Just the other day when one of our favorite little ones was over for a visit….I did what I love to do with IV. I asked him, “Do you want a nana?” As expected, he started running toward my kitchen counter with a squeal!! IV has started talking but right now only says things like “Mom”, “Dad” and, yes, he has started calling me “Honey,” which I love.
He started eating the banana by taking a bite and then running around, eventually returning for another bite. I have learned that I can’t let him hold it yet because it either becomes “play dough” in his hands or he puts too much in his mouth all at once! When he had eaten about half of the banana, I started following him around trying to get him to finish it. His mom was sitting at our kitchen bar watching….IV had his back from me and was running….with both arms in the air….and hands waving. Ericka…said kindly…”He is telling you, ‘all done!'” Ha ha ha….I loved it! You see, he was using sign language!
I got it! It brought back memories of reading the book, “Babywise,” by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo years ago. The authors taught that you could teach babies to use sign language to communicate before they developmentally were able to speak. Babies have the ability to understand communication and commands, but cannot talk yet. They do have the unique ability to sign and use their hands.
It was so funny that IV was “kind of screaming loudly” to me, “I am all done!!!” It made me laugh. When I learned that babies had this ability, our kids were already speaking…I just wished I had learned this earlier. I would have loved to teach our babies to sign……..This also brought to mind…..God’s awesome hand, specifically in my life and our family!
I remember when I first read this parenting series…and listened to the audios. I was amazed by the information and wisdom put into a series that offered practical advice, examples and solutions to things I was facing as a young parent. I shared the information with my husband. He loved it as we both wanted to be the best parents we could be! The next step we took was ordering all the books, cd’s and videos. We watched them and started applying them in our home and were amazed at the results. It put us on the “same page.”
We then put together a small group that met and watched the videos together one night a week for 18 weeks. From that small group things exploded! That first group of people who gathered in our house…branched out and started doing the same things with other “desiring parents!” Fast forward….20 years…I know that I know that it was God, through a friend…named Hope, who shared them with me.
I hope you are able to follow this story….Let me tell you how I met Hope. I received a voicemail 20 years ago from a friend who said, “I know you live in Columbia. There is this wonderful couple who just moved there. They know no one and need good friends. Would you call them and reach out to them?” Of course, that is all it took for me…..I called that day… and a few days later we met for dinner.
That is where we not only made lifelong friends with some of the most special people in the world but, Hope and Barkley Radebaugh have impacted our lives and others in multiple ways….Yes, 20 years later I am sitting at my mom’s funeral worshiping and listening to Hope sing…comforting me and my family in the most amazing way. Do you see how good, faithful and loving God is???????
Sometimes I just sit in awe of how God works. The one thing I absolutely love about the “Back 9” of life…if you have been loving and seeking God for most of your life….you can literally see His fingerprints in your past thousands of times.
Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Through God prompting other people and a willing heart to reach out after being asked to help someone else…..God has used that one phone call, that first dinner with strangers, to absolutely do AMAZING THINGS IN MY LIFE AND IN OTHERS.
That friendship….brought solutions to parenting…that led to countless more friends…that led to a ministry to others…that led to more friends….that led to wisdom acquired by me to share with others….that led to the encouragement and affirmation I gave to Ericka, who is expecting their second child in December, the other day to keep implementing all that she is learning and applying from the Ezzo’s books and ministry….to Hope blessing me intimately and personally on the saddest day of my life so far……….
God…is AWESOME…I desperately want….this for anyone reading my blogs….I want you to love God. To take the next step in knowing HIM….more intimately and being able to recognize His voice and promptings in your life……I can absolutely promise you that HE WILL SHOW UP…..YOUR LIFE WILL BE BLESSED….you will have testimonies to share as I just did!
If you are reading this blog right now….and I know some who went through this parenting ministry in Columbia are reading…you can thank God………..It was HIM…….His network is amazing…supernatural…..and PERFECT….SEEK CHRIST TODAY…THIS MINUTE……allow HIS FINGERPRINTS….to start ORCHESTRATING YOUR LIFE….you won’t be disappointed.
Psalm 16:7-9, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.”