This Easter, as with most holidays, we will have decisions to make. When do we take Dawson to Church- He doesn't understand why there's no Sunday School, and usually gets angry over that.
Which family gatherings should we go to (kids, crowds, babies, etc.)- and how long should we stay if we do go?
These are a few of the things that any family with kids with disabilities deals with every holiday. Above all, though, we're praying for a weekend where we can tangibly show him the meaning of Easter, and give him a better chance to grasp the concept of a Savior that loves him.
Happy Easter!-t
Saturday, March 22, 2008
ALIVE!
This entry is strictly spiritual, and I make no apologies.
Jesus is alive!
You may have heard it in church years ago, or some guy shouting it on the street, but let me say it again, Jesus is alive!
This Easter weekend, we will be hit from every angle, with every sort of commercialized take on the bunny, or the egg or just simply chocolate. The truth is, all of this is utterly meaningless without the knowledge that there is something much greater to Easter than these things.
We believe that Jesus Christ took the punishment that we should of had, and he shed His very precious blood to pay for it. But all of that would be meaningless, had he not had victory over death, and risen again. We have a RISON SAVIOR! This is why we do not carry crucifixes- He is not on the cross anymore. The cross is empty- but more importantly- so is the tomb! We are not bound by a religious- driven order to pray a certain number of times a day, or to make ammends with the gods. We are invited to feast with the King Himself, and to have direct dialogue with the Lord of lords. We have a personal message from Him in the Bible, and follow our lives after it.
This Easter, I pray that your time will be more than the usual, and that you will celebrate life- yours, your family's and above all, Jesus Christ's. -t
Jesus is alive!
You may have heard it in church years ago, or some guy shouting it on the street, but let me say it again, Jesus is alive!
This Easter weekend, we will be hit from every angle, with every sort of commercialized take on the bunny, or the egg or just simply chocolate. The truth is, all of this is utterly meaningless without the knowledge that there is something much greater to Easter than these things.
We believe that Jesus Christ took the punishment that we should of had, and he shed His very precious blood to pay for it. But all of that would be meaningless, had he not had victory over death, and risen again. We have a RISON SAVIOR! This is why we do not carry crucifixes- He is not on the cross anymore. The cross is empty- but more importantly- so is the tomb! We are not bound by a religious- driven order to pray a certain number of times a day, or to make ammends with the gods. We are invited to feast with the King Himself, and to have direct dialogue with the Lord of lords. We have a personal message from Him in the Bible, and follow our lives after it.
This Easter, I pray that your time will be more than the usual, and that you will celebrate life- yours, your family's and above all, Jesus Christ's. -t
Friday, March 14, 2008
He will meet you wherever you are
It was neat to hear and read about the way God worked in Dawson's heart while I was gone. I am continually amazed how even though he seemingly cannot grasp the concept of spiritual things such as remorse or grace, he still shows evidence of them by the way that he dispays joy, or the way he appreciates prayer. Will he ever realize the full extent of prayer, or the saving power of Jesus? I don't know, but I must say that I don't think I will either. And the thing for me as a parent, is to make sure that I can model and teach him about a God that is bigger than his comprehension, and that He can do anything. Really, that's all any parent should want- no matter the child. Enjoy your weekend.-t
Thursday, March 6, 2008
We miss Daddy
For those of you who don't know, Terry has been on a business trip since last week Saturday. He returns tomorrow evening, which makes him gone for 6 full days. Dawson and I haven't talked a whole lot about it, but just before bed tonight, I commented that Daddy was coming back tomorrow. That must have triggered the emotions that he was feeling towards missing Terry.
He had a miserable time falling asleep, when he usually falls asleep instantly. I lay with him, I massaged him, I did everything I thought I should do. Eventually, I sat with him on the side of his bed and held him in my arms. I began talking about Terry and that he was on an airplane and he would come back tomorrow. I then prayed a short prayer for Terry. I began hearing Dawson whisper, so quieted down and listened, "Amen" "Amen" Dawson was repeating. I finished off the prayer, and Dawson's breathing INSTANTLY became shallower and his head dropped a bit in my arms. I held him for several more minutes, and he peacefully fell asleep. He missed his dad! How awesome! Yet how difficult to explain this to him.
I was so touched by Dawson's reaction to our conversation and prayer. God really does work in these little guys' hearts. What an awesome God we serve who gives us wisdom how to work with our kids, but also who is the God of peace. Have a peaceful, blessed night!
