Peace and Order: Autism Awareness Month-Day 5

My immediate reaction to today's theme, "laws and legal systems," is to slam on the brakes and retreat to a healthy distance. I have flashbacks of overzealous, intimidating policemen approaching in my rear view mirror through the glare of their high beams to slap me with a speeding ticket. My hands quivered then and even now at the memory.

Maintaining law and order has been alternatively dubbed "Keeping the Peace" on squad cars in more than one American town. Now peace, that is a different matter. My hands stop quaking at that thought. I crave peace.

My understanding of peace was dramatically enhanced after doing Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself Bible study on the fruit of the Spirit. She summarized how Patience waits; Joy cometh; Love never fails; and Peace rules. In other words, when the Prince of Peace, our Savior Jesus is on the throne, there is peace. Whether he rules in our hearts, homes, nations, or worlds, His authority is what brings about peace. The increase of His government accompanies the increase of peace. He himself is our peace. (Ephesians 2:13-14)

That model is in operation in at least one small town in West Virginia where the blogging father of an adopted son with autism works his beat. Read Greg Lucas' incredible example and weep at the tenderness of how he intuitively and appropriately keeps the peace. With no weapons or sirens, he restores order in the name of Jesus as much as the power vested in him by the state of West Virginia.

His other blog, Defending Mayberry, is aptly named as he has the wisdom and humility of Andy Griffith, in any number of reruns but this one in particular about crime. I pray for more like Greg Lucas in our legal system with compassion, insight, and self-restraint for every circumstance.

April 5

Laws and Legal Systems

"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us." (Isaiah 33:22, NIV)

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD." (Proverbs 21:30, NIV)

Pray that the Lord’s heart toward the weak would be reflected in the laws written to protect those with autism.

People Who Need People: Autism Awareness Month-Day 4

Ahhhhhh........the sigh of relief that comes when you know your child is in competent hands. The shoulders drop and regular breathing resumes. I just carried a tutor's bags and boxes upstairs and came back down to hear their joyful laughter and productive movement through the ceiling. The assurance that for 2 hours, you can safely invest in some uninterrupted personal time is as much the value of the therapist as the therapy itself. The question is whether to zero in on Bible study homework, pay some bills, savor a cappuccino, or start dinner....hmmmm, what will it be?

So many caring and gifted teachers, aides, and therapists have blessed us over the years. With remarkable optimism, skill, and stamina they have deposited buckets and buckets of energy into Reid. An osteopath found it palpable once in an exam, "I can tell he's had some good work." Once upon a time, I took pictures of each hire and laminated them on PECS cards so Reid could learn their names and keep track of his weekly calendar. It's incomplete but here are a few I found. God BLESS them everyone...the saints of God...

April 4

Teachers, Aides, and Therapists

"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
(2 Chronicles 15:7, NIV)

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
(1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

Pray that those who teach and provide therapy will feel successful and rewarded by the Lord for their efforts.

Harmony or a Gong Show? Autism Awareness Month-day 3

Beautiful isn't it with a gentle breeze off the lake?

Lately, I am noticing our family is like a windchime. Maybe yours is too; a set of individuals closely interacting as a matter of course, striking each other by design, resonating effortlessly and unintentionally. We were designed to make music; but many days it sounds like just noise. A perfect plan run amok almost as soon as it began with Adam and Eve in the garden. Before sundown they were konking into each other in dissonant blame and a cacophony of shame.

At this very moment, my gut is painfully aware of the real stress on marriages where autism is a variable. Even when you embrace it as God's purpose, the windchimes can go off more like fragments in a frenzied tornado than this video depicts.

One member of the ensemble's fear plays against another's panic. One chime's anger crashes into another's grief. Sadness collides with confusion nearly severing the ties that hold them all together. It's messy and tangled; far from what the designer composed.

I pray today's verses clinging to the idyllic image in the video as a metaphor for what God alone can restore in any family.

