I have a terrific son. His nickname is G-man so I will refer to him by that name here as well. Can't be too careful on the Internet, you know.
He is funny and has a knack for using one-liners. He can play the trombone by ear and sings wonderfully. He is also incredibly strong. He also happens to be autistic. Mildly so, that is. His official diagnosis is PDD-NOS, Pervasive Developmental Disorder--Not Otherwise Specified. (Read: Developmentally delayed in most areas).
For a long time, we hoped and prayed G-man would grow out of his delays and eventually "come out in the wash" fairly functioning; perhaps several years behind his peers, but still catching up at some point. Over the past couple of years, we have had to come to grips that, short of a miracle, G-man would always struggle, always need guidance and help. But let it be known: I DO believe in miracles so I won't ever discount that possibility!
I am sure I will write more in depth blogs about different struggles he has had and also the struggles of living with a special needs child. I just wanted to jot a note about how interesting life can be with my young man; wouldn't want to get stuck in TOO much of a routine, right?
The other night I drank way too much coffee, way too late at night, and couldn't sleep. Long story short: at 5 am I got up, rather frustrated because sleep was evading me all night long. Stepping into the hall, I caught a glimpse of my son, notorious for having some sleep issues, sneaking out of the house!
Yes! He had his glasses and shoes on and was quietly walking through to the back door. Once I realized what he had done, I locked the door, figuring at least I would give him a good scare. We live in the country with a few acres and I thought maybe he was just going to go poke around, or visit one of the cats.
Nope.
Next thing I see is him out of our gate, walking down the road. This isn't good. I should add that he is 16 years old and fairly high functioning so it is not as if I was watching my toddler wander off. I cannot imagine what he is planning to do, however, or why he is headed down the road. I am not sure what I should do either. But, before I have much of a chance to think it through, he turned around and came back! He probably traveled about 20 yards down the street in all, so this happened really fast.
At this point, though things have suddenly improved, I was still unsure just how to handle the situation. He couldn't get in since I locked the door, so I came out a different door-- just to throw in another element of surprise. There he was sitting quietly on a bench, probably pondering his predicament, feeling pretty sure he had unlocked that door when he went outside to begin with.
After confronting him and talking for a few minutes, we headed back inside. I told him that since he liked being outdoors so well, he could go out later in the day and work in the yard (note: we live in Texas, it is July, we are having triple digit temps).
He said a wonderful thing to me, just then. He said something I have longed to hear and could not quite believe it to be true at the moment. What he said showed me that God is still in the miracle business!
"But mom," he pleaded, "I stopped what I was doing and came home because I knew what I was doing was wrong. Aren't you happy about that?"
I am sure he has NO idea how we have prayed for him to have the ability to choose to do right and have self control so this was not something he was conjuring up to play on my sympathies. In fact, I had been praying more than usual for him for the last several days prior to this incident. I was happy about that! Though I haven't expressed it on my blog yet, self control is about as natural to him as speaking Hebrew (note: we live in Texas...). I had to realize that this really was a great moment!
Too bad it had to happen at 5am, though, right? Well, I guess answers to prayer will always have their own timing and there's certainly not a bad time to have one of those "God moments"! Just shows that He is faithful 24/7 and He is the God who is working even when we are asleep!
Or at least, when we ought to be.
A blog for those who value faith, family and the odd tangent.
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At the Intersection of Creation and Evolution: A Dream
The alliterating story below is based on a dream I had several years ago. Please contact me for permission to reproduce.
Darkness devours me.
I am enveloped in emptiness.
Are my eyes open or are they closed? I strain against this shroud of night and still see nothing.
What is this place?
An image illuminates in front of me. A large, leafy tree streaks past and vanishes.
It deserts me to the darkness again.
In a moment, more images appear. A rapid succession of snapshots and thoughts clamor before my eyes and mingle in my mind.
I see seedlings. Several supple shoots have emerged before me and then swiftly stream away.
“The first trees on earth were not seedlings”, my mind observes. “They were not created as small insignificant saplings.”
That thought is rapidly replaced with a vision of a man.
He’s maybe 30; he is muscular and needs to shave.
He fades away.
In his place I see an infant.
A tiny bundle of pink skin upon a soft blanket flickers briefly in my brain.
“Man was created with age,” is the next statement I hear. “Adam did not begin his life as a baby, he began as a grown man.”
The voice seems like my own.
The thoughts do not.
Reeling before me now is a blur of rivers, forests, mountains and even layers of the earth. It is like a movie rushing rapidly before my retina.
The soundtrack of this epic is proclaiming a peculiarly plain concept:
“The earth was created with age. Creation and evolution are not in total opposition. There is a reason that science finds the earth to be quite old: it was made that way.”
