August 23, 2011 9:04 PM
Quotations for sending kids off to college
How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
~Dr. Seuss
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.
~Frederick Buechner
There isn't a child who hasn't gone out into the brave new world who eventually doesn't return to the old homestead carrying a bundle of dirty clothes.
~Art Buchwald
If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you.
~Author Unknown
Where we love is home,
Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Homesick in Heaven
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo
Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.
~Wendy Wasserstein
Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
~Ralph Marston
Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.
~David Frost
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
~Henry S. Haskins
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
~Albert Einstein
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
~Les Brown
You learn something every day if you pay attention.
~Ray LeBlond
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
~Milton Berle
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught.
~Oscar Wilde, "The Critic as Artist," 1890
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
~Chinese Proverb
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
~Francis Bacon, Essays, 1625
What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. ~Eleanor Powell
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. ~Albert Einstein
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ~Theodore Roosevelt
Learn as much as you can while you are young, since life becomes too busy later. ~Dana Stewart Scott
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. ~Thomas Henry Huxley, Life and Letters of Thomas Huxley
Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford
Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level. ~Max L. Forman
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ~Thomas Edison
Don't find fault. Find a remedy. ~Henry Ford
There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. ~Author Unknown
Posted in Inspiration | Permalink
Comments
Love these Barbara, thanks. So much inspiration for young and old alike.
Posted by: Donna | August 23, 2011 10:20 PM
Absolutely wonderful! I am going to make copies for all my children, and also for myself. These are spot-on for everyone, no matter how long ago we stepped out into the world on our own!
God bless you and yours, Barbara. Your children are wonderfully blessed to have you for a mother!
Posted by: Linda | August 24, 2011 6:25 AM
That is a great compilation.
Posted by: Crystal | August 24, 2011 10:25 AM
Hi Barbara,
This sweet lady...
http://sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-on-baby-samantha.html#comments
...just had a beautiful baby girl with down syndrome. Of course, I thought of you right away when I read her post. I know you're swamped and exhausted from moving, but maybe someday when you have the time and energy you could connect with her and offer her some encouragement?
When my husband and I wanted to pursue a vasectomy reversal last year our doctor strongly discouraged it. He thought I was getting too old (I was 34)! He had pretty much talked his wife out of having another baby in her mid-thirties because of his fear of down syndrome.
Blogs like yours have helped to educate me and also understand that children with special needs are not the end of the world - in fact they are a blessing! My doctor's fears initially shook me, and then I remembered that God doesn't make "mistakes" and that He designs and creates each child he chooses to place in our family :o)
We went ahead and had the surgery - six months later I was pregnant. I'm 35 weeks today. This will be our fourth child (after an 8.5 year gap) and I hope and pray there will be more.
Posted by: Amy | August 24, 2011 11:36 AM
So timely, Barbara. Our oldest is settling in for his freshman year--four hours away. My tears have been only few--and that just when I think of the little guy who used to run around this old house. I think homeschooling him through high school has really helped me have perspective on just how READY he is for this next step. He is on full-ride scholarship to our state flagship school, with a monthly stipend that pays him to conduct research in an area of his interest for the four years. So far his reports home are of meeting friends and seeking to find out where they are at spiritually so he can eventually share Christ with them. My heart is so full. I may burst. Here's to enjoying the remaining years with my other two sons. You encourage me!
Tari
PS Here's one more Seuss quote: “Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.â€
Posted by: Tari | August 24, 2011 1:53 PM
Dear Amy -
That is wonderful news about the reversal. I knew a couple who had four more children after having one!
Thanks for the tip about Baby Samantha. My heart broke when I read her mother was praying for God to heal her of her extra chromosome. I know most people feel sorry for the mother who's grieving, but I feel sorry for the baby who needs love and acceptance and is not receiving it. And I feel sorry for the husband and siblings who take their cue from Mom and are not free to love with abandon.
Here is what I wrote - sometimes honesty is the most loving thing you can give:
Dear Trudy -
It is still early and you have not realized what a gift you have been given. If you did, you would pray a simple prayer of gratitude rather than asking God to change your sweet baby into what you believe is best. Truly, God knows what is best. He designed our children with an extra chromosome to teach us that the things we think are important - appearance, intelligence - are not what He thinks are important. My son Jonny - my 8th child - is 19 now. He cannot read and his speech is not clear. But he has been in 28 plays, has hundreds of facebook friends, and was voted Homecoming King - out of a class of 500 - by his peers last year. He is excited about life and lives it to the fullest. He has taught so many people on the way important things like compassion, acceptance, unconditional love.
His younger sister Maddy was our last birth child and we have since adopted three more boys with Down syndrome who are now 16, 15 and 11. Each one is an individual and like my "normal" kids their abilities run the gamut.
