Psalm 127:3 New International Version
Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3 New Living Translation
Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.Everyhim.Every child is a precious gift. Each person has his own specific purpose in life.
These verses explain exactly as to what kids are. They are precious gifts from God. They are heritage from God. A reward from Him.
Not everyone is given the chance to become parents in a natural way. Kids might be annoying, difficult to deal with but it never changes the fact that they came from God.
Each of us was once little children. Little babies who gave joy to our parents as we were born. We all undergo the process of innocence and learning the basics upto what we know now.
I had a high school English teacher who told us the reason why we can't understand children with special needs.
"We can't understand them because they are angels sent by God."
It amazed me and my classmates as to how she made us understand about them. Oftentimes people see them differently which makes them like an outcast. People try to avoid them and treat them lesser since their way of understanding is different from normal people.
Then she posed a question.
"What is normal and what isn't?"
She made us think about how we were able to differentiate ourselves from them. It was a kind of question which made my classmates give their own opinions about that matter.
Some of them stated the obvious up until the conversation went on a deeper level.
"The difference between normal people and special people are just a strand of hair. We might differ physically, but what they can do are way beyond our own understanding."
She proved her point by trying to stir our emotions then throwing us another question which made us anxious and careful of what we're about to say.
This lesson of hers was more than just the subject matter. She went beyond the topic and taught us valuable thing.
I have a churchmate with a son who has autism. He speaks just one to two words per sentence. He has a temper where he hurts his mother in the process. He needs to be by his mom's side as much as possible. Whenever he throws tantrums, he shouts, he toss things and sometimes hurt the people around him. My churchmate is a single mom. Her eldest son is autistic while her youngest son is a normal child.
One time we had our church outing and she decided to bring her eldest son. It was an oversight swimming. Everything was fine but when we lost our eyesight from him just for a minute, her son is already in the middle of a six feet pool.
My churchmate called for her son's and he listened.
"He has no sense of danger."
The next day, she left her son in the room and went downstairs for a while. Her son had a tantrum and she rushed to her son's side. When we went in the room to prepare our things, her son got mad and spit on us. My churchmate reprimanded her son and apologized to us.
"I'm really sorry for what he did. He's having another episode of his tantrums."
She smiled at us and asked her son to apologize. He did apologize and said that he won't do it again.
I've seen the tiredness in my churchmate but she concealed it with a smile. She goes to the church every Sunday to serve as an usher. She was always present and whenever she's not with her oldest son, her son's grandmother takes care of him.
I've watched a segment in a tv show who guested parents who has children with special needs. I was ready while watching the episode.
Some of them were single parents while the others has three children who has the same cases and diagnosis.
"Our neighbors told me to prepare a huge sum of money to pay for the damages done by my kids because one day I'll just end up seeing them in jail."
The contestant cried while telling her story and I did too. The people in her neighborhood treat her kids as though they aren't just little kids who has special needs. She is a single mom and she has to work two jobs in order to sustain the medicine and other needs of her sons.
I can't imagine the pain they bare on a daily basis. They are barely making a living out of their jobs and yet they have to carry a burden they can never put down.
I met a student who has the same case. He has Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder with speech disorder but his parents were able to fund his needs because they are well off.
He often wants to fight against his classmates and he can never settle down in one place. When you talk to him, he answer from one to three words. He can't make an eye contact and his temper is always on the line.
The peak of his action is when one of his classmates finally decided to pick a fight with him. He lunged towards his classmate but his classmate chose to use a marker to write on his face instead of fighting with fist.
He cried while telling his story as to why he did it. He said that his classmates were too much against him and they treat him differently when in fact everything that his classmates did was to understand him. He felt like an outcast and he speak words which are inappropriate.
"I just want to be normal. I want to be by myself."
My heart broke for him. He sees his classmates actions in an opposite way. Since he can't stay still he tries to get his classmates attention but his classmates are focused on studying.
I definitely understood his pain. The pain of wanting to connect but be misunderstood for not being the same as others.
He's blessed to have rich parente who can sustain his speech therapy and other medical needs in order to be the normal person they talk about.
It's important to be sensitive with these matters. Not just because you want to respect them but simply because they are also humans like us. They also need love, care and understanding.
If ever you see someone like them, don't try to avoid them. They are humans too.
"I was in denial the first time even though I've seen all the red flags and signs about my son's condition. I am a nurse but I chose to ignore it and make myself believe that my son is normal. My son is okay."
When my churchmate told me this story, it made me all the more proud of her for taking things on her own. She chose to face the challenge than to just run away from it.
I salute these parents who needs to be extra in everything they do.
Love_16
January 22, 2021
Friday
