Authentic Love

We have been blessed with some pretty special people at our church. By that, I mean we have some people that truly love our children and that is a tremendous gift to any parent. For us, with Jackson, this means they look beyond his apraxia and just love him for HIM. We laugh sometimes at how he seems to pick out certain people and wholeheartedly falls in love with them. It is usually someone who doesn't make him work hard but will just play. We love and are oh so thankful for his teachers, therapists, etc., who make learning fun for him, but he knows that they are going to push him in the areas where he needs it. It's a break to him to have other people in his life who he can just be silly with. The other week at church, I spyed on him in his class while calming baby L down. It was circle time and Mr. Dee, one of J's pals, told the class that he was going to go around and have each person tell their favorite animal. Well, my heart sank...this could go two ways, either no response from J or an unintelligible one. The first little boy stood up and told Mr. Dee his favorite animal. Then, J stood up and Mr. Dee asked him the question. I couldn't read J's lips, but Mr. Dee's response was, "Boys and Girls, Jackson is going to tell me in my ear his favorite animal!" J did just that and Mr. Dee informed everyone of J's favorite animal. The kids didn't know any different and my boy sat down feeling confident that he had fulfilled the task! Now, I will probably never forget what that man did for J that Sunday, because he made my child feel just like every other kid. What a blessing!

Another guy that J loves is Mr. Bryan, our minister of music. He is totally open to J trying out the instruments and watching the praise band practice each week. Here they are:




I think I also posted earlier about Mr. Dave who J LOVES and can be found any given Sunday swinging, hugging, chasing our guy! All of J's former MMO teachers, MOPS teachers, and SS teachers have all proven to be a gift, a true gift from above. They are always asking about him, and he is ready to give them a big hug! Finally, I have to mention one last person...Miss Connie. Miss Connie had J this summer in MMO, and she always had nice things to say about him. One day, she did a cool craft with J, and it has been a love-love relationship for them since. She requested to have him in MOPS, so he still gets to see his Miss Connie. I never want to forget these people. Our hope for J is that he always has a love for others and that we can keep his confidence up in a world that can try so hard to rob him of it.