If you haven't read the book, "Heaven is For Real" I highly recommend it. The book made me see and believe just how wide open young children can be to hearing and knowing God. And for those of us with children that are even more open to worlds many of us can't understand...the possibilities can truly be endless. Who are we to question the unique and new worlds some of our children are trying to share with us?
Like many kids within the autism spectrum (or quite honestly kids in general!), Lyric is very literal. "There is NO cat that has my tongue, Mommy!" The world is a series of pictures and concrete images. She struggles with directional words such as "above, below, behind, next to, around, etc.". Time can also be difficult for her to communicate. "Yesterday" can mean 5 years ago. "Tomorrow" can mean next week.
So when I first started taking her to Sunday School and church, I wasn't quite sure what she would make of it all. How could I help her understand prayer? Heaven? Jesus? God? For several years, I didn't try to explain anything, I simply ensured that she attended Sunday school. After my divorce, I was active in a local "mega-church" where Sunday School was a tremendous treat for children. There was music, dancing, slides and "jumpy" castles for the kids to play in while they heard messages from scripture in fun and entertaining ways.
When I met Pat and were married, we started to attend his Catholic church. I was worried about the transition to something so much more formal and yet, to my delight, it has been perfect for her. Lyric loves the structure. The schedule. The predictability of each mass and what comes next. She loves sitting between Pat and I and snuggling in "like a family" she calls it. She also loves the stories told in the stain glass windows. In the statues of the Virgin Mary, the saints and the crucifix itself.
Pat and I also started a nightly ritual of saying prayers before bed with her. We start by sharing what we are thankful for and then Lyric says the prayer "Now I lay me...." and asks God to bless (always in the same order) those of us closest to her.
About 6 months ago I started introducing prayer as a way to speak to God or Jesus during the day. I told her that if she talks to Jesus, he can help her at school when she is scared or frustrated or sad. She took this in but I wasn't sure she "got it". Shortly after that she and I were shopping for a Christmas dress. She desperately wanted it to be pink and yet, store after store we were unable to find one for her. Suddenly she brightened up. "I know mommy! I'll ask Jesus to help us. He'll help us find a pink dress!" I took a deep breath and said my own prayer as we walked into the next store. "Please let her find one here, God, so she understands the power of prayer". Sure enough, we found a pink dress and from there...she has connected to God in ways I never expected.
There was the night before I left for brain surgery in March when she placed her hand on my face and whispered "I asked Jesus to make your brain tumor go away." More recently, I was unable to understand a story she was trying to tell me. I asked her repeatedly to try again - to help me understand what she was trying to say. Finally she threw her hands up in the air and said, "I'll just talk to Jesus! HE always understands what I'm trying to say!" and triumphantly walked off.
I can't help but think that Lyric really is talking to Jesus and that he really is hearing everything she has to say. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they have conversations and that she is more connected to Him than my questioning and biased adult mind can oftentimes allow.
No comments:
Post a Comment