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A few weeks ago, I shared Arron's story. I want to add some things to it...

The day before I had to meet with his speech therapist to talk about her initial evaluation of him, I was filled with all kinds of thoughts and emotions. I feared that she would bring up the dreaded "A" word or worst yet confirm my suppressed fear that he was autistic...

Now hear me out on this. I worked first hand for an after school program that was not special needs friendly. Our defensive for kicking out special needs children was that we were a "group orientated" environment and if the child could not be supported in a "group" then our program was not a fit for them. Over and over I sat in weekly meetings and hear my colleagues talk about the "autistic" kid or better yet, "that autistic kid's mom". The child was never referred to by name, no, only as the autistic kid and it was never in good conversation. I arranged for a special education teacher to come out a train our staff on autism and best practices for working with children with autism. Any way, case in point was that I saw how kids with autism were treated and it wasn't always good. So when I heard that Arron was showing autistic like characteristics, I died. I didn't want him to have something that would cause people to label him or judge him. Life is hard enough as it is, I didn't want something added to that to make life more of a burden for him.

So, not that you know where I stood, let me tell you where I stand. The night before meeting with the speech therapist I did something I had avoided like the flu. I googled autism...

I came across a website called Autism Speaks. I wish I had seen this website a long time ago. There are some signs that would indicate Arron as having autism. I didn't ball up an cry like I did when I first heard about him showing signs. I keep looking around the website. I found a tab labeled PDD-NOS, which is what the neurologist diagnosed Arron with two years ago, but is primary doctor changed to speech and social adaptive delay.

Here is where so much changed. I saw a video of a young college student named Kerry. I was blown away when I heard him speak, so much so that I cried. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS when he was four and he is currently a graduate student and an advocate for those with autism. Two years ago the neurologist didn't give us much hope for Arron's future. When I saw Kerry talking so well and taking a stand to be a voice for others, I was given a tangible hope.

I'm not sure exactly what God is planning for Arron or for myself, but I trust that it is something great. You see a long while back, before this whole thing, I was walking to my car having come from one of my social work classes. I asked God, what will I be an advocate for? He responded, AUTISM. In my earthly way, I interpreted this as in the current moment and current situation I was in. So long story short, I changed the way people at work addressed children with autism and other things. Then here comes Arron's diagnosis. I fought this diagnosis with all that I had. Call it denial, but I refused for my son to have autism. I prayed day and night for God to work in Arron and I saw and still see God working in Arron. Then a few months ago I saw an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition where the family had a son with autism. This child was very talkative and functioned like a normal child. I felt the warmth of God embrace me and come over me with such a peace assuring me that it was okay to let someone say that Arron had autism. When I felt this I turned into a stubborn mule, shut off the TV and refused to accept what God was telling me. Now fast forward with me to today...

...So here is what I've come to understand...
the Word that has the ultimate life and truth is God's word and God's word promises that he makes all things work together for our good. I know that we live in a broken world and are susceptible to brokenness, but we don't have to stay living in brokenness. God will make us whole. I will walk in faith, trusting that God is always with us, He will never abandon us. I will go down this road that God is leading us down, I will stop being a stubborn mule. I see God at work in Arron everyday. I prayed that as we went down this road that God would put the right people, positive people, in our path. Believe me when I say that I didn't expect God to literally give me angels. One case manager that I talked to is named Gloria Angel and Arron's volunteer at basketball, well his name, can you guess?...ANGEL!

So what does Arron have? His official diagnosis is speech an social adaptive delay. I would agree that he shows some characteristics of autism and that working on those characteristics is helping.
Arron has quite a number of speech and social delays. His speech therapist also wants him to be evaluated by an occupational therapist to see if he may have sensory processing disorder, where there is a delay or over sensitivity to how his senses respond to the environment or stimuli. The things that the speech therapist has asked us to implement to help with Arron are working great. I see progress, in progress.

What I want you to know/understand about Arron:

• He talks about Jesus...a lot
• He started playing basketball today with Kinetic Kids and LOVED it
• He understands you, but has a hard time making conversation
• Sometimes we have to repeat directions to him or kindly get his attention
• Love and Patience are greatly appreciated :-)
• He has a HUGE heart and doesn't have a mean bone in his body
• He is a very visual learner
• He LOVES blueberries and strawberries as well as Pete the Cat
• He gets really nervous in social situations
• He gets nervous if he is in a loud place, so he'll cover his ears
• He is a super smart dude
• He is seeing a speech therapist and will soon be seeing an occupational therapist
• He enjoys golf, music, playing with water, basketball and playing Tony Hawk on the 360
• He is working on making eye contact with people
• He falls under the category "special needs" or "child with a disability"
• He doesn't know that he falls under the above mentioned category because we focus on his capabilities

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I had a lot to share. Please understand that I'm sharing a piece of my heart, which has undergone much transformation.

PS- If you have been considering a worthy charity to donate to, please look into Kinetic Kids. They offer scholarships for families who are unable to pay the full amount for the classes. We are thankful recipients of a scholarship. They believe in not turning away a child due to an inability to pay.

