Perspective

Some people come into your life for a reason, even if just for a short while...

We are very blessed to have my mom and dad close by, and we visit them often.  The boys love visiting with Grandma and Grandpa!  Our visits usually include going to a nearby park.  This time, my mom joined me with Aiden while Austin rested.  Mom and I were commenting on the age of a little girl whose Grandparents were pushing her on a swing.  I guessed she was about 18 months old, and I asked her Grandmother just how old she was.  That opened a door to the most amazing story I've ever heard, and just what I needed to hear.  She told us the story of her daughter, who she was visiting to help out after the birth of a second child.  Her daughter was born 3 months prematurely, and because they failed to protect her eyes from the light when she was born, she became blind.  As a mother of a special needs child, she went through the same thing I did when Aiden was diagnosed--fear, worry, wondering what is going to become of your child.  Her daughter overcame it all, and as her mother puts it, "she is living the dream".  She travels, sky dives, received a college education, and now teachs at the school for the blind.  She is married and has 2 children.  It took everything I had not to sob.  I told her how much it meant to me to hear such an uplifting story, and about my own son's struggles.  Ironically, she used to work with autistic children, and she gave me some good insight into teaching tools for Aiden.  But, more than anything, she gave me a new perspective.  Even if Aiden doesn't completely overcome this, he can still find happiness and success.  

Today, my testimony burns with the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows and loves each of his children.  A moment later, and we would have missed that woman and all she had to offer me.  She was there for a reason.  I needed that comfort and encouragement, and God knew just who to place in my path...