She’s almost two years old and she is not talking. Are we worried? Well, not worried but mostly envious because most of the kids her age are acting their normal age. They are talking! They are playing with others. They sit still. They listen to the stories and lessons.
And there is my child, who doesn’t talk. My child who prefers to be alone. She prefers to scream than tell us what she needs. She doesn’t sit still unless she is eating and hungry. Then, I asked myself why isn’t she like the others.
One time in church during altar call for healing, I brought her in. I prayed that whatever is hindering her from being normal and be like other kids, for our mighty God to please take it off.
Another time when our Pastor approached me and my husband. He told us about somebody getting healed for hearing. We prayed for her and claimed her to he healed. (Earlier during her pediatrician visit, her pedia is citing her hearings to have problems).
After those series of prayers, she started to improve. Although not the kind of normal level we have wanted her to be. So we keep praying.
Don’t get me wrong though. She is a very beautiful child. She is very sweet and always kisses and hugs me. She is very adorable and we really can’t get enough of her cute and adorable nuances. She is absolutely stunning in our eyes. It is just that when she’s outside with other kids, we just want her to belong, and be normal.
I keep praying, and praying. One day, I was amazed on how God responded to my prayers. He would show me other kids that are different, and showed me how their parents look at them. It is the same way, I look at my daughter! Like those parents, I want my child to be like other normal kids, immediately! Like a magic pill that once swallowed, everything is normal.
Then I see parents go through the lengths of subjecting their child to several medical check ups. What is worse, some of them subject their kids to medication. No offense meant, but I’m just sad about it. That is such a big revelation to me, on how I was treating my daughter, and I felt ashamed. This revelation is followed by the Holy Spirit bringing me back to Psalm 139 over and over again.
“My child, your daughter is beautifully, and wonderfully made by me. I have great purpose that awaits her.” Those constant prompting of the Holy Spirit taught me to look at things differently. With those realizations, I started praying different prayers. Instead of praying for my daughter to be normal, I prayed that God would give us – her parents – wisdom to reveal to us God’s gifts and purposes for her.
Instead of trying to make her normal, we embrace her difference. We love her more for her being different. We look at her wonderfully and highly talented. We look at her with her purpose. We look at her like the way God look at her: a beautifully and wonderfully made creature with gifts and purposes.
With that mindset and prayers, the result is amazing! We started seeing her strong body where she could stand on her head! Who does that?
She climbs like spiderman, mind you! She does it with care. She knows if she can do it or not. When she hesitates, she backs out. But when she’s confident she go for it and she executes it like a trained ninja.
We started seeing her gift to sing! She doesn’t get all the lyrics right but she does get the tune right. Watch her hold her breath as she hits her highest note! She definitely beats her sisters into it. She must be a Soprano-gifted child. She loves instruments, too and plays them and try to make a beat.
She holds her pencils like an artist! Her upper body is very strong she can actually be a gymnast! She is smart. One time she was putting the ABC together using her blocks that are scattered across different rooms in the house. She went upstairs, to a specific room, to find the next letter. She remembers where she last seen the next letter. She knows where she leaves her toys and comes back to them. And our list of her good difference just keep going. What an amazing child we are gifted with!
We celebrate her small milestones everyday. She knows she is being appreciated by giving us that big smile. It just melts our hearts.
Oh yeah, she still screams when she doesn’t get what she wants. But that’s okay. We no longer pray for her to be normal because that would be demoting her. She is created highly normal with wonderful gifts.
Now, we pray that God makes us more sensitive enough to not miss the gifts he has for her. We pray to be more thankful for what we have in her and celebrate her differences. We trust and claim that God has a beautiful story awaiting her life.
The Learning Story 