Sunday, January 11, 2009

January 9th

January 9th has always been a significant day in our family...it is my birthday. The past two years however it has taken on quite a new significance. January 9, 2008 was the day that we received Elijah's diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. We tried to eat cake and Brad bought me orchids, but at that time I made a mental note to never celebrate my birthday again. By the time January 9, 2009 rolled around Brad and I paused to reflect on how much our lives have changed in just a year. Last year I spent my birthday with a confused, frightened and out of control son who gave me a nasty black eye during an especially violent tantrum on the long trip to the child psychologist in Singapore. This year, after intense therapy and even more intense prayer, my son did something that we weren't certain he would ever be able to do...he started school. Even 4 months ago Elijah panicked, fought and hid when we tried to leave him for a few hours with his grandparents. But on January 9th, he took his little school basket said "Bye Mama!" and walked right to the car for his daddy to take him to school. As he was going into school he paused and looked at his daddy and said "This is awesome!" Indeed it is. Feel free to pause and reflect on the goodness of our Lord.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Birthday Boy




Elijah turned 5 years old this past December 9th. The post is a bit late, but the party was wonderful. He just keeps getting cuter by the day!