This past Sunday, Tyler (our second son) celebrated his 6th birthday! It was a great day filled with donuts for breakfast, church with friends, and his FAVORITE birthday dinner: pizza casserole. Let's not forget the cupcakes and family who came to celebrate with us! All in all, he had a FANTASTIC birthday! He was so happy!!!!
As I sat in church that morning during our Healing Service, my mind began to wonder back throughout the past 6 years. Memories of him being born... Memories of those beautiful blue eyes and the very chubby cheeks and those blonde curls. I thought about his chunky arms and thighs, and how his chunky hands look like they were screwed onto his arms.
Without any warning, tears started streaming down my face. I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling I couldn't at that moment explain... It was a feeling of gratefulness, and joy, and wonderment. There was amazement as I found myself thinking about how far he has come, how God used Tyler for so much more than I could have ever imagined.
When Tyler was 1, he spent most of time crying (more like screaming) in the middle of the room. For his first year of life, we could barely cuddle with him. Sleeping was highly overrated, as he spent many hours a night crying. There was absolutely nothing we could do to make him happy, except for put on VeggieTales videos. Tyler didn't babble, didn't make eye contact, and made no real effort to interact with anyone.
Therapy was started and we began to see slow progress. By the age of 2, Kevin and I had accepted that most likely Tyler was on the Autism Spectrum (which he later was given a diagnosis). We had begun to mourn the loss of everything we had hoped and planned for him. As a former Autism Behavioral Therapist, I knew what a child with Autism would face. I knew there was no cure... We buckled down and learned to accept that life was always going to be different for him.
But then, God started doing something amazing... Tyler began progressing in ways that his therapists and I couldn't believe. He not only began talking, but began to interact with others. He was able to start holding conversations, communicate his needs, and even began wanting to hug and cuddle. We saw fewer and fewer meltdowns, and a happy, funny little boy began to emerge.
By the time Tyler was 4, he had made so much progress he tested out of the Intermediate Unit's Preschool program. The non-verbal, anti-social little boy started becoming the VERY SOCIAL chatterbox we have come to know and love!
Kindergarten, which seemed almost improbable at one point in time, was our next goal. After a couple glitches in the beginning of the year, we sit here with only a month left his of Kindergarten year. He has surpassed all goals we set, and has amazed his teachers, both at school and at church.
He has been playing t-ball for the past few weeks, and he LOVES it! The little boy who didn't want to be around anyone now asks EVERY player on the other team what their name is... And then proceeds to say hi to them (by name) each time they pass him on the field. He then remembers their name the next time they play against that team.
4 years ago, I would have NEVER believed Tyler would be the way he is now. Although I have always believed that God could do amazing things, I never thought he would do it for Tyler. I had seen Autism in many ways, and did not think God would choose to use Tyler in the ways that He has. And, yet, God did... God used Tyler to teach me (as well as many others) that God can do more than our little brains could ever imagine. We can't put a cap on what God can do... There's NO limit to His abilities!
There is no saying what Tyler (or any of us for that matter) can do... Anything is possible, if it's in God's will.
