Thankful

Happy Sabbath,

I had a great and challenging week.  Today and yesterday really were the highlight of the week.  To start, I stayed over at my parents house to get an early start on Monday morning at work.  I came back from vacation still sick from the previous week but was able to tackle a lot of challenges coming my way on the job.  Monday, I received a report from my son’s school that he did okay during the morning but then everything went down hill for the rest of the afternoon. I went to the dentist Monday to also find out that I cracked a metal filling in the back of my mouth.  I cracked it while munching on some skittles (they are gelatin free now so I went to town). I now have to get a root canal which will cost me $409.50 out of pocket with my new insurance.

On Tuesday, I received a call from the assistant principal asking for me to come pick him up.  I asked for my parents to pick him up because I was miles away and still on the job.  When I spoke with my mother later that day, she said that he was really out of control and expelled from the school. 

She said the word expelled but it didn’t register in my mind and I was determined to speak with the school to see where we really were.  I spoke with the assistant principal who said that he was not expelled, but we needed to have a team meeting and come up with some strategies before he could return.  She suggested he stay home on Wednesday and come back Thursday but I said he needed to stay out every day until something is set in place or else, he will just repeat the same behaviors.  He was fighting the teacher, students, other adults, kicking the cots of other students, screaming, throwing items, hitting things, and causing many teachers to come out from their classrooms to try to calm him down.  Nothing calmed him down. His teacher was in tears. He didn’t quiet down until after he was in the car with his grandparents and even when they walked with him through the school and out to the car, he caused a scene.  They checked his file and said they could not find any information on him having an autism diagnosis despite receiving this information from the neurologist in 2014 which started him with therapists and connected him to the school in the first place. 

I didn’t know what to say to him or to do.  I have tried time outs, taking items away, spanking him, scaring him.  I tried cutting out sweets, making him go to bed, and reasoning with him.  You can’t really reason with a four year old. 

So my son was suspended from pre-kindergarten.  I spoke with the principal, teacher, and finally school social worker who agreed to meet with me in person right after my root canal is completed.  That meeting is the day before thanksgiving which I was forced to take off for said root canal. 

I received a request from the school to make sure I bring the evaluation from the neurologist.  I have a binder for my son with most of his medical visit summaries but felt as though I would not be able to find the document.  First of all, I don’t know where the binder is and I believe I was looking for documentation before and could not find it, so I didn’t really try to hard.  The binder is somewhere in my home.  I have so many papers and boxes, I couldn’t be bothered.  When I asked at the pcp the previous Monday when my son needed a z-pack, they didn’t have it.  So I called the place where he had the evaluation done and they said I could pick it up or have it faxed.  If I had it faxed to my email-fax, I could run into trouble since calls and faxes are paid through the Medicaid waiver which funds my agency and I would be stealing.  I glanced at the clock and decided to make a mad dash to the hospital 25 minutes away to pick up the document, not knowing what costs I would incur or where I was going.  My dad drove me down there before, I never had to drive there. I drove there and pulled the wrong way into the parking garage.  I turned around before it could be an issue and parked in a patient only spot, ran in the hospital and was directed to the second floor.  A lady and her children were at the information counter I was supposed to go to but when she saw me, it seemed as though she felt the need to throw even more questions in to the clerk so I decided to head over to the other desk and gave them the name of the person I was to speak to about my son’s documentation.  I was able to receive the documents right away without charge.

I ran out of the hospital and outside to find some money on the ground.  There was no one around so I picked it up and ran to the garage wondering if I could pay cash or credit to get out of the garage and where I would have to pay.  I pulled over to the exit for the machine to not charge me. 

I was doing all this rushing because I was supposed to be in route to my first work appointment.  I asked google to have my gps direct me to that place and it said “yes, navigating right away” (what ever it says you know) but the gps lied to me.  I decided to follow street signs and let go of the gps and drove myself to my appointment on time.  After my appointment, I spoke to the school social worker over the phone and she agreed to meet with me next week and told me to bring the paper work.  She suggested transferring my son to a program that has trained ABA therapists at a different school (the school in the park where I want to purchase my house next year).  She said she witnessed his behavior and believes he should go there and I do too.  I drove to my next destination but when I was ¾’s of the way there, I received a call from my client from the first location that I dropped my bank card outside on the sidewalk.  The house supervisor who stopped there when I was leaving works at an office down the street from where I was actually headed so I asked for her to bring it to her office and I would pick it up. I was able to pick it up in good time after my last appointments ended. 

