Thunderstorms, special needs, and health issues, Oh my

First of all, Happy Memorial Day.  I hope you had some great watermelon today.

I feel foolish to admit this, but I have been pretty freaked out by thunderstorms lately.  I try to comfort Madison and Austin as the rain beats down, lightning flashes and thunder crashes, but really I'm scared too.  Before you think I am just being childish, which you still may, let me tell you why.  It has been a crazy season of thunderstorms and tornados lately.  We all know of the tornados that devestated the south, but we have also had more tornados than I can ever remember.  We have spent nights watching a doppler radar screen to see how close the tornado zone is to us, and there have been several times when our area is that dreaded zone that no one wants to be in.  We have rushed to the basement as sirens blared outside, and we have been pretty close to a couple of touch downs.  There is a reason that these types of things cause fear.  They are meant to be feared.  There is a natural fear of some things that is meant to protect you, send up the warning signals, and call for action. 

Just like that kind of fear could be helpful, I can also see the benefits of other fears I have experienced after Kamdyn was born.  When I looked back at my last post, I realized something.  Something that a year ago I was afraid of. 

While I know that there are some children with Down syndrome, who hardly have any health problems, and there are some who have many, I feel like Kamdyn is somewhere in the middle of all of that.  There is no doubt, however, that she has more health concerns than the average child.  I would like to be able to disprove that stereotype about children with special needs having more health concerns, but that is just not the case for us.  I do feel like Kamdyn's health issues are minor compared to what some others have experienced, but we have had our challenges as well.  Only a year ago, I was terrified at the thought of having a "sick" child.  I was not sure if I could handle it. 

Conquering that fear, and today being able to say that, yes, that fear is actually valid, but it doesn't define or control our lives, has fueled me in a way and given me passion.  It has made me see that we can face these things, and we will be ok.  Standing up to those fears has given me a passion and a fight.  It has given me a passion to not let them control my life as I once thought they would.  Health issues, special needs, or whatever, we will go on, and we will live.  But we won't just live, we will be happy, and we will love. While everyone manifests their passion in a different way, maybe a passion for orphaned children, educating others, fiercely advocating, or whatever the case may be, it is all of the joys, fears, failures, triumphs, and twists and turns of life that lead you there.  They lead to that place where you feel like you are exactly where your life, where God was always taking you.  And you feel so at home, and you know that there is nowhere you would rather be than in this Divinely appointed place.  

 

My neice, Alicia.  The excitement does not dwindle when she is around.

Special needs does not mean the end of everything in your life.  It means the beginning of something special that will fit into your life in this perfect way that I could never have imagined.

Glow in the dark side walk chalk.