most importantly happiness.

Personally, for me as a parent, I am always setting new goals for myself with regards to my children. There are always things that we need to work on and I develop a plan of how to achieve them throughout the year. One example is health. I have had many challenges with both of our children over health issues. One is an eating disorder and the other one is a compromised immune system in which supplementation, diet changes and constant modifications and continuous tests to ensure that the health remains stable.

My goals as a parent are not the same goals that my children have for their life, but it is important for me to ensure that I am always striving for better for them to get healthier.

It is important to make spiritual goals as well. I have my own spiritual goals and I also have spiritual goals for us as a family. If I am being honest, over the past year, family spiritual goals have been difficult. It’s hard when the church has not been open very much and especially not for programs. I think our family has definitely felt the sting from this as a whole. Everyone always seems to be on a different schedule and honestly with lots of school (at least in our house) being still on-line, it is difficult to ensure that we can all participate in church.

The one thing though that is constant is that God doesn’t care where or how we worship or pray to Him. He is there for us no matter what. This gives us more opportunity to be in close contact with Him as we go about our day.

I want 2022 to bring more spiritual changes for me as a person as well as for our entire family. How will we achieve this? Well……. I will have to come up with a plan. What that will look like right now, I don’t really know.

I love the verse Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear for I am with you; do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold onto you with my righteous right hand.”

I know if we make God a priority and honour Him that our lives will be so much richer!

Please let us know how we can support you and your family this year.  Let’s brainstorm together, ways and resources to make God a priority in our home.

Shelly Wedge
Exceptional Families Coordinator
Amberlea Church