April 3
Parents and Marriages

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NIV)

"for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." (Philippians 4:13, TLB)

Pray for the parents of children with autism, that they will have hope and wisdom, and that their marriages be protected.

Join the Thunder in Prayer: Autism Awareness Month-Day 2

Ready for day 2? I'm sure you are not weary yet but if you ever are, this excerpt from Ben Patterson's book reinvigorated me. Join the thunder!

So we must pray, because the work of the church is God’s work, not ours! We must also pray because prayer actually gets God’s work done. That’s the way prayer is seen in heaven. Ponder this scene in the throne room of heaven: An angel stands before God holding a golden censer, burning incense that is mixed with the prayers of the saints on earth. These prayers go up before God, and then are mixed with fire from the altar and hurled back down on earth. The amazing result is cataclysm on earth, “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:5).

Now picture the saints on earth, huddled in their prayer meetings. If their experience of prayer is anything like mine can be, they may often feel their prayers are barely making it to the ceiling, or are dribbling out and rustling across the floor like dry leaves. Prayer doesn’t frequently bring with it the sensation of cosmic power unleashed, what poet Georg Herbert called “reversed thunder.” But that is exactly what is happening! The whole creation is shaken by the prayers of the saints. Something is happening as they pray. Work is being done, whether they see it or not. Deepening Your Conversation, 24-25

April 2
God's Power to Turn the Tide

"Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of -- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."
(Ephesians 3:20, TLB)

"Then Jesus told them, 'Truly, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this Mount of Olives, 'Move over into the ocean,' and it will. You can get anything -- anything you ask for in prayer -- if you believe.'"
(Matthew 21:21-22, TLB)

Pray that we would see the evidence of God’s authority over autism in individuals and a complete end to this epidemic.

I'm All Lit Up

My blog is blue tonight, like the CN Tower, the Empire State building and Times Square. Are you going to Light It Up Blue?

Spread the word and the current statistics that:

1 in 91 children...

1 in 58 boys...

1 child every 20 minutes...

is diagnosed with autism. Awareness is the first step to creating productive lives for individuals with autism.

Prayers for Healing: Autism Awareness Month-Day 1

No fooling!

April is Autism Awareness Month. For my part, I plan to re-post the prayer and scripture laid out in Children of Destiny's Turning the Tide calendar. Will you pray it with thousands of others to expand the power of the corporate prayer thrust this month? Thank you!

The presenting issue of autism is just that, a presenting issue. As you read these prayers and scriptures, I think you'll agree they are a universal balm to the human condition. Diagnosed or not, we are all in need of healing; all of us walking around in broken bodies; sons of Adam, infiltrated with sin, living under the curse. In fact, the knowledge that April's Autism Awareness can bring will benefit us all. Through it, we learn more about ourselves and our individual needs, all under the guise of praying for others;)

In our home, autism is the high powered microscope that reveals issues, patterns, flaws that we might otherwise have glossed over, left hidden, or completely ignored below the surface. Were it not for autism, I might not have admitted how much healing I need. The extremes to which autism has led us have effectively stirred up, shaken, purified, extracted from the top more gunk than I knew existed. In the long run, that's a good thing, right?

April 1
Healing for Broken Bodies

"'But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD"
(Jeremiah 30:17, NIV)

"He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!
(1 Peter 2:24, NLT)

Pray that God’s miraculous healing power will bring health to those suffering from the many effects of autism.

Top 10 Tuesday

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate Autism Awareness Month this April

10. Post the Turning the Tide Prayer Thrust calendar on your refrigerator

9. Send it to the prayer team at your church to build their awareness

8. Rent Adam or Snow Cake

7. Tweet or post one of the verses on your Facebook

6. Light something up blue!

5. Read Rules by Cynthia Lord or The Boy Who Ate Stars by Kochka

4. Eat gluten free for a day, perhaps April 2 which is World Autism Awareness Day

3. Go on a prayer walk around a special education school in your town

2. Offer a playdate or an hour of respite to a family experiencing autism

1. Fast on April 23 with me