Class: Life Education 901

Provided Study Guide: People of All Walks of Life

Focus: My Husband and Children

Syllabus: Flexible

Length of Course: Seasonal

Grading System: On a Curve

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Grey clouds. A warm breeze. Raindrops resembling tiny fish jumping in puddles on the walkway. The smell of rain fills my lungs and Contentment finds her place next to me like a long lost friend. Noah and Judah are running back forth on our porch offering their hands to descending drops of rain. I watch and wonder what goes through their minds. A deluge of curiosity surges through mine. Do they know they struggle more than the average person to get through a day? Do they see other children and wonder if their world is really all that different? Are they more patient than the average person when trying to communicate, or have they resigned to the fact that most people just won’t get it?

I don’t have the answers, but as I ponder these thoughts, a new perspective dawns on my mind’s horizon. Maybe I’m the one with a disability! I’m doing just as much learning as they are. I watch as my pair spin circles in the rain. A lonely leaf lies soaked on the ground. Noah gently picks it up. Turning it over, he examines every vein for several minutes.

His attention to detail astounds me. He’ll hear a song in a movie and pick out each key on his keyboard to duplicate the music. He doesn’t stop until it’s perfect. His determination to learn and master his goals models patience for me. He is shaping my picture of trust as he is willingly led through the upheaval of his routines and tolerating change. Through his efforts to interact with his environment, my concept of selfless love is expanded. I’m honest when I say, “I’d rather remain in my little world.” Noah daily demonstrates courage as he steps out of his world of autism in an effort to “become.”

Judah uses the language of pictures to educate his mom, modeling laughter that comes from the soul. Nothing held back. To me, Judah is a picture of a foal revealing the makings of a wild stallion, running free. Boldness and transparency are his gifts. In his eyes, a look that yells, “Come run with me!” Passionate about his world, he guards himself from anything that overloads his ability to function peaceably. Daily conquering huge strides in tolerating the smallest changes, he succeeds in shaping my picture of courage and truth, and I am challenged. As life brings discomfort and pain, will I face it with tantrums and anxieties sending me into a tailspin of non-functioning existence? Or will I slowly embrace each experience and allow another color to be added to the palette of my horizon?

Both boys shape my life concepts. They daily expand on my joy that stems from the blessing of their existence. They definitely have their work cut out for them. Sometimes I’m a slow learner. Although they aren’t perfect, they model faithfulness, patience, and forgiveness, as only a child can. No wonder Jesus used children as examples to teach us how to love and relate to Him!

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Tests: Given daily, but there’s no failing as long as I keep a “learning approach” to life’s lessons.