He had a miserable time falling asleep, when he usually falls asleep instantly. I lay with him, I massaged him, I did everything I thought I should do. Eventually, I sat with him on the side of his bed and held him in my arms. I began talking about Terry and that he was on an airplane and he would come back tomorrow. I then prayed a short prayer for Terry. I began hearing Dawson whisper, so quieted down and listened, "Amen" "Amen" Dawson was repeating. I finished off the prayer, and Dawson's breathing INSTANTLY became shallower and his head dropped a bit in my arms. I held him for several more minutes, and he peacefully fell asleep. He missed his dad! How awesome! Yet how difficult to explain this to him.
I was so touched by Dawson's reaction to our conversation and prayer. God really does work in these little guys' hearts. What an awesome God we serve who gives us wisdom how to work with our kids, but also who is the God of peace. Have a peaceful, blessed night!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Incredible Intelligence
Our boy completely floored me today. He was happily eating his Rice Krispie cake after supper today when, all of a sudden, he started listing words in alphabetical order - correctly! It started "moon, nighttime, orange juice, Piglet, quilt, Rabbit, sun, Tigger, umbrella, valentine, wind, xylophone, yellow, zero" and so life went on as normal...in his mind.
I sat there, stunned! You see, Dawson has a book that teaches the sound-letter correlation using Winnie the Pooh characters. The real text goes: "M is for moon - shining at night, N is for nighttime - when stars look so bright." and so on. Here, our 5 year old selected the most important words in the text, and listed them in the order they are found in the book. And the book was laying-closed-on the shelf in the living room. Incredible!
This is similar to his photographic memory of movies. Often, when watching a movie, he will line up his teddy bears in a certain order, and we wonder why. Looking at the TV screen about 5 seconds later, we see the characters in that exact order. Then he shuffles them around, and we check the screen again, and sure enough - that's the new order they are in for this particular scene.
Maybe we are raising the autistic savant we initially (incorrectly) thought went with all autistic people! A little fact of interest. 20% of autistic people are savants, but 80% of savants are autistic. What a priviledge to raise him! Wonder what God has in store for this little guy! -s
I sat there, stunned! You see, Dawson has a book that teaches the sound-letter correlation using Winnie the Pooh characters. The real text goes: "M is for moon - shining at night, N is for nighttime - when stars look so bright." and so on. Here, our 5 year old selected the most important words in the text, and listed them in the order they are found in the book. And the book was laying-closed-on the shelf in the living room. Incredible!
This is similar to his photographic memory of movies. Often, when watching a movie, he will line up his teddy bears in a certain order, and we wonder why. Looking at the TV screen about 5 seconds later, we see the characters in that exact order. Then he shuffles them around, and we check the screen again, and sure enough - that's the new order they are in for this particular scene.
Maybe we are raising the autistic savant we initially (incorrectly) thought went with all autistic people! A little fact of interest. 20% of autistic people are savants, but 80% of savants are autistic. What a priviledge to raise him! Wonder what God has in store for this little guy! -s
Monday, February 18, 2008
Make your own memories. Go swimming!
I have to share this great memory with you from a while back.
In the cold of winter, it's tough at times, to creatively do something. It's especially hard when boys like Dawson have a hard time in so many public places. So what to do?
Of all the public places out there, the only one where Dawson doesn't mind a lot of people is the pool. SO LET'S GO!
We packed up, and headed for the nearest indoor facility, and had gobs of fun! The neat thing about the pool, is that everyone can have fun, and that we did!
For a few bucks, you can get your whole family in, and usually stay for a few hours. Water has always been very therapudic for Dawson. As with many kids, they love the pressure that the water puts around their body, and the resistance that it give to their movement. Many therapists encourage water for various forms of therapy.
Anyhow, it's a small little story, but a great memory that we will store away, and surely do again in the future.
Now if only we could build a big poolhouse in the backyard....-t
In the cold of winter, it's tough at times, to creatively do something. It's especially hard when boys like Dawson have a hard time in so many public places. So what to do?
Of all the public places out there, the only one where Dawson doesn't mind a lot of people is the pool. SO LET'S GO!
We packed up, and headed for the nearest indoor facility, and had gobs of fun! The neat thing about the pool, is that everyone can have fun, and that we did!
For a few bucks, you can get your whole family in, and usually stay for a few hours. Water has always been very therapudic for Dawson. As with many kids, they love the pressure that the water puts around their body, and the resistance that it give to their movement. Many therapists encourage water for various forms of therapy.
