Unpredictable

Snow. First they said "some", then "up to 10 inches", then at 4:30 this morning my NOAA All Hazards weather radio went off to "alert" me to a "Winter Storm Warning", now they're calling for 6-8" plus ice on top.... in other words, the forecasters have no idea what is going to happen, other than there is some cold air and some less cold air and lots of precip! The rest is up to your trusty "weather rock".

Life is unpredictable too. I was just musing with an old friend that it seems that some of us are destined to always be "1 minute late for the bus". She and her husband have worked hard, struggled, and been awesome parents. They are well educated and hold advanced degrees with "honors" but they still struggle to make ends meet. It seems that every time they turn around something happens to knock them on their "butt-ocks" again. The same with another close friend... she had a rough start being a divorced mom to 4 kids by the time she was 24 years old(yes, all by the same alcoholic husband). She too worked hard, got an eduation and managed to raise 4 loving and intelligent children on her own. Finally, "things turned around" or so it seemed, and she met and married her true "soulmate". She said meeting him felt like "coming home". Finally, instead of one income she would have TWO and she could start getting on stable footing. Then she blew out her back while caring for a patient. Years later, still out of work and fighting denial after denial of disability (when she would rather work, but lives in chronic, severe pain). IT JUST ISN'T FAIR!

I look back on my life and think of the things that "might have been"... the "what if's".... How difficult it is for us to see our lives from the BIG perspective when all we see is the path behind us and immediately in front of us.

Sometimes I feel like the children in C. S. Lewis' book The Silver Chair. They are stumbling across a foggy, dark, misty, cold, shadowy place and encounter great sheer cliffs and precupices that seem random and quite odd. At one point the children find themselves in a rift-like place. They follow it straight and find a path leading off to the right which soon dead-ends. They backtrack and follow the path again only to find a sharp right turn in the path as their only choice. Another dead end. While they are warmer there in the rift (sheltered from the howling wind and mist), it simply leads to nowhere. They must climb out, and continue to forge their way across the mysterious land in the cold and dark, not seeing where they are going. It is only when they wake up later, in the home of the giants that live on the other side of the wasteland, that they can look down from above and see that the place that they were lost was an enormous letter "E" and part of a sign sent by Aslan as part of their quest.

Right now, I may be living in that "E"... or simply walking through it on my way across this life. But I do believe that someday I'll see things from a vantage point that will allow it all to make sense and I will see how each dead-end and each valley played a part in the purpose I was chosen to fulfill on this earth. I Corinthians 13:12 says it like this: "For now we see things in a glass, darkly; but then face to face........ now my knowledge is in part; then it will be complete, even as God's knowledge of me."

I'm just trying to walk in obedience with my eyes fixed on the One who sent me. Love, Claudia

Life is Good

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."----Joseph Campbell

I have been so busy! What a wonderful life! Sure, I get tired and I even had a few days "under the weather" last week, but I am so blessed to be alive! Last weekend Phillip came to stay Friday night. My friend Julia came over too and it was like a great slumber party! I slumbered, and Julia and Amy stayed up half the night talking! LOL! Phillip is always so happy to be here and Christopher is always so glad to have him here, even if they are a little like dynamite and fire! One thing it is NOT when Phillip is here is QUIET! Phillip is very happy and rotates "play areas" with Christopher throughout the visit.... Christopher's room, the living room, the kitchen, back to Christopher's room, etc. with Christopher alternating in whatever space is not currently in use. There is always either a children's TV program, Sandy Patty video, Gaither video or "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" blaring the entire visit... and usually two from the list...one for each of the boys! It is joyful mayhem. I do find that my hyperactive reflexes don't tolerate the chaos very well, and I spend the entire time in a state of hyperarousal verging on jitters. Oh well, it is great to see the "dudes" together!



This past weekend Christopher was doing "the worm" (his autistic, lay-on-the-floor-belly-down-wiggle-with-your-feet-in-the-air thing) and Phillip (big brother that he is) just HAD to reach down and push Christopher's face into the carpet The amazing part is no one was having a meltdown... just two "normal brothers" doing "brother stuff". Christopher had a rug burn on his nose to prove that "big bro" was here!!! LOL



Life is good. Love, Claudia
(PS... don't forget to spread the word about Christopher's Service Dog Project!!!)

We Were in the Newspaper!

Christopher with 4 Paws service dog in the "Wishes Lounge" at the Magic Kingdom

As you can tell if you've tried to visit http://www.claudiasfamily.com/, the site is still down. I am a rank amateur with Front Page and it shows!!! *big sigh* You can still visit this blog or Christopher's site (http://www.4paws4christopher.com/) to keep up to date....





The big news is that the Muncie Star Press ran our article about Christopher's service dog! To check it out, visit this LINK.





I am so excited at the prospect of having this furry friend for Christopher, and I know that God is going to take care of the fundraising and has already picked out the perfect dog for our family! Personally, I'm praying really hard for a GOLDEN RETRIEVER (hint, hint) but I have faith that whatever dog comes to us will be THE one!





Christopher got to meet a 4 Paws service dog when we were at Disney. That dog was a black lab, and I think that is what all dogs from 4 Paws look like! I can't help but think it was no "coincidence" that we met another 4 Paws family at Disney! The agency only placed 69 dogs last year... what are the odds?





Anyhow, things are good and I'm staying very busy....retirement is WORK! LOL.





Love, Claudia

Happy New Year...

Hi Friends,

I am about ready to pull my hair out, but I don't have the strength! My websites have been down, thanks to a ROYAL screw up by bizland.com (my FORMER server). They deleted my active account, thereby locking me out of their site builder and effectively shutting down my site production. Now, I know a LITTLE HTML, and I can tweak things pretty well, but building a site completely from scratch... well, let's just say "I'm not there yet". SO, for now my claudiasfamily.com site is down. I am scrambling to learn how to take what I create on FrontPage and manage to get it to appear when you enter my domain names. Now, everyone tells me "just use FTP" but so far it isn't working as advertised. I hate it when I cannot master something in 48 hours or less...and this is definitely one of those things. It is made all the worse by the fact that the claudiasfamily website is DOWN now.

I'm using a temporary site to try to keep people up to speed on what is going on, at least with our quest to get Christopher's service dog. The web address is http://www.4paws4christopher.com.

Thanks for caring. Love, Claudia

Make a postcard - it's easy!