As a mom of many and a writer/teacher, I've always encouraged parents to accept each child as a gift from God, to put away expectations and to instead keep a quiet heart as God unwraps each gift. Samantha will be no different than your other children. Except she will be more inclined to forgive and love unconditionally, to find joy in each moment, and to show a generosity of spirit seldom seen in the "normal" world.
Your family will be changed from this day forward. For the better. People will remark on how kind and compassionate your children are. Teachers will write you notes about how Samantha has changed their lives.
Grieve if you must, but for the sake of Samantha, your husband and all your children, I urge you to put your trust in God's plan for your family and to begin to give Him thanks and praise for the privilege He has given you of raising an exceptional human being.
Your children will follow your lead. If you continue to ask for a healing of chromosomes - and praying that God will make Samantha be intelligent, you are setting an example of very conditional love for your other children. What if one of them had an accident and became disabled? Would you accept them as less than perfect? On some level, they must be wondering.
Pray instead that God would heal your heart. He will answer that prayer, and when He does you will see your whole family, your friends and all your acquaintances shift too. They will be released to love Samantha and accept her fully, which they can't while you are wrapped up in your own grief.
I also urge you to read Kelle Hampton's blog to hear from someone who was in your place and made a decision to love her child just as she is. http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html
I will be praying not for Samantha's healing - though I pray she will be healthy - but for yours. May God continue to richly bless you and your family as you watch her grow and see His love revealed through her.
Posted by: Barbara | August 24, 2011 3:43 PM
Thanks so much for responding, and so quickly too :o) You said so much of what I have been thinking, but couldn't put into words.
Posted by: Amy | August 24, 2011 4:57 PM
Barbara, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post about Samantha. No need to feel sorry for her, though, for she has had nothing but complete love and acceptance from myself, family and friends. I love her completely. We bonded instantly. She nursed immediately after the birth. I think my initial feelings of shock and grief are completely natural. This is not something that I have ever given any thought to and keep in mind that it is all still fresh and new. She is not quite three weeks old yet. I have come into this completely unprepared and uneducated, not even knowing what down syndrome is. I am still processing the whole thing. I am sure that in time I will be just as strong and accepting as you or some of the other moms. You can't expect me to immediately sing praise to God when my doctor comes to my beside seconds after pushing out my baby and tells me my baby is down syndrome, then my baby stops breathing and I just spent over a week in NICU nursing her and pumping day and night; so I'm a bit tired and really haven't had a chance to think through this completely. I see nothing wrong with asking for God to make her normal. Every mother hopes for a perfectly healthy normal baby. If God does not choose to do this for me, I will of course love her with complete abandon like all of my children and do all I can for her. She will have no lack. No one needs to feel sorry for my sweet baby. She is in the family God chose for her. And I will still call out to God for her because I do hope he protects her from terrible health challenges, and nothing is too hard for God. He could make her completely normal. But again, I love her regardless. Thank you again for your concern, but you have no need for a broken heart for my child for she is in a very loving and supportive home. She will never feel anything but unconditional love. She is not loved conditionally. My prayers do not indicate conditional love. Grief is part of the process to acceptance.
Posted by: Trudy Callan | August 25, 2011 12:37 PM
So glad to hear this, Trudy. Yes, your feelings may be natural but as an advocate for my children with Down syndrome, I can't let that kind of post go unchallenged because it continues to spread fear among other mothers.
I want the world to be a better place for our children and consider it my responsibility to be part of that process by exposing the lies society has fed us and sharing what I believe is God's perspective.
I know what you mean about pumping/exhaustion, etc as Jonny was in NICU for three weeks with gastro-intestinal surgeries and then in and out of the hospital for 14 months with more surgeries (including a temporary colostomy). and pneumonia. Be sure to let people take care of you.
Michael Card's "Sleep Sound in Jesus" is a wonderful healer.
Posted by: Barbara | August 25, 2011 1:40 PM
As an advocate, I can certainly appreciate you challenging because of the spread of fear among mothers. Of course, I am one of those mothers, with coming to this unprepared. One of my thoughts when I made the post is I figured that by doing so that I would be given helpful advice as well as much needed encouragement to get me on the right track, which I have. The blogging community is very supportive. I knew I could count on my readers for support as well as prayer. Thank you again.
Posted by: Trudy Callan | August 25, 2011 11:45 PM
Very uplifting, Barbara. I would also encourage you to share some sobering resources with your readers who have children in high school and getting ready for college. They need to know that there is a very serious agenda to turn them away from traditional values and faith, and it is growing ever more hostile:
Brainwashing U:
Colleges’ sick ‘orientation’ game: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/brainwashing_jOCNScyOQlR1alPfjmiLeL
A Warning For Parents of New College Students From a Closet Conservative Insider
http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?p=23673
We hate you. Now give us your kids so that we can turn them against you.
http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?p=20575
David Horowitz: How Radical Professors Indoctrinate Students
http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?p=3942
Equipping Children With Spiritual and Political Armor
http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?p=20897
Posted by: Rachel | August 26, 2011 11:19 AM