A Look at Arron's World

My son Arron has found the camera feature on my phone. He'll grab my phone start shooting away. I appreciate the point of view/referrence for his pictures. After seeing how interested he is in taking pictures, I thought it might be cool to get him his own camera. I'd like to share some of his photography with you.

He took this picture of me driving, trying to figure my way around the Rio Grande Valley, from his booster seat in the back.

A side shot of his brother. Also from his booster in the backseat of my car.

A self potrait-the photographer himself wearing his daddy's sunglasses.

We were headed to Missouri for a board meeting with Axiom. After driving 8 hours, from San Antone, we stopped off at a hotel in Oklahoma. It was about 4am and we were popped...that is... until we got to our hotel room. We were wide awake and Arron grabbed the camera phone and started taking pictures. We were in a dark hotel room and the flash was too bright!!

Eye Contact

Arron had his initial evaluation with the speech therapist on Tuesday. Her main "assignment" for us was to work on Arron making eye contact. Since she pointed it out, I've been taking notice. He makes eye contact regularly with us. I've notice that it is with strangers that he tends to not make eye contact with.

The beauty in this assignment is that I've gotten to take a closer look into my son' beautiful eyes.

Arron has his daddy's long, full lashes that not all the mascara in the world could give me. When I was pregnant with him, I would act like I was taking his dad's eyelashes and give them to my belly. I love to look into those eyes and see the happiness and playfulness. I love looking into those eyes when he' exploring and seeing the amazement and wonder. I love looking into those eyes and seeing the hand of God at work in him.

To my Arron D., you are not what the world calls you to be, you are what God calls you to be. I trust that our Lord is calling you for great things. He is always faithful and will never abandon you.

Case Management and Speech Thearpy

Last week we met with Arron' case manager. I am so thankful that she is a licensed social worker. We true social workers are not only trained in how to interact with people, but are typically "called" into the field. Our case manager is great! She made many referrals, one that I am so excited about is Kinetic Kids.  Kinetic Kids offers a variety of sports, musical and craft activities for kids with different abilities. They cool thing is that all classes are taught by occupational or physical therapists.

So since Arron has a speech and social adaptive delay, he's considered a child with "special needs". I've had to adjust to this new label, but understand it. I know that the ultimate labels are the ones that the Lord has placed upon us...

BELOVED SON/DAUGHTER
SAVED
FORGIVEN
HEALED

Our case manger referred us to a speech therapist (ST). I spoke with the ST and she sounds great. We have our first appointment on Tuesday. I will keep you posted on how that goes.

Our Life is Our Platform

Back in January a fellow believer prophesied over me. He told me many things and one thing stood out to me...he said that by the time my boys were middle school aged, that I would be speaking to people and changing lives. I've prayed about this since then. I asked God, what do I have to say that could change lives? His response was simple, "girl with  purpose". I felt this was His way of reassuring me that I don't have to worry about what I am going to say, but to rest in His purpose for me. I was talking about this with Luis and Ashley. I told them that I was ready and waiting for my platform. Luis told me not to wait for a platform, but to understand that our life is our platform.

I could have waited a very long time for a platform to come along, but that night I understood the significance of what Luis said. The life that we led in Christ gives us the opportunity to share Christ with others. When we look at ourselves and see the platform that is built upon Him, it's a wondrous thing. It's a true, unintimatding way to share Christ with others.

Here is my platform:

I'm a believer in Christ
I'm a wife, daughter, niece, cousin and friend
I'm a mom to two boys
I homeschool
I am in the process of setting up speech therapy for my five year old
I advocate for those that need it, whoever that might be
I love to take photographs
I enjoy cooking and baking and eating pizza
I write whenever the creative switch turns on
I love to scrapbook, but haven't had time to do in awhile
I understand the pain of losing a loved one and the hope of reuniting with them in heaven

In time, I will elaborate on each of these areas that make up my platform. My hope is to encourage maybe even inspire, but most importantly for Christ's love to shine through.

Many blessings!

Simplicity

Over the past two weeks I have been amazed by two things...

Pete the Cat I Love my White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Little Praise Party Happy Day Everyday www.yancynotnancy.com

My two boys love Pete the Cat and the music and videos from Yancy!! Let's just say that we had to go out and buy another Pete the Cat book because our first one became so worn in just a few days. As for Yancy's music...the boys learned all the songs in one day!! Everyone in the family knows them too and it's not uncommon for us to randomly start singing the songs.

Here's what amazes me so much about these two things...simplicity. Pete the Cat's story in simply told using a simple words. Yet after you finish reading, you want to read it again. Oh ya, and you find yourself singing, "I love my blue shoes" through out the day as well.

The same is true for the lyrics to Yancy's music. The lyrics are simple and straight forward, yet dynamic enough to create the warm fuzzies all over.

All this got me thinking about the simplicity of what it means to receive Jesus. Lately, I've heard people say that it's a sacrifice to follow Jesus and it will take a lot of work and dedication. Well here is the simplicity of it...it's not about your sacrifice, work or dedication, it's about Jesus' sacrifice,work and dedication to you. Jesus didn't come to burden you, he came to give you life. Luis explained this so clearly. He said that we receive Jesus the way we receive a gift. Typically a gift doesn't come with strings attached. Also,the person giving you the gift won't ask you to "commit your life" to their gift. So what am I getting at....we receive Jesus and his love for us and everything else simply follows. You begin to see His work in you, you begin to see how He is always faithful to you.

