Earlier today, my wife came into my classroom, to talk to me, and she lets me know there is a little crust in my eye. I tried to get it, but she said I made it look worse. So I stood up to let her get it, and when she was done, I tried sit back down at my desk, and completely missed the chair. Now, I’m on the floor! Thank goodness none of my students saw me, and even though she laughed at me, she dusted me off and made sure I was okay. (more…)
The following is a short story written by my youngest son, who at the time was a ten-year-old fourth grader. The message is encouraging, so I would like to share it with you : (more…)
Fourteen years ago, my bride and I stood at the altar of St. James Baptist Church and exchanged vows to love, honor, respect and care for each other, no matter our circumstance. We were instructed that marriage was a sacred thing that should not be entered into lightly, but we should really know the weight of our words. At the wedding, if no one else does, the bride and groom are optimistic. All we knew in that moment was that we loved each other, and that we made each other happy; so we said “I do”. But, just like many other couples before us, and certainly those after us, we really had no idea what we were saying “I do” to. (more…)
February 6th was a typical busy day for us. We were out late and my phone died, so as soon as we hit the door, I put my phone on its charger. It was about a quarter to midnight. It takes my phone a few minutes to boot back up after a flat line, so I did a few things around the house to shut it down for the night and made it back to my room about 12:05, to see that I had a few missed calls, voice mails and text messages. My heart dropped because they were all from the same person; my niece. See, she’s away at college and I was thinking she had an accident or she was in trouble, either way I knew something was wrong.
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Team Murphy has been blessed with some great kids. We have 3 stair-stepped, and they are an absolute joy to have. Each has their own personalities, that makes them individually amazing in their own right. Our oldest son is popular, talented, hard-working and quite handsome. Our daughter is smart, articulate, beautiful and quite the fashionista. The youngest son is athletic, witty, quick on his feet and extremely well read. I love my kids because they are all very mannerable and (this is very important) know how to act in public. But as good as my three are, they are far from perfect. (more…)
Today is a special day for the Murphy Family; IT’S WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY! God has given us the privilege to raise a child dealing with this disorder, and he is such a blessing to everyone he meets. Having him has made us aware of the need for support and understanding, not only for those with special needs, but us all. Because being different is not bad, it’s just different. (more…)
I was helping my son with his math homework and I got a little frustrated. My son is autistic and I thought I wouldn’t be able to get him to explain some of his work, and I could tell he was frustrated too. He was struggling to figure out what was being asked of him. But somehow, something clicked and he was able to figure most of it out on his own, and that that he couldn’t, I was finally able to explain in such a way that he understood.
Lesson?
Last week, we had visitors at our church’s Wednesday night bible study. We offer a children’s ministry, so naturally the visiting kids went to class with our kids. As it has become our custom, we asked our kids about their class, what they learned, how the kids participated. Our most candid child, DJ, proceeds to tell us that his brother, Nicolas, was “acting weird”. DJ went on to say that he requested, that Nicolas cut it out because the visitors were “looking at him funny”.
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It has been said that my wife and I give people hope. Hope that they can find love that’s works. While Angela and I do have a great relationship, I would hardly consider us to be role models (but that’s just because I’ve experienced what other people didn’t see). We are just two imperfect people who have chosen to commit to this relationship by submitting to each other. It isn’t always easy, but its worth it. (more…)
DJ received some money for his birthday and decided he wanted to be a blessing to his family. After a vigorous family workout, he suggests:
DJ: “Mama, can I buy everybody some ice cream?”
Angela: “Sure! That’s very nice of you.” (more…)
