Day 1- Peaceful

So, I am not sure how these post are going to go...I am just kind of going with the flow of what I feel like writing and I am kind of a structure type person so I will structure these post as I see fits but it may not be the same everyday :)

So I did really well with my challenge yesterday. I was up at 6am writing yesterday's post, I got all my household chores done during the day with a little help from my husband since he was off yesterday and even had time for the beach yesterday afternoon. I wanted some me time so my husband took the boys down the beach and left me to read and I had grabbed Temple Grandin's book off my night stand before we left. I have been meaning to start this book for some time but had not gotten to it so I dug in. It was a lot of info in only a few short articles. She really opens your eyes to the way the Autistic child sees the world, especially a sensory sensitive one. The part I really felt spoke to me was about focusing on the strengths of your child and stop trying to fix everything "abnormal" about them because some things you think need to be fixed could be the very things that make them excellent. She feels like if we mess with genetics to "cure" ASD then we will have side effects we don't want, eliminating the very things about Autistics that make them so amazing. She feels that getting rid of Autism may eliminate the future of great people like Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Bill Gates. These are all people she cited as possibly falling on the spectrum somewhere. Anyway, she feels we need to nurture and encourage some of the things that make our children so special just like any "normal" child and stop focusing on the characteristics that make them different from other children because especially in high functioning Autistics those characteristics are manageable with proper therapy and dedication.
Here were a few quotes from her I really liked...

"So if we get rid of the genetics that cause Autism, there might be a horrible price to pay."

"Well it would be nice to get rid of the causation for the severely impaired, if there was a way we could preserve some of the genetics, too. But the problem is that there are a lot of different interacting genes. If you get a little bit of the trait, it's good; you get too much of the trait, it is bad."

"There is often too much emphasis in the world of Autism on the deficits of these children and not enough emphasis on developing the special talents that many of them possess."

"Fixations and special interests should be directed into constructive channels instead of being abolished to make the person more "normal".

"Interests and talents can be turned into careers. Developing and nurturing these unique abilities can make life more fulfilling for a person with autism."

SO it seems yesterday I did things a little out of the order I had intended but I still got 50 pgs of non-Bible studying done in peace because I had help. Today will be different but like I have always believed God is mysterious in his ways because when I sat down to do my Bible study last night this was the first thing I read to start Day 1 in my devotional...

"Do not Conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of you mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

It brought me right back to the place I had been just a few hours before in the Temple Grandin book...maybe God is trying to realign my focus and to encourage me to think more positively...maybe :) I have spent so much time in waiting with my Son. I feel like I wait for the next meeting or Dr. appt rather than living in the moment and trying to encourage his great talents and trust me he has some amazing abilities. I am not sure what they will lead to but that is not for me to focus on I need to trust "God's will...His good, pleasing and perfect will." for my Son's life.
"Someday we will know how perfect His plan really is for our children and ourselves." -Kathy Medina So as I dug into my Bible after reading my devotional for the night I stubbled on many quotes that encouraged me and continued to bring me back to this same place. It is not my place to for see the future, only God can do that and he already knows what greatness my little Monkey has for the world and it is my job to encourage and help raise him to be that great Child of God he was born to be! "Train a Child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

I ended my nightly study with a sense of Peace and without Expectation which is a good place for me. I am the one who is always expecting too much and then I am disappointed when plans don't go as I had imagined. A lack of expectation is a good place for me.

I am setting a goal for myself today...putting my studies into action! I am going to spend my little Peanut's nap time encouraging and developing one of Monkey's talents. It will be "Puzzle Time with Mommy"