Favorite Quotes from Last Weekend!

Favorite quotes from this weekend:
1. Caleb finished putting a really big poo-poo in the potty and said, "WOW! Thas a crocodile!"

2. Caleb and Alethia were hugging.......
Daddy said, "Caleb, be gentle in your hug."
Caleb loosened his grip and Daddy said, "Good Boy! Now say I love my sister."

Alethia said, "I love my sister!"

Yeah, we're still learning who IS a sister and brother versus who HAS a sister and brother.

3. We picked Daddy up from the airport and he said to Alethia,

"Do you love your Daddy?"

She said with absolute certainty, "I think-a my do!"

That may not sound as cute or funny on the computer, but her tone of voice made it so sweet!

4. Caleb was learning to "be calm" in time-out. He was allowed to come out once he was calm and the first thing he said was, "Maybe Jesus will help me be calm."

Two is such a FUN age!!!!

Nothing Better

Today we were walking on campus looking for sticks, as all two years olds MUST do daily. We were looking for "spider sticks". What is a spider stick, you may ask?? Well, it's a big stick with lots and lots of "legs" (small branches). Caleb always seems to find spider sticks to take on our walk, but Alethia struggles a bit with it. Well, today Caleb found his spider stick and Alethia was rather distraught because she couldn't find one.
Caleb said, "Don't worry Lai lai, Jesus is wit you." I was stunned, so I asked him to repeat what he'd just said, so he said it again. I said, "Caleb, you're right Jesus is with her isn't he?"
He said very matter-of-factly, "Yeah, Jesus lives in her heart, so she doesn't have to cry, He's with her." Is there anything better??
Well, maybe there is.....we prayed and asked Jesus to help us find a spider stick for Alethia and after 2 minutes, we found not only one but TWO spider sticks for her!! They were perfect!! Another Double Blessing for the Skinner's!!

PS We used clippers on Caleb's hair last night....what do you think?? Alethia loves to run her fingers through it, it's so cute because he's been letting her do it!!

So beautiful to Me

Do you ever slow down enough to get in a secluded place -free from distractions, free from noise, free from movement - to get away - away from news, away from plans, away from lists - away from it all??? I crave that, I crave it regularly, do you know why?? I crave it because that is when I can hear God the most, to feel Him, to know that He's real, to know that He's alive, to know that He knows me, to know that He cares that He has me alone.

Tonight I took that opportunity......took the opportunity to stop.....forget the dishes, forget the clothes, forget packing lunch/packing breakfast.....aaaahhh......to just stop. I had to choose to do it, but I'm so thankful that I did.

I put on some worship music that my friend Audrey sent me.......just listen to the words......
Your love is pure Your love is precious Your love is all I need
Your love surrounds me Your love astounds me Your love is everything
I run to You my heart is weak I cling to You You're all I seek
More than the air that I breathe More than the song that I sing I need You
You're everything I want
You're everything I hope in
You're everything my heart cries out for

And another song later on the CD.....
The more I seek You, the more I find You
The more I find You, the more I love You
I want to sit at Your feet, drink from the cup in Your hand, lay back against You and breathe
feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep it's more than I can stand. I melt in your peace it's overwhelming.

Oh Lord, just singing these words opens my heart to You and makes me want to experience that everyday.....that peace, that fullfillment, that satisfaction.....Your Presence.....the Presence of the Lord of Lords.....the Presence of the Sovereign God.....the Presence of the Almighty, Powerful God - the great I AM. What a mystery You are to be so Huge and yet know me so deeply, that You even want to know me at all is a mystery.

As I'm writing this another song plays......
You're My beloved you're My bride
to sing over you is My delight
come away with Me My love
Under My mercy come and lay til We are standing face to face
I see no stain on you My child
You're beautiful to Me so beautiful to Me
I sing over you My song of Peace
Cast all your cares down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me
I'll breathe My life inside of you
I'll bear you up on eagles wings
and hide you in the shadow of My strength
I'll take you to My quiet place
I'll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole
You're My beloved you're My bride to sing over you is My delight
come away with Me My love

Oh I cherish God, I truly cherish Him.....above all else.....He holds all things together. Without Him I wouldn't have any of the good gifts that I have - my husband, my children - these relationships would be nothing without God creating them and holding them together. I just pray that we all can grasp the depth of the love that God has for us, the height of His passion for us, His passion to know each of us individually.....what a majestic God. I am in awe, yet I am at peace.

So what should I do???

You know, the past 1 1/2 weeks have been challenging for me emotionally. Sometimes reality just slaps you in the face when you live a life of paralysis. Sometimes a slap, sometimes it feels more like a knock-out.....except somehow you're still standing, you're still here on this earth, and life is still moving forward with or without you.

Last week Chris went out of town and all of a sudden, without warning, I just cried over his being paralyzed. Not because of what it does to my world, but because of the pain it causes him. And all at once it was as if I was feeling the immense pain that everyone who faces life with paralysis or some type of disability experiences. It's different, even when it's good, it's still different. I walked outside for the kids to have popsicles and I watched people play volleyball in the pool while their friends and wives sat together socializing and it was all I could do to hold back the tears that immediately rushed to my eyes and my heart. The pain that Chris feels just watching other people enjoy their physical bodies......the pain that other people with disabilities feel when they see it.

And I know, I can look at our lives and KNOW that we are blessed and have been given immense gifts, immense support physically and emotionally.....to be honest Chris and I receive more help and encouragement from our friends and family than any other quadriplegic couple that I know. But it doesn't completely take away the mourning that sometimes grips you without warning.