Do you worry about future sins or "falling off the wagon"? Are you thinking that you aren't "Christian" enough to receive Jesus? Well here's the beautiful thing...none of that matters. The only thing that matters is believing in what Jesus came to do for you...it's really that simple.

Be blessed and if you would like to be kept in prayer leave a comment or email me here

My Son, Arron

I'd like to share my son, Arron's, story. Arron is a healthy and happy five year old boy. Arron has always been on the timid side, a trait he gets from me. Arron was in daycare from the time he was a baby until he was about two and a half, in which he transitioned to Pre-school. Around the time of entering Pre-school, his dear aunt Cindy passed away at the age of 39. I saw a difference in my son. He was quiet and didn't smile as often. He'd frequently ask for his aunt. I also started to notice that when we'd ask him questions, he wouldn't answer.

Then one day I got a call from the Pre-school director that turned my world upside down. The director said a therapist was in his class working with another student. This therapist old the director that my son was displaying autistic characteristics. The characteristics were that he didn't want to join the group, he preferred to play alone and that he was playing with his shadow.

Now the preschool was apart of the agency that I was working for. The preschool was open to anyone, but primarily served our clients and their children. When the therapist found out that my son wasn't a client of the program, she told the director to disregard what she had said. I'm more than sure that this therapist was fishing for clients.

Anyway, I decided to follow up with my son's pediatrician. He didn't see anything to be concerned about, but did send us to a neurologist about my son's speech delay.

Here's where it gets interesting...the neurologist office put a shower cap thing on my son's head. He cried and kicked and screamed. The cap stayed on a total of 10 seconds. Now, I over heard the tech tell the family before us that only one parent could go in and both parent and child had to be completely still as to not distribute the frequencies. Hmmm? Disturb the frequencies? In all the neurologist can to the conclusion that my son had abnormal brain waves, would eventually have seizures and needed medication. What was that thing about the child being completely still? Oh and by the way, Dr. Neurologist couldn't tell me what the side effects of the meds would be.

Needless to say my husband and I turned our son over to God. We didn't put him on medication. We decided that we would let him grow and develop at his pace.

This has been such an experience in that it has matured my faith and has brought me to the understanding that the Lord is all that we need.

I prayed for my son everyday. This was a journey. At first, I felt that I had to use words to impress God, to make Him believe that my request was worthy of His attention. Then, I got to a point where I wouldn't pray for anything else because I didn't want to use up my 'credit' with the Lord. Please understand that when all this happened I was a newlywed with Christ. I had never heard the gospel before so everything was very new to me. I'm ever so thankful for my spiritual mentors, Luis and Ashley. They were the only ones that encouraged my family and I. Everyone else around us would say things like, 'well God wants your son to be that way.' 'That's what God gave you so you have to deal with it.' 'I don't think God can heal' 'you should just medicate him, that's why we have doctors'.

Luis and Ashley spoke Life into us. They assured me that it was ok to ask and pray for healing. Not only that, but, Christ wants us to be whole. When He died for our sins, he also died for our illnesses and brokenness.

It took time for all this to filter in. My prayers changed and once I had effortless faith, I began to see mountains move right before my eyes. I began to talk to God and pray for small things to happen with my son. I remember one night praying that Arron would answer the question of a stranger. See he would answer questions that family members would ask him, but if we were out in public and a waitress or cashier would ask him something he wouldn't answer. Well the next day we went out to eat and the waitress asked him a question about his hat, to which he answered. Tears filled my eyes and my husband asked what was wrong, to which I replied, "I prayed for that very thing last night".

There have been many answered prayers and Arron continues to grow and develop. At his five year check up his doctor felt he was doing well, but just needed some extra support to help his speech development. He suggested a speech therapist. I agreed and we have our initial appointment tomorrow. At the end of Arron's doctor appointment, his doctor said something that blew me away. He said, "I truly believe that the Lords provides us with all things, and the work I see in Arron is clearly His work. I also believe the prayer of a faithful man or women can move a mountain and I see that mountain moving in Arron". Needless to say I cried and cried and cried. But I also saw the Lord giving me confirmation and assuring me of His faithfulness to us.

My hope in sharing Arron's story is to offer encouragement that the Lord is faithful. Whatever it is that you are walking in the Lord is walking with you and He will bring you through. Also, continue to talk to God. Sometimes our prayers are answered immediately and often times we see our prayers answered later. The important thing to know is that God will come through for you, He won't abandon you.

One verse that encourages me is
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we live by believing and not by seeing.

The Lord showed me that even when the brokenness of this world is standing right in front of you and you can 'see' it, that doesn't mean it's truth. What is true is God's word and His promises for us. Truth that He is the authority over all things and that He loves us and wants us to be whole.

Thank you for reading. I know it was somewhat lengthy. If I can keep you in prayer about something, please email me.

Many blessings!