Job 8:21

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

It’s the little things.

I got my biking outfit on and had to run a quick errand.  I told my son, Charlie I would be going out for a quick 15 minutes and be right back.  He said, “Mom are you going out in that?”  I said, “Well yes, why?”  He then told me, “Mom you need to not be too confident in yourself!”

With everything I had, I tried not to explode with laughter or feel bad about myself.  To tell you the truth I am very conservative and I felt my outfit was very appropriate.  Now this is from my boy who is 15, who has autism and is getting more aware each day about his environment I will just say.  I stepped out and did my errand.  The whole time though I was so concerned that my outfit wasn’t ok and giggling really the whole time about his comment.

You see I was giggling and laughing so much because my son noticed me and actually made a comment on his own about what I was wearing.  This is HUGE progress if you know what I mean.  He wasn’t absorbed in his own world or his technology.  He actually was concerned about his own mom’s clothing choices and cared about it.  I was so excited!

There were years that he would not notice or care, definitely not making a comment about what others wore or anything in that realm.  I was a mom who was smiling, grateful, and blessed that my boy was making a comment about what I was wearing.  There have been so many times over the years that behaviors of my son that others would deem inappropriate,  I would actually get excited for.  Now, let me explain.

When he first started talking around late in his 3rd year of life it came out rude, it came out not really appropriate for the conversation, but I didn’t care.  I remember saying, “just say anything and we will fix it later.”  I was happy for any sounds, words, anything that was verbal communication and not whining, crying, or gestures.

So you see my son’s comment was a blessing.  It was a moment I had to say, “He is making progress!” and had to celebrate.

I went to go biking later and asked if the same outfit was ok to go biking in and he said, “Yes, mom”.

We have to look always at the ways our kids are growing and learning.  Along the way, we can smile, laugh, and look back on these things as critical moments when they grew.  It may be a different way, but that is ok.

What can you smile or laugh about today that your kids have done?  Choose to look at the laughter instead of the struggle.  God wants us to always come to him in the struggle or even in the times of laughter.

Blessings,
Blog written by Patty Myers