 many are willing to draw near the “fellowship of His sufferings.” I met Him there and found His presence to be what held me close and calmed my soul.
The year of suffering brought me to a place of close fellowship with Christ Himself.
Something happens when you draw near to God. His light reveals your impurities. I saw that I needed to be refined in many areas. I was questioning God’s wisdom for me as I was 44 and pregnant again, and I faced many fiery trials.
His light revealed who I was compared to who I was supposed to be. The light of God’s Word held up the standard: be like Christ. It was through the fire of God’s holiness that I would be refined to reflect His character. The fiery trials of my life would bring impurities to the surface to be repented of and skimmed off. Rather than choosing defeat at the hand of my failures, I could repent and choose to be a refined vessel that would reflect the beauty and glory of God.
The year of fire cleansed away impurities so that the glory of God could be reflected.
If we are in pain, we must cast our hurt and our cares on the Lord, for He alone truly cares for us. He is in the midst of marriages whose couples die to self and seek to honor God above all else.
The year of heart pain drew me close to the heart of God, where I found love enough to share.
burden, I began to treasure each day as a gift. This baby brought a flood of joy, and this year also brought a flood to our home. The flood in our home forced us to remove, replace, and redo much in the way of home repairs.
We endured another flood of grief when Grandpa Mel passed away. This flood of troubles tried to overwhelm me, but seeing each day as a gift from God and knowing the hope of seeing our loved one again kept my head above water.
The year of the flood revealed the hand of God under us in all circumstances as we treasured each day.
We were all very sick for several months. I was the first to feel close to death. Then, all eight children followed one at a time, and some of them became ill a second time. I was talking to doctors daily. I was fearful about each child’s health.
As they all began to recover, our oldest son did not recover but instead became weaker. Doctor visits provided new treatments, but none helped. I took him to the emergency room, where he was admitted, and every specialist came to see him but none could figure out what he had or how to treat it. He could not eat or drink and could barely breathe. His life was fragile.
I was living the awakening reality that each life is truly in God’s hands. I stayed between life and death as I prayed over my son. Many friends and family also prayed and brought meals. I realized my need for the Body of Christ. God heard our prayers, and within seven days, we were able to take my son home.
The year of infirmity revealed that every day of health is a gift and that we need the Body of Christ.
I wanted to run away. Depression set in as hormones were shaken—pre-menopausal symptoms. My emotions were all over the place. Everything felt wrong. Everything was offensive. Friends said hurtful things. My husband and my teens said hurtful things. Depression.
The tide of too much to do kept me going day after day, but I wanted to run. I could not run from my responsibilities any more than a loving mother could neglect her children, so I found great solace in running to my closet. I have a 2' x 2' space where I sit, pray, read my Bible, and just cry if I need to. It’s a place where I go to get grounded again when I’ve been blown around. I go there when it’s time to be washed by the water of the Word and sit before my Lord in the presence of the Spirit. It’s a place where I can think clearly when all seems to muddle my mind. It’s a refuge of release and peace as I visit with the Prince of Peace.
The year of running away became the year of running toward God and finding great solace.
Ten years of burnout. 
If you are feeling burnout, welcome to the opportunity for God to cleanse you, renew you, and shine forth His strength and glory through you. Pray with me that the Lord would refine us with His fire, that we would welcome these fiery trials that burn away the dross and make us more like Him.
Is your storm too great for you? Wake up the Lord; He is the Master of the sea! Is this fiery trial too hot for you? Ask Him to burn away anything that hinders as you run the race with perseverance. Instead of experiencing burnout, purpose to be burned out and consumed with Christ. Trust in what is greater than what you can see with your eyes, for He who began the good work in you will complete it.
Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, participating author in The Homeschool Minute™, wife to Richard, and mom to eight gifts from heaven. She loves digging for buried treasure in the Word, reading, writing, homeschooling, and dark chocolate!a little background. My son is diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety. He is on both vyvanse and Zoloft. He is in 7th grade and attends a school for children with ADHD and autism. It is a private school primarily funded by the state we live in. Before this he attended public school and was failing many classes. Now he keeps a B average. He has had the same teacher for two years. She has about 7 students. This year he has to change classes and so he has 2 other teachers also. He is currently seeing a therapist and an occupational therapist although that is just getting started. He's also awaiting psychiatric testing. It is suspected he may be on the autism spectrum, perhaps Aspergers. He's definitely a little professor, smarter than most and knows it, tends to experience frustration when people don't get where he's coming from which is MOST people.
These behaviors though minor are causing constant problems for his teacher who is at her wits end she says. Friday last week he was suspended for two days because of the buildup of these behaviors since the beginning of this semester.
I met with the admin and teacher Tuesday afternoon. They literally spent one hour telling me repeatedly how they have tried everything and are seeing no improvement. When I asked them for suggestions they had none. They advised me they'd done all possible accommodations for my son with no result. I suggested a daily behavior check on so I can be made aware of how his day went. They refused. At one point the administrator told me in a very authoritative tone that I was NOT to text my son's teacher at all that night! (She and I text sometimes but only as a way to communicate about my son) I admit I got defensive and told them I felt they are failing him as they have given up on him. Brick wall. As I was leaving I asked if there was anything I could do to encourage him for the next day when he returns. Admin responded: stop sending him to school with sweets! (Friday he had brought treats for his birthday with teacher permission!) I felt at that point that I was simply being reprimanded because they are angry. Not that they had legitimate issues because if they did, wouldn't they have addressed those during the hour prior when they were telling me again and again how difficult my son makes their lives?
I suggested an IEP to which they replied by saying they already make every possible accommodation! And read me a list of those, most of which are academic. I felt like they just wanted my son to leave. I think they're trying To get me to withdraw him. I'm getting zero from these people. Now his teacher sends me daily lists of each and every behavior shown during the day almost in a passive aggressive way. I don't know if he's better or worse than before because they don't tell me that, it's a list of things he's done wrong with no context or positive comments to show the balance.
I've been fighting schools for so long I'm tired. I thought it was done but this school has shown they are unable to do what they profess to be purposed for.
His father and I have been divorced for going on 8 years. Dad thinks son is normal just being raised wrong. He tends to get involved with school only when things are bad and then it's a battle to keep son positive because one or two weeks after the behavior he sees his father who punishes him for it.
Also to his behavior at home --- he is sneaky. He steals from family members. I recently found matches in his room. He's broody and sad often. He doesn't sleep well.  He sometimes breaks things although that has improved. He tends to just be up to no good a lot. His hygiene is lacking. He's smart as can be and can focus on things he loves such as playing the piano and computer things.
If he is on the autism spectrum, and to me it sounds like more than ADHD, that would account for much of his school behavior. No matter how smart they are they greatly lack social skills and many blurt out or sing inappropriately. They need interventions, not just academic adjustments.
Many autistic kids dont have good hygiene partly due to sensory issues. The feel of a shower could hurt them or sound too loud. They are sensitive to touch, noise, even smell and textures of food. Breing sad makes sense if he is misunderstood and always in trouble.
These children are different