This morning, as I held one of my children, helping him calm down after a meltdown and repeating in my mind over and over, "God did not give me this child without giving me the graces to parent him," another one of my children asked, "Mom, do you ever blog about special needs?"
"Yes," I replied. "I used to a lot, but I don't as much as anymore."
My child paused, then inquired, "Did people ever read those posts?"
"Yes. Sure they did. I just stopped writing about it all so much, because..."
I was going to continue, "..I did not want to share too much about the challenges you guys have as you grow, because you don't appreciate that," but, before I had a chance to, my daughter smiled and said, "Mom, do you think I could write about dyslexia?"
I paused, surprised, but then replied, "Yes."
"Could I start today?"
"Um, ya..." I wondered if the child in my lap would calm enough for me to focus on the desire of the child in front of me.
Praise God. The child in my lap did calm down, and the afternoon unfolded with me helping my daughter begin her new mission: helping people understand dyslexia.
As my daughter dictated what she wished to say in her opening blog post, joyful tears overflowed from my eyes.
"Mom, you are crying!" my youngest - who had come to see what Big Sister and I were doing - giggled. (He knows how sappy I get and finds it amusing.)
"Are you okay, Mom?" my empathetic daughter asked.
"Yes, I am." I smiled at her. "I am just happy. Remember how mad you sometimes get if you hear me mention dyslexia? I am just happy you want to share about it now and help other people. Thank you."
And, thank God. Prayers answered. Home reset. Hearts for helping in action.
My daughter just finished picking the themes and fonts for her new blog and reading to me the post she had dictated. As she stumbled when reading her own words, she laughed (yes, laughed!) and asked if she could comment, "I had trouble reading my own blog post. LOL. I can dictate it, but not read every word of it."
This made me laugh, too - with such gratitude. So often, when my daughter stumbles over reading she feels crestfallen and cries.
One day, God-willing - she won't have such trouble. Until that day, though, we will be all right. For God knows our struggles and our gifts and He always gives us grace and strength to embrace both.
Please enjoy my daughter's inaugural post: I Am Dyslexic, Too!
I am so grateful that she has chosen to see her dyslexia as a gift and, in turn, to gift forward her struggles and successes. I am also bowled over by God's grace.
I have no doubt that graces received from Mass this morning helped get my family through our day so far, and I pray your family is bathed in grace for whatever challenges or celebrations you are faced with right now.
God does not make mistakes. Sometimes, it just takes us all a while to figure out how struggles can become gifts that glorify Him
