March Madness: Sensing the Change of the Time!!!

In our country, the USA, we have a whole month devoted to Collegiate Basketball finals.  They call it March Madness.  Well, the Inglin family has borrowed that term for our March, 2013.

God wastes nothing:  We attend an adoption support group monthly and the topic was sensory processing disorders.  The speaker was excellent and we rode home grateful for the applicable information.  Little did we know how quickly God was going to be applying the information in our lives.  You see, March 10th would begin Daylight savings time where we spring ahead 1 hour.  It's a quaint custom in our country where twice a year we mess with God's timing by setting the clocks ahead in the spring and behind in the fall exactly 1 hour.  So what's the big deal!  You lose sleep or gain it, simple as that except if you have sensory processing issues which our boys do exhibit.

(Back Story 1)  Thommy and I finally got to go to our church's annual Sweetheart's Banquet.  It was originally scheduled for Feb. 8th but got snowed out.  We had a great time, so much so that we decided to take a whole Saturday and drive to the ocean at Cape May, NJ, making a stop at the free Cape May Zoo, just be together.  Well, and this is totally in hindsight, we forgot about the springing ahead.  The sensory overload from the beach and the zoo, coupled with the long drive set us up for what I can only describe as MARCH MADNESS.

The Madness begins:   When the boys awoke for church that Sunday, they were clearly disoriented and we started seeing the different behaviors associated with these changes.  Peter couldn't communicate clearly or understand why he was being fed earlier and so therefore, he shut down on his eating and cried and cried.  Eliot just got angry and kept saying, "Will someone please stop this!" repeatedly.  Of course, this causes all kinds of relational tension for the rest of us that just want ease and comfort.  So there we were in the middle of a muddle.  But God. . .

Wisdom Enters:  God was inviting us to pray.  He knew exactly what was going on and how to help the boys.  But did we ask?  God knew exactly what it was going to take to bring us to our knees.  After all, didn't we just have a wonderful teaching on the sensory issues that our adopted kids exhibit and face.  After a couple of weeks of "trying to figure out what was happening" both Thom and I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repented.  Then we began praying specifically for each of our boys.

I Can See Clearly Now:  God then answered our prayers for wisdom and began to use scripture and the excellent resources at our disposal to reach the boys.  For Peter, it was a really an excellent opportunity to deepen his understanding of the God-given meaning of Daddy and Mommy.  He knows that our names are Daddy and Mommy, but God wanted him to understand the authority of those names and He was using the change in time to do it.  Each time Peter was out of control we had him repeat scripture with us (Eph. 6:1).  We explained that he needed to trust and obey us and that we would help him through.  By God's grace, this gentle reminder slowly brought Peter to a better place; out of madness and into peace.

New Beginnings:  April has arrived and so has our boys smiles again.  Eliot's anxious behaviors are once again smaller and Peter's willingness to eat has improved with less tears.  But it's not just the outward behavior that has changed, but an inward joy.  One night recently, Eliot, who is 6 asked Jesus to live in his heart after a time of training.  It was a precious time for us and as we continue to look for the fruit of this confession it blessed us to know that out of the sensory overloads this little boy was facing, he found his answer, his peace in Jesus.  Peter, well this morning at family devotions was amazing.  It was the first time since we sprung ahead in time that Peter participated in Bible study accompanied by a lengthy prayer (in Peter language which is so cute).  It was in this moment that I knew that I knew God had answered our prayers for help with the boys and met their needs in such a loving personal way.

Was March a Wash?:  Not with God working all things together for good!  There were very sweet moments that I would never trade for just "keeping the peace".  Real inner change!  Only God can bring about lasting change.  We really can trust Him with the unknowns of life.  

Snapshots of March:
1.  Sweetheart's Banquet 3/8

2.  Cape May 3/9

3.  Playing with friends 3/17

4.  Marriage retreat with Paul Tripp 3/15-16.

Peter hanging out with his sisters while we are at the marriage conference.

5.  Peter became a United States Citizen on 3/18.

  
6.  International Down Syndrome Day 3/21

7.  Easter with Family 3/31

Annual Cousins picture

Annual Family Easter Picture

Handsome Boys Ready for Easter Sunday