Raising a Special Needs Child

I was reading an article about a successful business woman and was struck by something she said:

My son, Dylan, was born in 2001 with Down syndrome. Picture somebody pulling the rug out from you in one sentence: "Your son has Down Syndrome." In that second, there are a lot of reactions; there's a lot of fear. It's like you had tickets to Italy and ended up in Holland. All of the sudden, you're in a different country and in a club that you didn't necessarily ask for admission to. Michelle Smith

She said exactly what I have been feeling lately. Don’t get me wrong, having a son with Autism is a gift. I am honored that God chose me to be his mom. I can’t imagine him not being in my life. He is amazing and brings us so much laughter and joy that I sometimes just start laughing and can’t stop.

Like one day this week, the UPS man dropped something at my front door. I was in my office on a conference call and could see him get in his truck and he turned back at the house and was laughing, not just smiling – he was laughing out loud. When I went to grab the package I saw why. Micah had put a note on the door that read “ENTER – IF YOU DARE”.

Often times though we feel like we’ve been sucker punched, sometimes it's just emotional, all the time it feels like it's just too much. We don’t know how to handle situations, so we do the best we can based on the knowledge and information we have…and hopefully with the wisdom that God gives us in that moment.

I am struggling with giving him coping skills and balancing that with my desire to just put him in a bubble. He needs to learn how to function in this world. Others need to learn how to function in a world with Autism, young and old.

It may be condescending to say but unless you are a parent of a special needs child, you have no idea what it’s like to raise one. God gives you extra grace, extra mercy, extra love…just extra. We need it. We need it to get through the feeling of being sucker punched, the emotions, the feeling that it's all just too much. We need it because others don't understand why you do the things you do, why you treat your child differently.

I need it to get through feeling like I'm in a different country and in a club that I didn't ask for admission to - I need His grace to give me hope.

Oh you fill those who are empty

And rescue those in the valley

And through it all you calm my soul

Oh now you find me in my weakness

And heal the wounds of my heartache

And I worship you in spirit and truth

And you open the door for me

And you lay down your life to set me free

All that I am will serve you Lord

And you open my eyes to see

All the wondering all of Christ in me

Jesus you're everything I need

Some Gave All

I couldn't let the day pass without giving honor where honor is due.

To all the veterans who have served & currently serve our country - THANK YOU!
Thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for protecting the freedoms I can so easily take for granted. Thank you to the families whose loved ones have served us and the sacrifice you have made.

Natalie - Thank you! I don't know what to say. I love you girl and I don't know what it's like to make the sacrifice you are making right now while your husband serves our country, but thank you.

Tony C - Thank you for serving our country and for reminding us that freedom is valuable and the cost paid was and remains very high. Just like the cost Jesus paid for us.

I heard this song today while I was working and it made me stop for a moment and just be thankful - I am thankful to be an American. I am thankful to be protected by the brave men and women of our armed forces.

"If you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some gave all"

Abby Johnson

By now most of you have probably heard Abby Johnsons story. Abby is the woman who worked at Planned Parenthood and quit after watching an ultra sound abortion.

Abby was on Huckabee tonight. She told her story. She was the executive director of a clinic. She was asked to assist in an ultra sound guided abortion. She had to hold the ultra sound guide on the womans belly. She saw a full profile of the sweet 13 week old baby. She saw the baby fight to get away from the surgical probe. She said "what I saw was life in that womans womb".

Abby is brave for telling her story. Planned Parenthood has put a restraining order on her. I get that they are doing so under the guise of protecting the patients, but HIPPA already does that. They did it to scare her and I am proud of her for being courageous enough to not be silent.

I wonder how that precious woman who chose abortion is feeling. From the counseling I have done I can tell you that she is sick, she is an emotional wreck. She probably doesn't know why because Planned Parenthood, and society at large says that abortion is her choice and it's her body, etc. She didn't WANT an abortion but she felt like she didn't have a choice. I don't know her story but I know she is broken and hurting and lost. My heart hurts for her and others like her.


If you missed Abby on Huckabee, you can watch it here:



Have a blessed week ya'all...

Hugs,
L

To Trick or Treat or Not?

While I haven’t been writing much, I have been stalking and reading some interesting posts and comments on celebrating Halloween. Until a few years ago I didn’t even know this was a topic of debate.

Seriously, between the health care debate, wars, starving children and everything else going on in the world do we really want to fight about whether or not to let our kids dress up and get candy from some neighbors?

If you don’t celebrate, please understand this is not to bash you. It’s a personal decision and I respect that.


Here is a partial comment that I loved from Pete’s blog:

“We shut off our lights and watched a movie in the dark while neighbors KNOCKED ON OUR DOOR… and we realized that we were NUTS! We were praying for ways to be salt and light and while the whole neighborhood was having a street party that we were invited to… we got religious on them.” http://www.bigearcreations.blogspot.com/


This is a great opportunity to talk to and meet others. Besides, THIS (yes, even Halloween) is the day the Lord has made, let’s rejoice and be glad in it!

We celebrate…
For the past couple of years we have gone to a friend’s house with a few other families and all of our kids go together. It is fantastic and has pretty much become a tradition. Of course we haven’t discussed the plans for this year so I am making an assumption that this will happen again this year. :-)

Whatever you do, have a safe and Happy Halloween! I hope you get to enjoy family and friends too!!!