On a cold, blustery winter day twenty years ago our son, Jeremy, was born into this world. This birth was planned and scheduled because it was easier for us to plan for and schedule family Christmas activities. Our choices for delivery were limited, but November 26th seemed the perfect choice at the time. Our second child would be delivered surgically in a beautiful wood-paneled suite which looked more like a hotel than a hospital delivery room.
So there Rick and I stood looking at our tiny newborn son as he lay beneath heat lights. Such a squirmy little guy, Jeremy looked around and cried whenever the nurses fussed over him. First, he was cleaned, then he was given eye drops and then, a needle plunged into his little thigh offering vitamin K. There just seemed so much to do in such a short time. Finally the nursing staff left Jeremy alone and we moved in closer. Yep, he had all ten toes and ten fingers. Our son looked beautiful and we fell in love instantly this this little guy. Smiling, I gently touched our precious baby boy and stroked his soft, smooth skin. "Hi, little guy," I intoned, "Welcome to this world, my sweet!" Little did I know that this world would not always be so kind to Jeremy. He would face many obstacles in life but for now, he was safe and sound.
Rick and I had returned to church when our eldest daughter, Megan, was almost ten months old. By the time Jeremy was born we were entrenched in a church and had developed some very deep friendships as a married couple. We found ourselves praying over this little boy as he lay squirming under the heat lamps. We prayed, "Oh, God, please protect this little baby. Keep him safe and protect him. Let us be good parents, God." I wanted to protect Jeremy from everything mean & awful in this world.
Within two months Jeremy would develop a serious respiratory illness that would land him in the hospital for almost a week. From then on he would need breathing treatments 3-4 times a day for another year and a half. It was a terrible nightmare that just went on and on. Everywhere I went I toted a breathing machine so that Jeremy could receive a treatment on schedule. I have one picture of our little baby receiving his medicine ~~ that's it. Life was just too busy to take snapshots of history like this.
Desperate for relief, I asked our pastor to assemble the elders for prayer. Again, I felt moved to pray for Jeremy. So one night our pastor & two elders from our church came over to our house and prayed for Jeremy's asthma to go away. And I just knew that God would heal Jeremy's lungs in time. And within a couple of months, his asthma did go away. I finally threw that old nebulizer away.
It wasn't too very long, though, that I began to see changes in the face of our special son. He began to stare vacantly into space. He didn't seem able to name or point to his body parts anymore. No longer content to play with me, he spent more and more time by himself. Sometimes he seemed deaf. Once. as I sat behind Jeremy as he was watching TV, I rang a bell right behind his head. Jeremy didn't even turn around. But when I crinkled a piece of candy wrapper in the kitchen, Jeremy came running. What was all this about?!
I began to suspect that there was more to these behaviors than I was hearing from my pediatrician. As the months progressed we began to watch Jeremy retreat more and more into himself. And I grew more worried and anxious with each passing day. Again, I felt compelled to pray for our son. So I asked our pastor to gather together the elders for another time of prayer. Soon our pastor and two elders gathered around to pray for Jeremy, again. Only this time I didn't walk away feeling as confident as before. I wanted a normal little boy, but instead, we were given the diagnosis of autism about a year later, when Jeremy was 3 and a half. Our lives were instantly changed by this diagnosis and we would live a different sort of life from now own.
The biggest difference in our first prayers for Jeremy and the second prayers for Jeremy were the answers we received. Jeremy was healed from his asthma fairly quickly; but it would be years before Jeremy would begin recovery from his autism. God clearly chose to allow our family to walk through the maze of disability, but He has been gracious to lead the way and direct our every intervention. Today Jeremy is able to speak and show love to others. He is considered moderately high-functioning ~~ a miracle given that the specialists involved in his early care considered Jeremy very severe and likely to never talk. We are grateful for this special young man and consider it an honor to be his parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment