Achievements

This week Garrett had his last day at his little preschool named Achievements. It is a small private school specially designed for kids with delays or autism. It was a wonderful place where G made his first friends on his own and learned so many skills. It was the first time I dropped him off somewhere for more than just an hour or so. He took his first cold lunch complete with yoo-hoo and carrots. It became one of my greatest resources and a place I will always treasure as an answer to this mom's prayers.The ironic thing is that this month also marks one year since Garrett received his ASD diagnosis. That was not an enjoyable eval to say the least. It was the first time I ever witnessed hand flapping from Garrett and the entire time he only spoke baby talk. Ryan and I looked and felt like we needed evals after those three hours. When the nice woman went over the preliminary results I remember feeling lost and overwhelmed but not hopeless. Never hopeless. I remember driving home with tears and prayers and trusting for direction and victory.

In the past year, we have had so many victories. Garrett has achieved things that felt impossible at the time.  He has conquered more that we thought possible. He can carry on a conversation better, say his name, address, phone number, birthday, and so much more. He can make friends and deal with his frustrations better. He knows how to answer questions and can even read sight words. He knows when he needs bear hugged and how to find an appropriate chewy. He holds his attention better and makes right choices most of the time. His year has been full of walls he had to break through and giants he had to defeat and somehow he has done just that.

I was reflecting on this in my quiet time as I read about the Israelites preparing to go into the Promised Land for the second time. Isn't it funny that they spent 40 years wandering around in the dessert because of some reports of giants and tall walls? Isn't it funny that we do the same? I have had times when I have let the reports scare me and defeat me. I have failed to trust and wandered around looking for direction when all I needed to do was trust and obey. If the Israelites had done this, trusted and obeyed, the entire Bible would be entirely different.

Last year, I feel like I refused to wander. I saw the giants and knew how hard the walls would be to break down but I also knew Who was on my side. I was ready with a grateful heart to face whatever was coming because I had been to battle before and He had always been faithful. This morning I read Deuteronomy 3:21-22 and 4:9. They basically say to remember, to never forget, what God has done for us. My version actually says, "Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live".  The harsh reality is that even as we achieve one milestone there will always be another waiting for us. Sometimes as we move forward we see things in the future that scare us more than what was behind us. That is why it is so important to remember and never forget. God has shown himself able to defeat hard times, tough diagnosis, conflicts, and struggles over and over in my life and I am certain He will continue to... I want to always remember.

A year ago we had reports of giants and strong walls and today we have a little boy getting ready to start kindergarten next year. I expect we will see more obstacles in our future but I look forward to them. God promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey and I know that He has awesome things in store for Garrett as well. We will continue toward our promised land with hope and trust.