I’m the Most Stubborn

Still Standing

• Still Standing
• What I Saw the Day of the Family Photos
• The Downward Spiral of My Son’s Behavior
• How Do I Talk to My Adopted Kids About Their Birth Family?
• The Day We Told Our Son About His Past
• I Called the Police for My Own Son…and I’m a Good Mom.
• The Worst Father’s Day…but it Wasn’t
• What It’s Like to Take Your Child to the Hospital for Mental Health Care
• What It’s Like When Your Child Needs Inpatient Mental Health Care
• What Visits Are Like When Your Child Gets Inpatient Mental Health Care
• What Life is Like When Your Child Has Mental Health Issues
• When Grief and Hope Come in Waves
• Attachment Therapy: When a New Start is Scary
• When You Beg God for a Miracle
• Tough Vacation Decisions for Kids with Special Needs
• When Kids Take Medication for Behavior
• Water Balloon Therapy
• When You Are Humbled
• He Goes to the Park
• How to Measure Progress in Tough Situations
• When My Adopted Child Cries for His Birth Mom
• The Two Equally Important Jobs of Every Parent
• How to Shift Conversations with Challenging Kids
• What to Do When Your Kids Lie to You
• Dodge and Weave
• When the Life Has Been Sucked Out of You
• Every Test in Your Life Makes You Bitter or Better.
• Mornings, Bedtimes, and Other Routines for Kids with Trauma History
• What Happens to the Sibling of a Special Needs Child
• I’m the Most Stubborn
• Watching Miracles Unfold
• How to Find Peace…When You Don’t Get Your Happy Ending

But like my momma used to say, ‘You gotta put feet on your prayers if you want something done.’ She said, ‘You gotta get your prayers in motion instead of just letting them go floating out there in the air.’

—Jane Bradley, YOU BELIEVERS

I’m incredibly stubborn.

Call it tenacity, call it hard-working, call it spirited.

Call it what you will, but really I’m just pig-headed and stubborn.

Bless my husband. It used to be no matter what we were arguing about, I’d out-word him to the bitter ugly end, even if was something I didn’t care that much about.

Thankfully I’ve softened some over the years.

But only some.

Fighting for Children

I parent children who are working to overcome the effects of early abuse and trauma.

We are so incredibly stubborn in our fight for these children. The battle is long and so very wearying.

The enemy wears us down with Chinese-water-torture-like maneuvers of tiny, itty-bitty, day-after-day picks. We cannot let him win. The cause is too great when it comes to saving our children’s lives.

What I’ve Learned

Reflecting on the skills I have from other life experiences helps me greatly. God has indeed prepared me for this.

Years as a foster parent taught me how to work within a broken system. They taught me how to keep going, keep fighting, keep trying. They taught me how to stand for justice when it seems justice will not come. They taught me that kids who have been traumatized will somehow survive.

Losing 100 lbs taught me that it is possible to beat the odds. I’ve learned about the importance of mental health care and therapy, as well as its limitations.

My triathlon experiences taught me to stand up to pain and tolerate it.

Losing people I love taught me about grief. I will survive it and not die, even when I feel like I want to die.

My experiences with our son Zack’s metabolic condition and other foster kids with medical issues has taught me how to advocate within the medical system.

My years as a parent have taught me what is normal kid behavior and not to ignore that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that says “something is just not right with this child”, even when I can’t put my finger on exactly what.

Being married for 21 years as taught me I can trust this man I’ve built a life with together. We don’t have it perfect, but we fit together perfectly.

Parenting teenagers has shown me that even though you make tons of parenting mistakes, your kids can still turn into these amazingly awesome human beings.

I’ve learned there is so much I can do, and there are things I can’t, which is okay. I need breaks, I need respite, and I am not an expert in all things. I need a team of experts around me to teach me, inform me and partner with me for these children with broken places to be made whole.

Lord Jesus…above all we have a Savior. A God who heals. A powerful, Almighty God who listens when we call upon His name. He has proven faithful time and again when I turn to Him in prayer.

I’m the Most Stubborn

So much…God has given me so much. I need all of it, and I’m going to use all of it.

I’m equipped. I’m stubborn.

Let’s do it.

Still Standing

Bible Verse

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Journal Prompt

How has God used other life experiences to prepare you for what you are now facing? Be creative in your thinking.

Resources

• Still Standing
• What I Saw the Day of the Family Photos
• The Downward Spiral of My Son’s Behavior
• How Do I Talk to My Adopted Kids About Their Birth Family?
• The Day We Told Our Son About His Past
• I Called the Police for My Own Son…and I’m a Good Mom.
• The Worst Father’s Day…but it Wasn’t
• What It’s Like to Take Your Child to the Hospital for Mental Health Care
• What It’s Like When Your Child Needs Inpatient Mental Health Care
• What Visits Are Like When Your Child Gets Inpatient Mental Health Care
• What Life is Like When Your Child Has Mental Health Issues
• When Grief and Hope Come in Waves
• Attachment Therapy: When a New Start is Scary
• When You Beg God for a Miracle
• Tough Vacation Decisions for Kids with Special Needs
• When Kids Take Medication for Behavior
• Water Balloon Therapy
• When You Are Humbled
• He Goes to the Park
• How to Measure Progress in Tough Situations
• When My Adopted Child Cries for His Birth Mom
• The Two Equally Important Jobs of Every Parent
• How to Shift Conversations with Challenging Kids
• What to Do When Your Kids Lie to You
• Dodge and Weave
• When the Life Has Been Sucked Out of You
• Every Test in Your Life Makes You Bitter or Better.
• Mornings, Bedtimes, and Other Routines for Kids with Trauma History
• What Happens to the Sibling of a Special Needs Child
• I’m the Most Stubborn
• Watching Miracles Unfold
• How to Find Peace…When You Don’t Get Your Happy Ending

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