Mother Letter- To a mom who just had a child diagnosed with Autism

Dear Mother,
You might be feeling a little relieved right now but also a little dazed and confused. After all the worrying and wondering your fears are now being realized. You find yourself sitting there listening to the doctor as he tells you the diagnosis for your child is 'Autism'. Part of you feels like you can see a little clearer now, but the room also seems to be spinning too! You find yourself trying to fight back the tears, trying to not be overcome by all the emotions that you have experienced over the last few months or years of wondering. You have so many questions, concerns and you find yourself feeling pretty overwhelmed.

I remember that day very clearly,  it was over 4 years ago for me. I am here to tell you that life does go on and yes you will have many difficult days, but it will get better. Make sure you don't do this journey on your own, find support from others, especially those who are traveling on the same road and make sure you use all of the resources available to you! There are so many therapists, doctors and teachers and other families who are willing to help you!

God sees the full picture, even if  you don't right now. Take time to process this stage in your life and to grieve if you need to, but don't stay there. There is a little one who is depending on their mama to help and advocate for them and they need you. Remember your child is "Fearfully and wonderfully made".
As time goes on you will start to adjust to a different kind of normal but you will also start to see many joys and blessings even from the challenges you face on a daily basis!

Much love to you for this journey,

Jayne 

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Courage

At the beginning of this year one of the blogs I like to follow suggested that instead of making a New years Resolution they like to chose a word for their year. The more I thought about this idea the more I liked it.  I decided to pray about it and ask God what my word should be for the year. It seemed that the word that was most on my heart was "Courage".
I think the biggest thing I am learning is the courage to trust God in every situation, especially the ones I don't understand and definitely in the ones I have absolutely no control over! Over the last few months there have been things that have come up in my life and our family life that have needed for me to be courageous, it doesn't mean that I haven't struggled because I have, but I have been learning to let go and to give those situations totally over to God, especially in the times when I feel like I can't but I know I need to!

I think courage can come in many different forms it could be facing our fears, asking someone for forgiveness, taking care of a difficult situation, trying something new, or maybe reaching  out to someone in need. I think we often don't want to be courageous because we are afraid of failure or being hurt. But whatever it is or whatever God is asking us to do I am learning that I  need to do it and have total trust in knowing God can handle each and  every situation and the outcome of those situations.

I am excited to see how the rest of my "courageous" year unravels!