Oh Taste and See That The Lord is Good!

"Just had an amazing time that was truly planned by The Lord. Not only did I get to meet and talk with my new doc but The Lord answered prayer by letting me meet a sweet lady who went beyond the call of duty to direct me to open doors of opportunity for David. I don't know where it will lead but thankful to be reminded yet again that He hears and knows our needs and desires and will lead and direct in His time to His perfect plan and will." Facebook post on June 24, 2015

            Wow! As I read that two years later I am in awe of His faithfulness and goodness to us! So many things have transpired from that meeting. I am beyond grateful for my sweet friend who brought me there that night. Little did I know it was the beginning of an awesome journey.
              This lady worked for a local provider of services for those that are in need of assistance for children or adults with special needs of any kind. They provide case workers to help families and individuals  through the process of applying for services as well as continuing to keep it. I had tried to apply for what they call an EDCD waiver all on my own and it was a nightmare!  I knew David was fully eligible but I didn't know how to apply for it and tried to do it all on my own. He didn't have a caseworker to help at the time because I didn't know it was available to David. Sooooo frustrating!  So at that time I just gave up. Then about 2 years later I started to pray about it again because Davids therapies were getting too expensive even with insurance and we started to see that he was in need of a more expensive therapy called ABA. I just didn't want to go through the same exhausting ordeal. But I prayed.
                   So about 6 months later I went to this meeting where I met this lady named Ruby. She was amazing! She took 30 minutes and listened and then gave me the number to the president of the agency. I called him the next morning and by the afternoon David had a caseworker! Just like that!  She has been a God send! When we met we decided that we were going to take our time in preparing for the application process for the waiver and it took us 6 months of meeting once a month and researching in between. When you apply for the waiver a nurse comes from the health department and you have 15 min to convince this person you have never met that your child needs the services that the waiver provides. It is nerve racking! I prayed and prayed and prayed. The day of the meeting came and it did not go well. I thought for sure he was denied but I just surrendered and prayed. I knew the Lord knew Davids needs and He would provide in His timing. Two weeks later we were notified that the LORD did allow us to be approved!!!!!  That was in August 2016 and it has been TRULY LIFECHANGING!!!!!!
                 David has had ABA therapy 3x a week as well as speech therapy one day a week. When he started ABA in October  all he would do was cry when we tried to put him on the potty at 4.5 years old. Now he is 95% potty trained!!!!!!!  PTL!!!!! He wears underwear almost everywhere and soon won't need to have pull ups at all!!!!!  I think his Dad and I will celebrate when that happens!!! His speech has come so far and he has just blossomed! His teachers have noticed a huge change at school as well. He still struggles with eating but has made progress in that as well.  He is starting to say the funniest things and his personality is coming out so much more! He has also said so many sweet things to his friends that we have witnessed and it has been so great! I'm sooooooo proud of him!!!!
                    We have also been able to hire 3 ladies that have spent time with him and worked with him while I work during the day. The waiver provides that as well. We have really been blessed by them and the changes in David are also due to their impact as well. There is very little time that David does not get interaction of some kind and it has made a huge difference! Soooo very grateful!
                Oh how good the Lord has been to us! We thank Him and look forward to all that He has in store for David and our family!

"Oh taste and SEE that the Lord is good! Blessed are those who put their trust in Him!"
Psalm 34:8

The Battle is Real BUT CELEBRATE the Victories!

