Earlier this week, we celebrated a great success in following directions! It was Palm Sunday, and our church invited all of the children to wave palm branches for the processional hymn. Simple, right? One of the wonderful Sunday School teachers realized that this might not be so simple for Herbie, so she had the kids practice with the palm branches and instructed them on how to place them at the altar. (Let's just say that the Christmas pageant was a learning experience.......) Anyway, the practice was comical, with Herbie running in every possible direction around the sanctuary, up and down stairs, in and out of closets, and I was a little worried. But when the time came, he did his part, put the branches in the right place, and sat down. Then he fully absorbed himself in a new Highlights Hidden Pictures magazine (his latest obsession) for the duration of the hour. Miraculous.

I'm so happy to celebrate the little things. Like Herbie following directions, the Wise Old Owl drinking 2 ounces of flax milk almost every day for the past couple of weeks, and a loving church that is unfazed by unusual behaviors. And that is one of the blessings of autism, realizing that there are things to celebrate every day.

With this being Autism Awareness Month, I feel like I should say something deep and meaningful about how to spread awareness and compassion. Alas, I am an engineer, and not a terribly eloquent writer. So here is what I'll say, something practical and easy to accomplish. If your church family is not aware of your child's challenges, give your pastor a copy of this informative summary of how autism affects your family and your ability to participate in a faith community. Or just email him/her the link. It's an easy way to start talking about your child's disability, if you have not gotten comfortable with that yet. If you cannot be open and welcomed in your own church, then it's time to either educate the people there or else find a new one. We visited many churches and joined one that was small, without too many distractions or potential for sensory overload. That's what worked for us. And we look forward to going every week. The kids are welcomed and loved and taught about the love of Jesus. And that is exactly how it should be.

We were having one of those mornings at church. One where Herbie would not sit down for Sunday school unless I was holding him on my lap. Even then he was throwing markers and drawing on the table, yelling over the teacher's voice, etc. The other kids are super sweet and just smiled, the teacher took it in stride and tried to find some way to engage him. Anyway, we finished up and moved into the church, where I thought my bag full of snacks would keep him quiet for awhile. No such luck. He was jumping, yelling, throwing things, etc. I could see the look on my husband's face, the one that means let's just get out of here and cut our losses.
It is not usually like this. One of the reasons we visited this church in the first place was that it was small, there were not all kinds of distractions, it was not crowded, the music was not loud. We noticed that the typical sensory overload symptoms did not show up when we came here. But today something was off, we still were not back in our routine after Christmas break, the weather was changing, who knows.
It all culminated in the children's sermon, when both kids went up front and did not sit still. The Wise Old Owl thought it would be funny to keep moving to different spots far from the pastor. That wasn't too bad. But Herbie was jumping around, calmed for a second by the pastor gently putting his hand on his shoulder, then decided to pull off his shoes. And the shoes of the kid next to him. So I went up front and sat down with the kids, Herbie on my lap again. In other setting, I would have been completely embarrassed to do this, but when I looked up, I just saw lots of approving smiles. Really! It was so nice to know I was not being judged.
After we went back to our seats, both kids were perfectly well behaved for the rest of the service and fellowship time afterwards. Were the sweet ladies in the choir up front praying for us? Why do I always forget to pray for myself in such situations, anyway?
Later that afternoon, a woman from church called me. She started right off by saying she had been talking to the Lord about me (I love to know people are praying for me!) and felt prompted to call me. She just wanted to say that she loved our family, and added, "Thanks for sharing your kids with all of us at church." It was a lovely conversation that brought me to tears (of joy) and erased all of the frustration of the morning. I am so glad for people who encourage me in these ways. I hope that I can be an encouragement to others, too!

I was reading the 9th chapter of Isaiah in the Old Testament yesterday, and was struck by verse 6:
For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
It is a verse I have heard countless times, and immediately brings to mind Handel's Messiah. But this time, as I looked at those names given to Christ, I was struck by "Wonderful Counselor."
We were taking Herbie to a counselor for awhile, a psychologist with a lot of degrees and knowledge, who I had really hoped would address his anxiety issues and help him learn to talk about what was really on his mind. The counselor got along with Herbie and gave us a few helpful tips, but I never felt like they really connected or that she had any grasp of his specific worries. It was not the cure-all I had hoped for, nor was it even worth the time and money that we were spending on those appointments. Was the psychologist a "wonderful" counselor? No, she was a nice woman with a handful of useful ideas. There may be other counselors out there who could do better. But have I really sought out the counsel of the Wonderful Counselor? What is He trying to tell me that I'm not listening to? Can He help me to reduce Herbie's anxiety? (Or my own, for that matter?) I think I need to spend some more time with the Wonderful Counselor.