Lost In the Prairies.....Found by God

Sometimes a year can go by so quickly.  Sometimes nothing changes in that year.  Sometimes everything changes.  A year ago this week we packed up our belongings, loaded them in a truck, said good bye to our dear friends and little town and moved back to Alberta.  We had made the decision to move to get more help for Thomas.  He had just been diagnosised with Autism.  His speech was almost unintelligible, even for those closet to him.  He couldn't deal with large crowds.  Socially he was so far behind his peers.  He had very few friends and those that he did play with were 2 years younger than him. 

We hestitantly placed him in kindergarten.  It was not something we wanted to do.  We were sure he wasn't ready for it.  However, to get the funding for him we needed to.  We lucked out in getting a great teacher, Mrs. B.  She was a lovely woman.  She was the grandmother everyone wanted.  I was to find out later that she was a believer, which just made her even greater.  Whenever anything came up, she would contact me immediately.  When she felt that something was being done that wasn't in his best interest, she would call me at home and support the decisions I made.  She nurtured Thomas.  She encouraged him.  She pushed for his best.  She was part of the team that only wanted the best for Thomas. 

We also were blessed by the therapists and aides.  They engaged Thomas the way he needed to be.  Encouraging him to push beyond the limits.  To seek out more than what the world wanted for him.  Thomas blossomed.   We saw changes in him almost immediatey after the start of school.  For a little guy scared to even sit on the table, he started to climb up to his sister's top bunk to read with her.  This spring he became evil knievil, putting on his helmet and racing down the hill behind our house on his plasma car. 

He made friends among his peers.  He was a very popular fellow.  He had a few close friends that seemed to know when he needed sensory stimulation.  Even though we as adults were trying to teach Thomas to high five his friends instead of hugging them.  These little boys knew when Thomas needed to wrestle and get that stimulation.  They made a game of it.  Thomas was included in their parties.  One of the moms told me that he was so good at the party.  That she wished the other boys were like Thomas.  He listened and did what was asked of him.  She didn't worry about him at all. 

Thomas still needs further therapies.  We still need to work on his speech and his fine motor skills regarding hand writing need further work.  He still gets disorientated when he is in large crowds.  One year though has made a complete difference in his and our lives. 

I will admit that last year I thought he would be repeating kindergarten.  Not that I underestimated him, but I knew we had so much work to do.  I am so proud to say that he is going to Grade 1 next year.  His report card was above average (I might be exagerating a bit, but it was awesome).  He is working on reading.  He is using his laptop to write out his sentences and work. 

God has blessed us with the people around us who want Thomas to succeed.  Where others may have wanted to put him in a box, God is tearing that box apart and is showing us what inclusion should be through Thomas.  Thomas is one of God's sons.  He is perfectly and wonderfully made.  God has great plans for Thomas and I have been able to view these over the year and hope to see more of His plans through the next year.

 Change the picture around to an older sister and a younger brother and you have our daughter, Nicole.  She is one of the boys biggest advocates.  She takes her role as their big sister very seriously.  She loves her brothers probably as much as we do.  

Nicole was very excited when Thomas came on the scene.  We did not have any sibling rivalry.  She was proud of her brother and very possessive.  He was her toy.  I have pictures of Thomas with Easter stickers on his head thanks to his sister (she was decorating him).  She constantly was trying to pick him up and hugged him and kissed him all the time.  

When we told her about our next pregnancy she was overjoyed.  She wanted another baby.  When we had our miscarriage, she was shaken.  She wanted to know if we would ever get to see the baby.  I told her when we get to heaven the baby would be there with Jesus to welcome us.  

During our pregnancy with Sam, Nicole was overjoyed.  She sang to my stomach and hugged my stomach.  She made big plans for the baby.  At the hospital she ran to Sam and wanted to immediately hold him.  She sang to him.  When we got home she was my assistant (or boss depending on how you see things).  When he cried, she told me what to do.  

Before Thomas' diagnosis, she was our translator.  She still maintains this position.  She knows what he wants when we are unsure of what he is asking for.  When I was at his assessment, the therapists were quite impressed by his ability to play.  I informed them it was because he played so much with his sister.   She had become his first therapist.   Thomas learned how to play on the computer at 2 1/2 through watching her. 

Nicole reads to her brothers and plays with them.  She watches out for them.  Her heart breaks when she hears of injustices to them.  She is very protective of them and doesn't like things happening to them.   She has seen Thomas playing by himself during lunch and has told me she wishes they had the same lunch time so they could play together.

