Got time to reach out for a bit of peace to hang onto during your storm, friend?
So previously I talked about the day that our child received the diagnoses of:
- Specific Learning Disorder -SLD
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder- ADHD, inactive presentation (previously Attention Deficit Disorder -ADD)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder -ASD
So clearly, the night skies weren’t predicting clear skies and smooth sailing for this child. These diagnoses were the first true storm that woke us up to trouble ahead. Up until that day, we thought our growing feeling of seasickness was due more to our own queasy stomachs than to the ominous, ongoing waves of the sea that were making us feel unwell.
Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)
I was devastated by these diagnoses in all honesty. Our beautiful, kind daughter, the one who tried so hard, loved so completely, and who still had her whole life in front of her, seemed to be in a fog most of the time.
We tried to wake her up with “Enrichment Activities” the experts recommended when she was a baby, but she still slept for 20 hours a day, piling up her milestones behind her while she slept.
It seemed that the horizon of her future would be truncated and shorter than the full expanse that we hope for each of our children.
What now? We were ushered into the new world of “Autism and Special Education” appointments with experts, which were like annoying fire alarms set into our otherwise peaceful homeschooling days. Having fun quietly playing a board game with a sibling?
“TOO BAD! You HAVE to go to X appointment RIGHT Now!”
Sometimes, often, she would scream in protest at these new, unwelcome interruptions, but I would force her into the car, strap her seatbelt so she couldn’t resist, and drive away, my supermom cape trailing behind me as I drove.
“Experts knew best!” I reminded myself as I drove! Except when they don’t. And they usually don’t in these situations.
But that’s for another time.
Got a stomach that can handle some seasickness, friend? Maybe take some Gravol for the seasickness before you read on. There.
Are you feeling better?
And now let’s sit for a bit by the seaside before we decide to board that boat together. The journey I am suggesting will require learning some sailing skills and building our physiques. Up for a challenge?
If so, what challenge or storm has surprised you on your journey?
Let’s sit here by the ocean, friend, and ask God for your next steps.
And so, how do we find the path through your storm?
- We listen for His voice, whisper, or gentle nudge.
- We go where He leads.
- He lean on Him to give us strength for the journey.
As the song below plays, imagine that Jesus is right next to you. He is! Smile at this knowledge! Do you feel your soul relax? As you ponder the lyrics, “You are the peace in my troubled sea,” or “Your great love will lead me through,” consider sitting in the quiet for a few minutes and asking Jesus, “How can I stand behind You, and then row this boat ashore, with You guiding and directing, to help us sail through this storm?”
And I pray that God leads you through your storm, friend, as you listen closely to Him guiding you.
The journey is a thing, but you’ve got this, holding the hand of the one who walks with us on raging seas and sometimes even calming the seas raging in our lives. Oh! And our child was healed of the negative challenges associated with all of these diagnoses.
But I’ll have to tell you that story another time.
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit – Some Storms May Look Like This by Marcus Woodbridge on Unsplash
Restoring Life 