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Leona has found someone new to make mad and it's working really well for her-Praise God! She came up with it almost by herself. Who, you ask? Well....it's the devil. Yes, you read that right, she is trying to make the devil mad-by doing the "good stuff". We have had around 3 weeks of pretty good behavior now and that is nothing short of a miracle. She has had only one episode of wetting in that time and even then, she asked to go to the bathroom to finish instead of letting it all out on the floor! I talk to her frequently about how God wants us to obey Him and that pleases Him. And how Satan tempts us to disobey-and disobeying pleases Satan. But we always have the choice if we will obey or disobey. So she came to the understanding that if we obey God, Satan will be MAD! I told her that since she likes to make people mad so much, perhaps she could try making the devil mad by obeying God (or doing the "good stuff" as she would say). I really didn't think she would take it seriously, but she did. And the change in her has been immense in just a few weeks. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you"..James 4:7 I've thought many times that this is a spiritual battle. The Bible says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Eph. 6:12. The Bible also says, "Be Sober, Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". 1 Peter 5:8 And, Leona (and possibly any adopted child) would be such an easy target. She is already mad, sad, scared, and unsure of our love for her and even God's love for her. In fact, she's not even sure what love really is. The devil does not want Leona to be part of a loving family and especially not part of God's family. I know all this may sound a little crazy to some but this is a MAJOR change! Will it last? I don't know but we are praying that it does. It's so nice to see the "real" little girl under all that anger, hurt, and fear. I still wouldn't consider her completely "normal" (is anyone? I'd just like to take a moment to explain that last statement. Leona was in an orphanage for 2 years of her life. She was very hurt that her birthmom took her there. Children from orphanage settings have many caretakers and often become overly charming to all adults and can "attach"(superficially) easily to any adult. They don't understand what living in a family means. Leona called all the adult females in the orphanage "ma". She has mentioned more than once that she'd like to live elsewhere with this person or that person (even Josephine's audiologist whom she met once for 1/2 hour!). So, as a precaution, and to teach her boundaries and more about living in a family, we asked friends and family not to give her phyical contact, gifts, or food. We have even mentioned this to her and she has been instructed to stay next to Mom or Dad at all times. The latter part is more for safety in case of an anger flare up! One funny thing I'd like to mention is how she always acted grumpy for attention at church...She could put on such a good pitiful act. If you know any families that have children with attachment problems please remember this! Most of the time, she was grumpy because I had done something NICE for her! So, if you are pitying a child with attachment problems, you could very well be saying (although indirectly!) "Oh, you poor dear, I feel so bad for you because you have such a nice Mom who loves you so much and helped you get cleaned up this morning for church!" In addition to the spiritual aspect of RAD, I'd like to mention a few other things I've recently looked into. Neurological reorganization (NR), herbs and vitamins, and a gluten-free, milk free diet. The first, NR, is very interesting. It is based on the theory that, because a child has suffered a trauma, neglect, etc. the "wiring" in the brain has not developed correctly. This is also seen in learning disabilities although slightly different. I have purchased a DVD called "Move to Learn" and plan on doing some of these exercises with Leona. An example of the type of exercises are: hands and knees crawling and belly crawling (there are many more!). You can find out more about this on their website www.movetolearn.com. There are also 2 yahoo groups called adoptbiomed and neuronetwork where you can find more info. There is so much interesting information on these groups that I am SLOWLY digesting it all! It's very interesting and I think I will even try the exercises with Josephine and some of my bio. kids as well. I've been giving Leona some vitamin supplements such as B-complex, some herbal remedies, melatonin (for sleep problems), valerian (nerves and anxiety), and acidophilus. After the first week of improved behavior, I started her on a gluten-free, milk-free diet (GFCF diet). I was encouraged by some other parents on the adoptbiomed group who said how well it worked for their child. And also, by the fact that it was pretty evident that Leona has some digestive distress (bad breath, gas etc.!). This diet would have been such a difficult adjustment to make BUT, I already have two kiddos on a gluten free diet SO it was very easy (our oldest has celiac disease and our bio. 7 yr. old has a gluten allergy)! I think it is definitely worth trying. She did show some more improvement in her moodiness after we started it (and especially with the bad breath and gas!!). Updates on other members of our family (yes, we do have more than one child!!): Bailey: she is trying to graduate high school early, UM, VERY early! She is having fun gardening and, yesterday, pitted A LOT of cherries that we picked. Did I mention that I have the fastest "pickers" around? We picked 30 lbs. of strawberries in about a half-hour! And about the same for the cherries (Blueberries took longer!) Sydney: has decided that since I don't have any baby food (we haven't tried baby food with our 8 month old yet), we could maybe try to feed the baby dog food instead. (We don't have any dog food either, so don't worry!) Josephine: Just got her 2 brand new hearing aids. Pretty pink with pink sparkled earmolds. She loves them. I'll write more on that later! More updates later: I'm going to bed!! |
)because she still struggles daily. We are still asking friends and family to refrain from hugging and physical affection and giving her gifts and food. 
Pretty funny, huh?!!!Comments
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Posted by Anonymous