Today, I went to church with my son and decided to not permit him to go to the play room.  He brought no toys, tablets, or nonsense with him.  A church sister gave my son some great books to read and took him downstairs for Sabbath school while I played piano for the start of Sabbath school for the adults.  The service was great.  My son stayed in one spot and was able to write and draw on paper quietly.  The pastor talked about Difficult Spirits and what we could do to work through situations involving evil and demon attack.  He mentioned psalm 23 as something he and others have recited that has helped in difficult situations.  He witnessed exorcisms as well.  Prior to him talking about praying and fasting and what the Bible says we should do, a church sister gave the children’s story.  She talked about her experience being sick and going to the hospital for surgery and angels that God sent to comfort her.  She saw the same angel of two that came the day her daughter died.  She saw that angel in the operating room.  She also saw that angel when she was healing and they visited her when she was at home. She took a cell phone photograph of them and printed it out to share with the church because telling most people, they would not believe.  The picture was black and white and she said she took it of the side of the angel while they were not looking.  She mentioned that their face was turned.  I looked at the photo and saw the side of the angel’s face looking off to the right.  It was hard to see, but it was there.  I was so blessed to hear her testimony and that she is doing better because she has gone through a lot.  To know that Jesus loves us and that God sends even angels for His purpose, she said that each time she encountered the angels, she was filled with great joy, such joy she could not find words to describe it. 

She gave the children (who were playing and not paying attention to the story) something she promised some time ago: a prescriptions list.  They are Bible verses that provide answers for all human troubles and questions that we have.  I took the page and when I got home. I put it on my refrigerator.  I also prayed with my son in the car and went over psalm 23.

There are other things that happened this week, but I want to thank God for the following:

I want to thank God that we were able to go to church and sit through the entire service; that I was able to hear the message without the usual distractions.

I thank God for helping me to get the neurology report for free, finding the money for free, getting free parking in a garage that should have charged me $5, and for returning my bank card to me when I didn’t even know I lost it.

I thank God for keeping me safe out on the road with these wild drivers.

I thank God for that sister’s testimony and the visiting pastor’s sermon and his amazing piano playing and singing.  That was extra special, so much that I had to record it to hear it again.

I thank God that there is another school my son can go to and people who are trained to work with my son. 

It’s autism but it’s a demon as well.  It is a difficult spirit that he is struggling with and I needed to hear the sermon today.  There is nothing too hard for God or difficult for Him to handle, remove, or heal.  I’m giving this over to God, this situation with my son. 

I thank God for revealing the source of the bedbugs.  My parents purchased a new bed when my little sister moved out of their house.  Then after my older sister moved in, she started having itching and problems.  She went to the dermatologist and they prescribed creams but couldn’t tell her what was wrong with her.  The bed frame and mattress had bedbugs in them.  I came over on Tueday morning to find they trashed the mattress and were removing other items from the room.  I went home to give them the foggers I never used and spray (I brought home 2 of those nasty critters but didn’t know where they came from so that’s why I had the products).  They were able to save some money in treating the room.

I thank God that my son is willing to try new foods if Elsa or other cartoon characters are printed on the cover of the meal boxes.  He tried mac and cheese and doesn’t like it.  I don’t blame him, I don’t like mac and cheese either.  He ate some corn and ate all the pudding with magic color changing blue sprinkles and white stars! 

I thank God for a video I watched about this woman who was Funding Her Dream.  It inspired me to try something new for myself.  She has two children and their father was incarcerated.  She knew how to make money but didn’t know how to save it.  She made many lifestyle changes and was able to save over $60k in 3 years time or so to fund her dream, what ever it was.  I thank God for putting things before me that inspire me to do better and be a better person.  I thank God for helping me to learn to knit and not just that, but to make what is now one of my favorite scarves to wear in less than 8 hours.  I knit that scarf in the same day and wore it the next morning.

I thank God because He is good.  What are you thankful for today?