some inspirational thoughts on moms and dad's

[Guest guest]

I came across these and thought that you all might like to read them.

> Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen? Somehow

> I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments for

> propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his

angels

> to make notes in a giant ledger.

> " Armstrong, Beth; son; patron saint, .

> " Forrest, Marjorie; daughter; patron saint, Cecelia. " Rudledge, ;

> twins; patron saint.... give her Gerard. He's used to profanity. "

> Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, " Give her a handicapped

> child. " The angel is curious. " Why this one, God? She's so happy. " " Exactly, "

> smiles God. " Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know

> laughter? That would be cruel. " " But has she patience? " asks the angel. " I

> don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of

self-pity

> and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it. " " I

> watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence. She'll have

> to teach the child to live in her world and that's not going to be easy. "

> " But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you. " God smiles. " No matter.

> I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness. " The

> angel gasps, " Selfishness? Is that a virtue? " God nods. " If she can't

separate

> herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, there is a

> woman I will bless with a child less then perfect. She doesn't realize it yet,

> but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She

> will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says " Momma " for the

> first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a

> tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my

> creations. " " I will permit her to see clearly the things I see---ignorance,

> cruelty, prejudice--- and allow her to rise above them. She will never be

> alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she

is

> doing my work as surely as she is here by my side. " " And what about her

> patron saint? " asks the angel, his pen poised in midair. God smiles. " A

mirror

> will suffice. "

>

>

> While the good Lord was creating mothers, He was well into his sixth day of

> overtime. Then an angel appeared and said, " You're doing a lot of fiddling

> around on this one! " And the Lord said, " Have you read the specification on

> this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic... Have 180

> movable parts, all replaceable... Run on black coffee and leftovers... have a

lap

> that disappears when she stands up... and a kiss that can cure anything from

> a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. Plus she has to have six pairs of

> hands! " The angel shook her head slowly and said, " Six pairs of hands!!??

> Not possible! " " Oh, it's not the hands that are causing me the problem, " said

> the Lord. " It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have. " " That's on

> the standard model? " asked the angel. The Lord nodded. " One pair that sees

> through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when

> she already knows...Another here in the back of her head that sees what she

> shouldn't , but what she has to know... And of course, the ones here in front

> that can look at a child and reflect, 'I understand, and I love you' without

> so much as saying a word. " " Lord, " said the angel touching His sleeve gently,

> " Get some rest. Finish this tomorrow. " " I can't, " answered the Lord. " I'm so

> close to creating something so close to Myself. Already I have one that heals

> herself when she's sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of

> hamburger...and can get a nine-year old to stand under a shower. " The angel

circled

> the model of the mother very slowly and sighed, " But it's too soft! " " And yet

> she's tough! " said the Lord excitedly. " You cannot imagine what the mother can

> handle or do! " " Can it think? " asked the angel. " Not only can it think, but

> it can reason and compromise! " answered the Creator. Finally the angel bent

> over and ran her fingers across the mother's cheek. " There's a leak! " she

> pronounced. " I told you, you were trying to put too much in this model! You

can't

> ignore the stress factor. " This Lord moved in closer for a look and gently

> lifted the drop of moisture to His finger where it glistened and sparkled in

> the light. " It's not a leak, " He said. " It's a tear. " " A tear? " asked the

> angel. " What's it for? " " It's for Joy, Sadness, Disappointment, Compassion,

> Pain, Loneliness, and Pride. " And the angel exclaimed, " You're a genius! " The

> Lord looked somber and replied, " I didn't put it there. "

>

> In response to a parent of a non-disabled child's question of where we are

> during the day...

> Where are the parents? They are on the phone to doctors and hospitals and

> fighting with insurance companies, wading through the red tape in order that

> their child's medical needs can be properly addressed.

> They are buried under a mountain of paperwork and medical bills, trying to

> make sense of a system that seems designed to confuse and intimidate all but

> the very savvy. Where are the parents?

> They are at home, diapering their 15 year old son, or trying to lift their

> 100 lb. daughter onto the toilet.

> They are spending an hour at each meal to feed a child who cannot chew, or

> laboriously and carefully feeding their child through a g-tube.

> They are administering medications, changing catheters and switching oxygen

> tanks. Where are the parents? They are sitting, bleary eyed and exhausted, in

> hospital emergency rooms, waiting for tests results to come back and

> wondering: is this the time when my child doesn't pull through?

> They are sitting patiently, in hospital rooms as their child recovers from

> yet another surgery to lengthen hamstrings or straighten backs or repair a

> faulty internal organ.

> They are waiting in long lines in county clinics because no insurance

> company will touch their child. Where are the parents? They are sleeping in

shifts

> because their child won't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours a night, and must

> constantly be watched, lest he do himself, or another member of the family,

harm.

>

> They are sitting at home with their child because family and friends are

> either too intimidated or too unwilling to help with child care and the state

> agencies that are designed to help are suffering cut backs of there own. Where

> are the parents? They are trying to spend time with their non-disabled

> children, as they try to make up for the extra time and effort that is

critical to

> keeping their disabled child alive.

> They are struggling to keep a marriage together, because adversity does not

> always bring you closer.

> They are working 2 and sometime 3 jobs in order to keep up with the extra

> expenses.

> And sometimes they are a single parent struggling to do it all by

> themselves. Where are the parents? They are trying to survive in a society

that pays

> lip service to helping those in need, as long as it doesn't cost them

anything.

>

> They are trying to patch their broken dreams together so that they might

> have some sort of normal life for their children and their families.

> They are busy, trying to survive.

> Jen

Xavier 15months, 14lbs, 27in RSS, G-tube, Fundoplacation, 27 cal Formula,

Myrilax, ST, OT, PT, FT

Emerald, 5, Non RSS

Wyatt, 4, Non RSS