And so I turn to my God.....the only place that I can turn. And my heart bursts with love for Him, truly bursts. You see, when you TRULY suffer - EVERY day - you have no choice but to worship God. To worship with your whole body, arms up, knees down, standing up, lying down, flat out, raised up - you worship, you worship hard. And you don't stop until the weight of life lifts. Anything else is too hard and too consuming.

Pink People of the World!

Yesterday I was changing Alethia's diaper and began singing 'Jesus Loves Me'. She loves that song and sings it on her own even though Chris and I have only sung it to her a handful of times. She said she wanted a new song and so I wracked my brain trying to recall a short, sweet children's song about Jesus. And then it popped into my head:

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white.........

"Waaaiiiit, Mommy!!! Pink and blue, pink and blue chi-din!!!"

Oh yes, my socialized little darling, EVERYTHING comes in pink and blue....one for her and one for Caleb. How could I forget the pink and blue children of the world! So we quickly revised the song with new lyrics:

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, pink and blue,
they are precious so are you!
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Yes, that brought a huge smile to our little girls face, NOW the song was perfect!

About 15 minutes later the kids and I were headed out the door to run some errands. Caleb wanted to sing our new song by himself and so he began. Mid-way through the song Alethia looked at Caleb with a huge smile and said,

"Wow Caleb! You good singer! You good singer, Caleb!"

Aaaaahhhh, there really is nothing like having twins! They're so sweet and cute!! I've renamed this period of life to be their Triumphant Two's.......oh yes, we will triumph!!!

1st Day of Potty Training Twins....I QUIT!!!

Well, here we are, all ready for the big day. I had visualized how the day would begin and how we would have success and everyone would love sitting on their new potty, encouraging each other.....eating treats.....one happy family!

Hmm....that's not exactly what happened.

To sum it up, I gave 2 two year olds candy all day long, giving them the most intense sugar-high that they've ever experienced thus far in their lives. THEN I expected them to be able to sit still on some plastic frog-looking potty seat for 10 minutes at a time to wait for pee-pee to come out that could just as easily come out in their diapers. I didn't let them go outside to play, let couldn't go in the pool, all they could do was read books, watch movies, and check for dry underpants.

Needless to say the result was 2 little tornadoes running through our 2 bedroom apartment screaming, clinging, jumping, throwing temper-tantrums back to back like I've never seen. I would've sat back in awe of the spectacle had they not been attacking me on every side.

After bouncing back and forth between the potty seat and the time-out corner I finally decided to slap some diapers on and go outside to let them run for 5 hours or so.

So, potty training??? Uh, no thank you. I'll stick with diapers. And I'm seriously considering never going back.....I mean seriously, we have every type of urine-collection device in our home. We could grow them up just fine on our supplies and send them out the door when they're 18 to learn how to use the potty as adults. I'm sure it would take much less sugar and a lot less time-outs by then!

Hope.....

I have 2 friends who have really been on my mind the past 2 weeks and so they are my topic today. I wish I had pictures, but they're trapped in our old computer's hard-drive for the time-being. So, I may lose the personal touch that a picture brings, but I'd like to share their story with you anyway.

Chris and Stephanie went to the same church we did when we lived in Radford, VA. Stephanie has just graduated from nursing school and they have a 2 year old daughter, Mia.

Chris has had migraine headaches since he was a teenager and even earlier. The past few years have been truly incredible in their lives - incredibly hard. Chris' headaches have intensified to the point where he can no longer work. His pain is so bad that he's also unable to care for Mia by himself when Stephanie is working. They've applied for disability and been denied, and since he chose to go through that process now he really is unable to work because of all of the doctors letters stating so. They had to move from Radford to be closer to his family so that they could have more physical help. He's been to local doctors and even traveled to Philadelphia, PA and been admitted to the hospital through their migraine clinic, but had no relief. He's been loaded up with medicine and now weened himself from it with no change in his headaches. He's had nerve blocks, physical therapy, pain management, tests, tests, tests to no avail. And so now I write about him, about them......

During church today the pastor spoke about a verse in Matthew 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you."

The version in my bible says,
"Keep on asking and it will be given to you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and the door will be opened to you."

Keep on....Keep on....Keep on....

Now, I know more than most people what it's like to pray the same prayer over and over, feeling like there's really no point. Chris (my Chris) has had so many illnesses, pains, infections, etc., etc. And I have asked specific prayers; I have cried without words; I have sang songs of hope and mercy; I've praised God; I've questioned God; I've sobbed and I've rejoiced. Symptoms come and symptoms go.....paralysis stays.......pain comes and pain stays.....paralysis remains. And yet, 1 1/2 years ago I believe God did something incredible in our lives. He gave us freedom......and I really don't know how to describe it. Chris' pain does persist, he does continue to have infections, yet it's different. The intensity is not there for as long a period of time. I really believe the desperation that severe, unrelenting pain causes was lifted. Chris found hope in a new way. He'd had hope before, but it's like God changed his perspective from being a victim to a more intense fighter (and believe me, he didn't act like a victim before. He was already acting like a fighter, but God intensified it even more.)

Since that time we've been free to dream again....and now to pursue those dreams....to embrace life....to be excited about life.....to see the adventures before us and embrace them. And I know that it is only because soooo many people kept on praying for us.

So this is my plea, think of Chris and Stephanie, and pray for them. I'm sure that they have days when they can pray and days when they can't. So I want to be able to say that I will ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking on God's door until He brings a complete breakthrough to their lives and turns them completely around to be able to dream again.....to be able to live again.....to have hope again.....to enjoy their daughter, their friends, their lives. The weight of not being able to dream is just about unbearable. And that is what I pray for - for the pain, the desperation, the weight, the burden, the exhaustion to be lifted......and for life to be restored, hope to be restored, joy to be restored.