Since we live in a neighbourhood that doesn't have a lot of other children, the kids play with each other.  They actually enjoy it.  They play on the computer together.  They watch the same tv shows.  Thomas now wants to be a paleontologist like his sister does so that he can assist her.  I laughed at that one because she'll be bossing him around for the rest of his life.

Nicole is a compassionate and kind young woman.  She is independent and stands up for injustices.  She is not a follower, nor is she in the popular crowd.  She knows what she likes and how to express herself.  She is exactly the sister both the boys need.  God gave us her first, because he knew that we needed her as part of the team to raise the boys.  She has been an important part of the boys lives and will be here when we are gone.  She will care for the boys when we are no longer able to.  She will do so with love and understanding.  

My dream for my children is a complete inclusive society.  Where people are judged on themselves and not what they bring to the table.  My daughter views the world this way.  She sees others for themselves and not what society deems them to be.  I am so proud of her and the young lady she is becoming.

Come link up and share your random stories of sisterhood this week.

I was trying to think of what to write about this week.  I know during a discussion with a friend that I had a great blog idea.  I didn't write it down.  Hopefully I will remember it one day.  So today you have pure random thoughts coming from my head (I'm going to put my King Julian cap on).   

While I write this I am sitting outside on my deck.  The breeze is whistling through the new leaves.  My little Sam is humming a song only he knows the words to.  It is a beautiful spring day.  Because that is what season it is, not summer.  The older kids still have school.  This is one of the last few quiet afternoons I will have for a while.  For anyone that knows me to actually admit that I am sitting down during the day is not like me.  I am usually doing something.  There is laundry that needs to be finished and put away.  There is vacuuming that needs to be done.  I could be prepping dinner and setting timers on my oven.  I could be washing the floor so I don't have to do it tomorrow.  But I am outside enjoying my Dr. Diet Pepper, watching Sam and typing.

I know I have blogged about doing the Good Morning Girls' study on Proverbs 31.  I am truly enjoying it.  I didn't think I would.  I have always thought of the Proverbs 31 woman as the 50s housewife - June Cleaver and Donna Reed all wrapped up into one woman.  It appears that she's not.  She is just a woman who is in-tuned to God and His will and ways.  That's a woman I can long to be.  I have been slowly working on trust and praying constantly.  I'm doing laundry, I'm praying.  Thanking God for my front loader.  Praying over my family as I fold their clothes.  Praying for friends who are struggling.  I'm cooking, I'm thanking God for the blessings He has given our family.  I'm studying the word and loving all the twists and turns it is leading me down.  Most of the time the things God is telling me through the study are not at all similar to the book by Courtenay - quite the opposite.  This is because I'm not Courtenay and never will be.  I am Me.  Messy, broken, searching me.  He knows exactly what He needs me to learn and what I need to hear. All who are seeking God and learning to know Him and follow His ways and commands are true Proverbs 31 wives (ok maybe not the men).

This week I tried a Prairie Woman recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I have tried a few of her recipes before.  Her meatball recipe is really good.  For the most part though I have not jumped on the Prairie Woman bandwagon as a lot of people I know have.  I have written that I'm not a 'wagon jumper.  One could get hurt.  As well, I don't want to be a lemming.  What if there's a cliff at the end?  I may fall and get hurt.  I'm scared of heights.  I mean really ....  Ok, I digress.  I just find that in the bloggy world there is so much gushing around things.  I mean if I like it I will tell you.  If I don't, accept that and be ok with it.  I think that is why I have a rule about following people.  Unless it is a truly exceptional blog (GMG, Time Warped Wife, etc..)  I won't follow.  I may drop in from time to time.  I try to encourage people who don't have a larger readership.  Sometimes it's not about being famous or popular but about what God is telling us.  

WOW did I really digress , anyway back to the soup it was yummy.  I will definitely be making it again during the summer.  Even though it is a warm soup, it has that summer feeling I like.  If you are going to make it be warned that it makes a lot.  I could have feed 6 to 8 people with that soup.  I think I will half it next time. 

I want to thank all the new followers and linkers (I hope that's a word).  I am so blessed that people are sharing and actually visiting the prairies.  Your stories and ideas are awesome and I have been truly blessed through them.  

I think that's all the randomness I have this week.  What's been on your mind?  What have you been making lately or thinking lately?  Come join into the mindful chaos this week.