Thoughts continue to tumble through my mind; pictures parade before me. I listen in amazement to what seems to be puzzlingly profound and yet rather apparent all at once.
“Adam was created as an adult. Trees and plants were made fully grown.”
I suddenly feel quite certain that, if I were to chop down some of the trees that had been spoken into existence, I would find a range of rings running through their trunks.
“The earth was brought to life with age built into it… just like Adam. He did not begin life as an infant. The earth came into being with what it would need to sustain the life that was created. It was old when it was young. The world was
made with maturity; it was also produced with purpose.”
These thoughts are thrilling. Why had I not seen this before? It seems so simple. Obtusely obvious. Had others not observed this correlation? If they had, why wasn’t it being candidly conveyed?
In the span of thirty seconds I have been ravaged by a radical revelation. I feel the weight of its worth resting on me; it is tantamount to tangible.
I am neither a theologian nor am I a scientist. I don’t claim that the ethics of evolution are completely compatible with the Bible’s account of creation. But certainly Science can come concurrent to creation and affirm our faith with facts.
Of course, the Omnipotent Originator of the Universe is exceedingly elusive to what our mind could ever envision. Above what science could ever extensively elucidate.
Accordingly, creation is confounding too. Each diverse discovery deems it more marvelous to grasp. Many scientists have reluctantly relented to the theory of Intelligent Design.
That’s why, alongside those facts, we also need faith.
Lying inexplicably at the intersection of those two essential elements is an exceptional endowment: the intermittent insight of our dreams.
Darkness devours me.
I am enveloped in emptiness.
Are my eyes open or are they closed? I strain against this shroud of night and still see nothing.
What is this place?
An image illuminates in front of me. A large, leafy tree streaks past and vanishes.
It deserts me to the darkness again.
In a moment, more images appear. A rapid succession of snapshots and thoughts clamor before my eyes and mingle in my mind.
I see seedlings. Several supple shoots have emerged before me and then swiftly stream away.
“The first trees on earth were not seedlings”, my mind observes. “They were not created as small insignificant saplings.”
That thought is rapidly replaced with a vision of a man.
He’s maybe 30; he is muscular and needs to shave.
He fades away.
In his place I see an infant.
A tiny bundle of pink skin upon a soft blanket flickers briefly in my brain.
“Man was created with age,” is the next statement I hear. “Adam did not begin his life as a baby, he began as a grown man.”
The voice seems like my own.
The thoughts do not.
Reeling before me now is a blur of rivers, forests, mountains and even layers of the earth. It is like a movie rushing rapidly before my retina.
The soundtrack of this epic is proclaiming a peculiarly plain concept:
“The earth was created with age. Creation and evolution are not in total opposition. There is a reason that science finds the earth to be quite old: it was made that way.”
Thoughts continue to tumble through my mind; pictures parade before me. I listen in amazement to what seems to be puzzlingly profound and yet rather apparent all at once.
“Adam was created as an adult. Trees and plants were made fully grown.”
I suddenly feel quite certain that, if I were to chop down some of the trees that had been spoken into existence, I would find a range of rings running through their trunks.
“The earth was brought to life with age built into it… just like Adam. He did not begin life as an infant. The earth came into being with what it would need to sustain the life that was created. It was old when it was young. The world was
made with maturity; it was also produced with purpose.”
These thoughts are thrilling. Why had I not seen this before? It seems so simple. Obtusely obvious. Had others not observed this correlation? If they had, why wasn’t it being candidly conveyed?
In the span of thirty seconds I have been ravaged by a radical revelation. I feel the weight of its worth resting on me; it is tantamount to tangible.
I am neither a theologian nor am I a scientist. I don’t claim that the ethics of evolution are completely compatible with the Bible’s account of creation. But certainly Science can come concurrent to creation and affirm our faith with facts.
Of course, the Omnipotent Originator of the Universe is exceedingly elusive to what our mind could ever envision. Above what science could ever extensively elucidate.
Accordingly, creation is confounding too. Each diverse discovery deems it more marvelous to grasp. Many scientists have reluctantly relented to the theory of Intelligent Design.
That’s why, alongside those facts, we also need faith.
Lying inexplicably at the intersection of those two essential elements is an exceptional endowment: the intermittent insight of our dreams.
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2 comments:
Wasn't it amazing that God allowed you to be awake to witness Him working in your sons life? God is sooo good!!! I've always believed that when I can't sleep, God is calling me to listen to Him, to read His Word, or to pray. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks, Tina, for your encouraging words. The timing was really miraculous!
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