Bethany's Blog

Today we closed on our third house in five years. It has been a crazy five years, and the reasons for moving mainly have to do with David's job! In all of it we've seen God's provision. We would like this house to be the last house we buy for many years to come. We moved to Hickory (which is David's home town) a week before Christmas 2016. We had to sell our house from a distance and take up his parents' offer of their basement and his old room. Most of our things were put in storage and we took the plunge to live in tight conditions. Judy and Glenn have been very tolerant and helpful this whole time! The most trouble we've had has been caused by the youngest member of the house, who will remain anonymous. Selling our house in GA was hard because it's unique. It had ten acres, an old barn, and some work that needed to be done. We had put $30k of work into it! This included foundation, new roof, new floors, painting, barn repairs. We could not sell it f

Greetings from late night motherhood! I have Friends Season 2 streaming in the background, my husband is snoring and has to wake up in 4 hours to go to work, and my wet hair is tied up in a slightly mildewy microfiber towel. Our house just went on the market and my kids are both potty training. My husband and I are alternating work hours and childcare, working about 75 hours a week between us these days! So it's a perfect time to write a blog entry. Culturally, that is! I don't know about you but my heart is stirred almost daily by sad or touching stories, or shows like Parenthood re-runs and This Is Us. News about war on other continents or heroic stories of people with disabilities overcoming amazing odds. Raising a child on the autism spectrum and being hormonal from having two babies definitely softens my heart. I can barely shop at certain stores because I know they take advantage of horribly underpaid factory workers across the ocean. I'm amazed at how empath

Backstory: almost a year ago it became apparent to us that Carson's continual social and language delays were more serious than we thought. When we found out about Aspergers and high functioning autism we saw some striking similarities in Carson to the description of symptoms. It was obvious to us that he is on the autism spectrum.  The same week in early March that this realization came crashing down on us, David also received a job offer in Atlanta, and we moved a month later April 11th, 2015. He graduated seminary long distance.  In June Carson underwent a series of evaluations by a specialist, a developmental pediatrician in north Atlanta named Dr. Sonia George. He tested most definitely on the autism spectrum. In every area except intellectual he tested more than a year behind his age at the time, 3 and a half. intellectually he was ahead of his age.  He took speech and occupational therapy every week from this point on. We bought a house and acreage and moved in at the end of

Carson's prognosis? Only God knows. Will he ever be able to hold a job, go to college or have a family? Only God knows. Though he continues to progress and grow in most areas, in others he is not. But one thing is certain: the kid is HAPPY. 24/7 a room without a roof. I'm proud of him and who he is. He is perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. That is a cliche, yet in my grieving moments it's what my heart is bursting with! It's like he walks through the world wearing 3D glasses only he can have, and because of this, small and seemingly meaningless actions become exciting and amazing -- so of course they must be repeated!  I've decided to enjoy repeating the alphabet (for the past 2 years), or lines from his favorite show in a meaningless context, or sympathizing with the importance he places in running through the gaps in the bushes that line our driveway over and over, day in and day out. I know that he seeks certain sensory experiences because his receptors t

I'm having to temporarily set aside the series on Christian apostasy or the mommy blogging or any other amateur attempts I had at blogging! I've had so much going on and more important happenings and much higher priorities than trying to change people's minds when I can't even see their faces. The faces of the three people that matter the most to me are the only faces I recognize now. They are the only faces that matter to me.  My dear husband's bearded face is minutes from snoring next to me in bed. He just finished his second week in management for Amazon Fulfillment here in Atlanta and he loves it! Finally. Finally not third shift. Finally not sixty hours a week. Finally he's not spending more time with coworkers than with his wife and children. Finally a chance to fulfill his dream of having a hobby farm.  My firstborn. He is the square peg we've been trying to pound into the round hole all his little life. He's on the

So, I get that Christian blogging against 50 Shades of Grey this weekend can be seen in two lights: saving our culture from corruption, or on the flipside, getting entangled in a peripheral issue that distracts from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No one is going to be saved or damned by merely watching a BDSM porn movie. I get that. And that's not what Christians are trying to say anyway. But what I think many people forget is that we are all slaves. Sin is not a popular word and I think it's definition has slipped through the cracks. Sin is anything a person thinks, says, or does that breaks the God's law. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" - looks at a person to think about sex - bam, law broken. "Thou shalt not kill" - gets super angry at someone and hates them - bam, law broken. We all break God's law; if not in our actions, at least in our thoughts. It is a sickness that lives in all of our hearts, despite our efforts to eradicate it. Sin has a