Monday, October 01, 2012

Happy Face

allie-face

Allie is wearing this happy face quite a bit lately. She’s turned a corner. We have new meds in our routine that are both managing pain and healing up damaged tissue. This has brought a ton of morning stress relief for Allie especially and the rest of the house. Allie sets the mood for the whole house. That’s just how it is.

The above picture was taken on a recent walk that included some swing time. We haven’t been on the swings since school started back up. Allie burst with excitement.

I experienced something weird this week. I’m learning that normal for us, what we’ve come to know as normal over the past five years, is not normal. What I mean is that we are in a routine and are arranging our lives in a way that is functional for us including going to church and school and around the neighborhood. Everything fits and makes sense to us. But the other day, Allie had a one-on-one interaction with another kid about her age that had never been this close to a special needs kid. This newness for the visiting kid was hard for him hard to process and created some weird awkwardness for the child’s mother.

I’ve touched on this a little bit before, but this recent interaction weighed heavily on me. I started to realize that this is never going to change as long as we bring Allie around new people. The temptation for me is to withdraw into a reclusive and protective little world with Allie at it’s center; a place where Allie doesn’t have to deal with new relationships.

Allie, however, is personable and has no awareness of relationship nuances. I want to tell Allie to look the child or parent in the eye and greet them with polite confidence. But she’s way ahead of me. She can’t talk, but she squeals with excitement that puts everyone at ease. Whatever is going to happen next will be new and fun and exciting. She’s not worried. She engages.

To receive the Kingdom of God, you have to be like a child. No guile. No agenda. Just excited about a new friend. Allie is an awesome ambassador of the Kingdom of God. I can all learn from her example.

1 comment:

BrianaJGutierrez said...

Absolutely beautiful!

I am so glad her mornings are easier - for you all.

She is an ambassador of the kingdom and a precious jewel from Him. What wonderful teachers you and your wife are to her.