Promises

So we left off with Uriah having autism and I have peace. The next several weeks at church, the message just continued to speak directly to my heart. And it maintained my peace. And I feel like God was offering healing for Uriah. So I've claimed it. My son will have future not defined by his diagnosis. I also felt that God was continuing to offer healing for me, and my continued desire for our family to grow. He said "my time" but in some way shape or form, I am also claiming this promise for myself. I will keep you guys updated on how these promises continue to be fulfilled, especially now that I've claimed them publicly. My friend sent me this lovely verse shortly after Uriah was diagnosed with autism and it was something that I needed to hear (well read)--and isn't it amazing how God does that? He provides words written thousands of years ago that are still relevant, a method of exposing them to you when you need them most, and opening your eyes/ears/heart for the message to find a home. Anyway, I am kind of digressing so here are the verses.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.^[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

And so the promise that I've claimed for Uriah? Uriah started to show progress before any interventions were started. He started playing pretend play and pointing at object of interest (both were considered deficits that helped lead to the autism diagnosis) and he started to talk more. Not at the level of a normal two year old, but he was vocalizing, and that was amazing to hear since his verbal delay was what took us to the specialist to begin with. And then we added therapists into the mix. And the speech therapist said something else wonderful to hear--that she wasn't sure if Uriah had Autism, but she was sure that he had verbal apraxia--a speech disorder--but a treatable speech disorder. And now he is signing to assist in his non verbal communication skills. And bless his little heart, he is trying to talk and to say the right words, they just don't always come out right. We have since also taken him to an allergist who specializes in working with people with autism (it is amazing how a little tiny allergy can affect a persons ability to develop normally) and he thought that Uriah probably isn't autistic. Great. I mean WHOO HOOO great! He sees kids all the time that are, so one more movement in the right direction. Then today my little man had an early intervention evaluation. I was excited about this one, because it is a group of specialist (in our case an occupational therapist, a speech therapist and an early developmental specialist). Now we already have a diagnosis, so we automatically qualify for this program and the support it offers us, but the news we heard today made my heart sing. Uriah's test scores were too high, and if we only had the referral and not the diagnosis, HE WOULD NOT QUALIFY FOR ASSISTANCE. My God is a faithful God. And His promises are true. I know that Uriah still has an autism diagnosis, but I have hope for his future, that he will thrive, and succeed and that God has an amazing plan for his life, and this is part of the process. He is shaping the lump of clay.