In my last post I shared with you the upcoming surgery of my son, Ben, who has high functioning autism. Today, I take this opportunity to share about the exceedingly abundant grace that God bestowed on us through that experience. I was so proud of Ben. Despite a five hour wait for surgery, he never became agitated or overly fearful. I could feel the prayers of our friends and family working in each moment of the day. God granted me the peace for which I had petitioned of him and there was a calmness that washed over me the entire day. Grace and peace were the elements that permeated my being as well as Ben's. Praise God! His recovery has been splendid and he has enjoyed a healing time of sleep and rest at home. April is Autism Awareness month and the month of May will follow with Mother's day. I want to incorporate both of these by sharing with you something I wrote on the day Ben turned seventeen. I cannot explain why I chose that particular year since it is not the more celebrated birthdays of eighteen or twenty-one. I only know that God laid this on my heart most likely to minister to me and possibly to others down the road. Share it with someone who you feel it might touch. Thank you for allowing me to share a moment of my heart.
To My Son, Ben, on His Seventeenth Birthday
How can it be that you are already seventeen? The years, though often trying, have somehow slipped by. Seventeen will be so different for you as it will be for me as a parent. There won't be any speeding tickets, expensive auto insurance to pay or car wrecks to worry about because you will never drive a car.
No punishments for broken curfews, high school proms, or Friday night football games as there will be for most your age. There will be no need to search for the right college and make decisions for a career.God has different plans for you.Plans that I don't understand, that I have often questioned through tears and anger, but am learning to accept.Because of your special needs and disabilities, you see and respond in this world as one half your age.
For almost two years now you have lived away from home at a "special school"--
a facility in which you have made progress and had needs met beyond our capabilities at home.
That's where we'll be celebrating your birthday today, with the friends you have there that you would never have found at home. Friends who see life much like you with whom your can play basketball, share music and laugh. At seventeen, God has provided you with the absolute best gifts for your life.
Despite your vast differences, He had a plan for your before you were conceived-and His hand is on you.
Though not viewed as "normal" by the world's standards, you are just as God meant you to be and perfect in His sight, and today we will celebrate seventeen years of just that--
With your friends at your school, with the Garfield cake you wanted with the toys on top you can keep to play with, with your dad and I who love you so very much--who miss you being at home every day, who grieve the things you will not experience in life, who trust the Lord to continue to keep his hand on you.
He can use you just as you are, just where you are to fulfill His purpose in your life. Your limitations are no obstacle for Him. So for what you will not experience as the average seventeen year old, I look forward to what God will accomplish through you. Now and in the years to come, thank you for how you've already been used by God in my life to deepen my faith and trust in Him. Thank you for being such a special gift.
Happy birthday, my Ben--I love you with all my heart!
Mom
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