Three Months with Little Man

I can hardly believe it has been three months since we have been given custody of our little man. It seems like time has flown by. I am amazed at what has come from this process. First I cannot begin to describe how much I love this kid! He is my very own and rightly so because I am his guardian, his protector as he is in this limbo stage of life. Until permanency is established our role is to nurture, train and protect.

I don't see him as someone else s kid either. He is part of our family now. He just has a very large family in reality. I tell him this often that it is such a blessing he has so many people who love him. He has adjusted very well to us. He has even bonded well. He is safe to thrive now. When we first got him (three months ago) he spoke only a few words. Words that were hard to understand even. Today he is speaking up a storm! He is saying large sentences of up to five words. When he is struggling to find words you see his little mind thinking it through and out comes what he needs to say. His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. All he needed was a chance to thrive. Someone to really talk to him and communicate. Here we do A Lot of talking so I have to believe this helps! He copies words and figures our how to use them properly in conversation. That is brilliant.

His memory is amazing too. He is able to tell me some things about his past, what he has done in preschool, and about his day in general. He could not walk or run really well either at first because he was never really allowed out of a play pen or car seat but now his large motor skills are really great. He is gaining great control. He was terrified of baths but now really enjoys them. He even has started to learn how to pretend play with toys! It is amazing to see.

As you can imagine when he was finally allowed to run free he had many issues with boundaries. But now through bonding with us he respects them. He listens. He has come a long way in this area. He is so funny too. He is such a joy to be around. Also, as I type this I am hoping we are in the final stages of potty training. He is sleeping mostly through he nights now too. He is starting to understand he is secure. He also has grown since he has been here. Three months can do so much for a child in need. Sure it is hard work but for the sake of a life it is worth it!

My favorite part is that he requests songs to be sung to him like Jesus loves me and Our God is an Awesome God. He can tell me about the disciples and Jesus from Sunday School lessons. He loves to pray and reminds us when we forget. He seems to have a love for Jesus. We are going through the Jesus Storybook Bible and talking all the time about Him so I am glad for this.

Most of all, he has changed us. My life was very comfortable before he came along. I did not realize just how much. The girls can do pretty much for them selves now. I was free to sit back more, do more of what I selfishly wanted to do. After all I thought I earned that right? I homeschool all day, clean the house, cook dinner, keep my family in clean clothes all with a child with autism and a chronic illness of my own. I thought I was doing good. Well, God had other things to say.

Entitlement is something that I think I fall into so easily again and again. Comfort had become an idol. I was fine with the status quo but when the call came for our little man in need we knew it was what God wanted for us. Going in I was a bit naive even though I worked years as a social worker. I thought oh it will be different but nothing about this has been easy. We have been slapped in the face by the ugly things of the world. We could no longer hide our eyes in our safe little home. We had to step up to the call and in doing so God has shattered our world but in a great way. He is using all of this to remove the selfishness in our hearts and turn us from idols we did not know we held close back to Christ. The process is excruciatingly painful but Christ-likeness is worth every moment of it. I would not change it for the world.

So what does the future hold? I don't know but I don't have to know because I know who holds my future and it is His sovereign will that I trust. Until then I will protect this little guy with my life just like I would with my other kids. After all they are precious gifts from the Father that really belong to Him anyway. I only hope that in the end I will know that I did fight the good fight in parenting them well in HIM and training them how to live in this hard world. After all my girls had to learn, earlier than I desired, first hand about things I wanted to hide from them about kids being neglected in the world. They just cannot grasp this. I really cannot either but am thankful that God keeps my heart connected to the children He has entrusted to me.

It is ok to do the hard things in life that will rock your world. After all this time is so short. Help those who need it, open to your eyes to those in need, let your children be part of the process. Walk like Jesus walked. It is the only way to really live abundantly in HIM!