Anyhow, it's a small little story, but a great memory that we will store away, and surely do again in the future.
Now if only we could build a big poolhouse in the backyard....-t
Friday, February 1, 2008
A Visit to the Opthamologist
Yesterday afternoon's visit was similar to several others we've experienced.
A bit of history here.... Due to Dawson's extreme prematurity at birth, his eyes were not completely developed. This caused him to have laser eye surgery at 3 months old. He now has a condition called ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity). He is extremely nearsighted - the optometrist office says they couldn't put regular lenses into his glasses frames even if they tried because they would be so thick! (Hence the $450 glasses every year!)
Anyways...we had another trip to the pediatric opthamlogist yesterday at our regional hospital. Despite the less than desirable driving conditions on the way there, the full parking lots, and the very chilly, long walk to the office, we made it!
After waiting for an hour, we discovered that they'd forgotten about us! Oh well, we got in shortly thereafter, and had the miserable drops put into his eyes. I've been told they feel like shampoo. Poor kid - two people hold him down, the assistant in the office rips at his eyelids trying to keep them open as she inserts the dreaded drops. All the while, his head is banging against the neighboring wall as he is trying to evade us. The sticker at the end of the ordeal doesn't provide much consolation.
Thirty minutes later, we return to the office, after purchasing a snack at the nearby vendor and putting more money into the parking meter. We return to a cheerful doctor (which is an unusual occurrence in this setting), only to hold him down tight again - well, as tight as our muscles will let us! After I tried unsuccessfully to hold him still, our stonger-than-me respite worker successfully held him on her lap, his arms wrapped around his head, as I held the rest of his body down. The opthamologist got a little peek at the back of his retina and replies "Yip, it looks like it's still fine. Not detached." And return we will in about 4 months again!
Sure this is a terribly stressful day, but we're so thankful for the technology that we can watch his eyes carefully. You see, due to the ROP, the retina could detach at any time, which becomes a medical emergency. If not corrected immediately with surgery, he could become blind. The problem is that Dawson won't tell us if it gets detached. Hence, an ongoing concern whenever he removes his glasses to rub his eyes or looks at a book closely. Both signs that it may have detached.
For the time being, it's OK, so we're thankful. And we made it home that same night. Was Dawson ever glad to get home...and so were we!
Now on to another day-an early start again at 4:20am! Well, at least it's not 2:15!
Have an awesome day! -s
A bit of history here.... Due to Dawson's extreme prematurity at birth, his eyes were not completely developed. This caused him to have laser eye surgery at 3 months old. He now has a condition called ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity). He is extremely nearsighted - the optometrist office says they couldn't put regular lenses into his glasses frames even if they tried because they would be so thick! (Hence the $450 glasses every year!)
Anyways...we had another trip to the pediatric opthamlogist yesterday at our regional hospital. Despite the less than desirable driving conditions on the way there, the full parking lots, and the very chilly, long walk to the office, we made it!
After waiting for an hour, we discovered that they'd forgotten about us! Oh well, we got in shortly thereafter, and had the miserable drops put into his eyes. I've been told they feel like shampoo. Poor kid - two people hold him down, the assistant in the office rips at his eyelids trying to keep them open as she inserts the dreaded drops. All the while, his head is banging against the neighboring wall as he is trying to evade us. The sticker at the end of the ordeal doesn't provide much consolation.
Thirty minutes later, we return to the office, after purchasing a snack at the nearby vendor and putting more money into the parking meter. We return to a cheerful doctor (which is an unusual occurrence in this setting), only to hold him down tight again - well, as tight as our muscles will let us! After I tried unsuccessfully to hold him still, our stonger-than-me respite worker successfully held him on her lap, his arms wrapped around his head, as I held the rest of his body down. The opthamologist got a little peek at the back of his retina and replies "Yip, it looks like it's still fine. Not detached." And return we will in about 4 months again!
Sure this is a terribly stressful day, but we're so thankful for the technology that we can watch his eyes carefully. You see, due to the ROP, the retina could detach at any time, which becomes a medical emergency. If not corrected immediately with surgery, he could become blind. The problem is that Dawson won't tell us if it gets detached. Hence, an ongoing concern whenever he removes his glasses to rub his eyes or looks at a book closely. Both signs that it may have detached.
For the time being, it's OK, so we're thankful. And we made it home that same night. Was Dawson ever glad to get home...and so were we!
Now on to another day-an early start again at 4:20am! Well, at least it's not 2:15!
Have an awesome day! -s
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)