                                        When you go about day to day with your kids and life is crazy it is hard to notice the little things. Those "little things" are so important to acknowledge and look for on a daily basis especially for parents that have children with special needs. There is a tendency to notice what they are struggling with and not notice the things that they are excelling in. Parents are not conscious of what they are doing...it just happens. For me I am continually learning to do it. It is a daily thing. On days that are overwhelming I admit I fail big time. In times of frustration when I can’t understand what my child wants because he is unable to communicate it clearly the battle is real. When he comes home from school and I try to ask him how his day was and he just stays in his own world as if he didn't even hear me the battle is real. When he won’t try new foods the battle is real. When I see the differences that he has from other kids the battle is real. When I hear about a kid saying, "Oh, it's just David" in a tone that says he rather not play with him because he is different my heart breaks and the battle is real. The battle is real.
                                   BUT, what I do know is something that far outweighs any of the battles that I and David are experiencing. JESUS is our Victor that helps us with these daily battles. He knows all and sees all and it is through Him that we can face these battles and focus on those victories. Like, when I realized that last year he wasn't saying "Mommy" and now he won’t stop saying it I celebrated! When I heard my son say, "I love you too, Mommy" I celebrated. When my husband told me "I love you" and David without missing a beat said, "I love you too, babe" before I could answer I laughed hard and celebrated! When he started using the potty every day after daily practice I celebrated! When he went to bed with just underwear and was dry the whole night I celebrated! When he picked up my cell phone and started pretending to talk to Grandma saying, "Hi Grandma! It's David! (like "who else would it be tone  :) ) ....ok, talk to you later. Bye" I celebrated! When his teachers said he was finally using the potty at school I celebrated! When his speech therapist said he has grown leaps and bounds I celebrated! When he sings songs about Jesus and reenacts the Bible stories he watches I celebrate! When he prays on his own I celebrate! All these things may be super small to some people but to this Mama they are huge reasons to celebrate and my heart bursts with joy knowing that he brings celebration and thanksgiving to our lives every day. To sum it all up CELEBRATE the LITTLE THINGS!!!!!!!!! It changes your whole perspective when you are in the midst of the battle! Put on the armor and CELEBRATE the victories!!!

A Look Back and Look Ahead

                  My husband asked me today if I had blogged recently. I said the I hadn't and he said,"You really need to! I saw someone ask why you haven't. You need to start again." Life has been crazy and I guess I haven't because of so many things but a new year is a great time to start again! So, here I go. Hopefully I can discipline myself to share at least once a month.  :)
                  The last 6 months have been full of blessings in David's journey. I have watched the Lord put his hand on him and He has brought him far. He turned 4 in May but decided to keep him back in the 3 year old class at school mainly due to speech and not being potty trained yet.  He has wonderful teachers who have been wonderful for him. He has just blossomed!
                   He is talking so much more but even more precious to me is he loves to sing! His favorite songs right now are about Jesus.  That touches this Mamas heart. Actually today it was precious he started to sing over and over again, "Happy birthday to You! Happy birthday to You! Happy birthday dear Jesus! Happy birthday to You!" We laughed because Christmas is over but I was overwhelmed with joy because he is learning to love Jesus at such a young age. I pray the fruit will overflow and that he will give his heart to Jesus in his early years! That is all that I truly desire for Him.
                 We have also been so very blessed to have new therapists for him that he absolutely loves. So far he has ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) 2 days a week and speech/language therapy once a week. He loves Mr. Sean and Mr. Scott so much. They are both tough on him but exactly the personalities that he needs. They love their kids and David has come so far in just the few short months he has started ABA. More on that later.
                 Another amazing blessing is we have been able to hire two girls that help us and work with him and he LOVES them! They are both named Alyssa and they have become a part of our family. We love them so much!!!!! It's funny because almost every day he asks for "Miss Assisa" and runs to the door whenever he sees their car pull up. As soon as they come in the door he calls them to go downstairs to play. They do lots of activities with him and take him to the park, the library or whatever else may be fun and help him learn more. The one thing now that they have been helping with is potty training!  It has been and continues to be a struggle but he did finally use the potty 3 times in one day. He hasn't done it since but all we can do is keep trying. He will get it!
                 The other good thing is he is taking a break from feeding therapy for awhile. He has started to eat more foods and it was becoming boring to him and he needs language more. He just started but I anticipate him excelling in that as well.
                 So, all this to say that 2016 has been a blessing for David and I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you in 2017!!!!  Like I said, I will try to blog at least once a month. My desire is to minister and encourage other parents, siblings, spouses, grandparents or whoever else may be impacted by the journey of Autism in their life. May the Lord continue to walk with us and teach us as we seek Him and see His faithfulness in the year ahead!   God bless!  :)