Symanzik Family Update

There is a bond between twins I do not understand.
I've heard stories of twins knowing when each other gets hurt or is having a hard time even when they are not together.
Even before James could talk he would intuitively know when his brother needed something and garner my attention to take care of Jerard - holding or feeding.
James used to take toys to Jerard and recently pulled out the box of Jerard memories and was playing with one of Jerard's favourite toys.

James has had a lot of sinus infections this school year and many headaches. Whenever his head is hurting to badly he'll ask me if he is going to die like his brother did. He'll ask me if his head is going to get big like his brother's was.

James has been missing his brother a lot recently. He tells me of dreams he has where he hears Jerard laughing or banging on his tray or even talking to him.

It's hard to know as a mom how to help my son grieve his loss. I miss Jerard too. That is the nature of grief over the loss of a loved one. A hole is left in your heart.

This month, March 7th marked the second year anniversary of Jerard's last hospital stay due to major seizures which left him unable to swallow or move. It seems James is intuitively aware of that as it's been since the beginning of this month he's been missing his brother so much more.

We took flowers to Jerard's grave the other day.

We shared stories about Jerard. James asked about the burial spot and I told him that God answered my prayer to get a burial spot for Jerard at the top of the hill.

Grieving is the process of mourning the loss and learning
to walk on....

I am really blessed by Ken Boa's ministry, daily scripture meditations, and the book he wrote "Conformed To His Image."

I found March 11th's reading really relavent as I pray for James's adoption to be completed. Specifically we are waiting for the judge to issue his decision on the adoption. It has been three months since the last court date. We've been told this judge can take "a long time" to decide. I am praying God moves him to issue his approval of the adoption soon.

I wanted to share March 11th's daily scripture meditation email I receive with you all. I hope you find blessing and peace as you pray and meditate on God's word.

kenboa.org

Daily Growth

Daily Growth for March 11, 2014
Daily Scripture
Jonah and the promises of God

Promises of God in Each Book

"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry" (2:2). "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you,Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace thatcould be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, willsacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.Salvation comes from the Lord" (2:7-9). "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (4:2).

Daily Prayer
Simple Book of Prayers
YOUR WORD

God, I want Your Word to be deeply implanted in me so that I not only know the truth, but also express it in the way I live.

I call this to mind,
And therefore I have hope:
The Lord's mercies never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)

Take a moment to affirm the truth of these words from Scripture and ask God to make them a growing reality in your life.
MY PRAYER

I will be of the same mind with others; I will not be haughty in mind or wise in my own estimation, but I will associate with the humble. (Romans 12:16)

From now on I will regard no one only according to the flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:16)

Lord, I thank You for Your splendor and majesty and for the mystery of godliness in Christ. I thank You that Your name is to be blessed in all things, and I ask that I would treat others with compassion and dignity.

Daily EncouragementLiving Praises: Week 3, Day 6

Guidebook to Living

Lord, I praise you because . . .

You are a righteous God and a Savior.

You, the Lord, alone have declared
what is to come from the distant past.
There is no God apart from You,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides You.
You are God, and there is no other.

(Isaiah 45:21-22)

Lord God,

You are the only Savior--holy, pure, altogether lovely, and glorious. There is none besides You, and no person or thing other than You is worthy of worship. In the distant past You revealed that which was to come, and Your promises are sure and steadfast.

Amen.

Kurt and James had gone to a local mall to get a DVD on Sunday afternoon. The parking garage was full and as they drove around looking for a spot to park in, their car and another car met at a intersection......

and......

ooopss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Both cars had damage, ours worse than the larger truck.

the car is not driveable so several guys helped push it out of
the parking garage so that the tow truck could hook it up.

We had the car towed back to our house for now.

It's a 16 year old car and not worth much. We are deciding
about having an estimate done to see if it's worth fixing.
We had been planning to sell it soon anyway. Public transpor-
tation is readily available (taxis, jeepneys, trykes) so we really
don't need to have our own car.

I love to read and have recently finished reading the following:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Why do Christians Shoot Their Wounded? by Dwight L. Carlson

I highly recommend each of those books if you are looking for something to read.

I am also currently reading

On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View on Psychotherapy by
Carl Rogers

A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller

On Writing by Stephen King

A Path Through Suffering by Elisabeth Elliott

Love Beyond Reason by John Ortberg

and I'm continuing to plow my way through A Quest For
Godliness by J.I. Packer. It's an excellent book but needs to be read slowly to absorb the content!

These are all good reads that I highly recommend!

I also really like the Gutenberg.org website that has free downloads of older books available. I've recently down loaded "The Pilgrim's Progress", by John Bunyon; "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith and "Parables of the Christ Life" and "Parables of the Cross" by Lillias Trotter.

Let me know what you are reading!

Kirsten is playing on the girls High School Soccer team. They had another game this past Saturday.

A friend took some great shots of Kirsten in action.

She and the team will be traveling up to Subic the end of this month for a three day international school sports competition (ISAC = international school athletic competition).
I really appreciate the sports program offered at the school. The athletic program strives to use athletics as a tool to enhance the athlete's academic and character development too.