I have had such a difficult week. Last Monday 07/11 was the day that David, our son of 22 years, went to his new Home. Having become an adult he had to leave his School in Carcassonne to enter into a new structure in his life. That meant, no bus that would pick him up and bring him home every day. That meant that I would be bound to the house even more and even have to take him to work with me. The fact that he is severely handicapped in that he is deaf and mute as well as having Down Syndrome and autistic behavior patterns, made my task even heavier. Our lives revolved around David, he was my first thought in the morning and my last at night. If we wanted to do something or go somewhere our first thought had to be... and David?? When we really needed a break our sons would step in and look after him, but they had to look after a grown man who couldn't even go to the toilet on his own, someone had to be there to help him.
David, with his dad in the mornings.. sometimes he had tears in his eyes but we never knew why...
He was admitted into a beautiful new Center for handicapped people, having his own room with en suite bathroom and lovely ladies who look after him day and night. Of course he will have to adapt, just like us, and it made me feel guilty, but I had the conviction deep down inside from God that it was the right step to take. I have looked after him for 22 years! A big empty space came to the surface in his absence, and he had only been gone for four days... I will have to deal with it slowly and surely, asking the Lord to fill in that space.
The blessing in all of this is that he is not too far away - yesterday I picked him up for the weekend, and he will return again on Monday morning. We hope to have him with us in the weekends just seeing how it goes. He was looking good and had a smile on his face! I think he can handle more than I think he can!
He is the second son to leave the nest and we feel like we are in a transition period - a twilight zone. Having left the old state of things we are waiting for what the future will bring, the Plans the Lord may have for us.
Our prayer is still every day for him:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
The memories I will treasure of him
Life is not always how we want it, but it is very important to stay thankful to God and to see the blessings amidst the sorrows. He has promised that ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSES! Rom.8:28
There are many people who are suffering in the world at the moment and I am thinking of those who lost their homes in Sandy - then I feel that my suffering is so small compared to what other people have to go through in life. I want to remain a thankful woman and count my blessings daily, giving thanks to God who is a Helper in times of need!
I am going to share a card for the blog challenge on the blog I just recently discovered (thanks Ross!) and the topic this week was being thankful!! Here is the
link.
Thanks for listening!
God bless,
Jacqueline
