Christmas with Autism
For a while now Jacob’s sensitivities
to certain sounds have been increasing.
So much so, that we have to leave restaurants and stores when he has an
episode. He covers his ears, lowers his
head to his lap, shakes and cries. Over
the holiday I even had to leave in the middle of a nice dinner with my mom and
sister and go have dinner in the car with Jacob. I am so extremely happy and excited because
this past week Jacob has finally allowed us to put his headphones on (connected
to my itunes) and keep them on, so that he will stay in those places while we
are there. We have been working towards
this for a long time and it is a MAJOR accomplishment that he is now able to
wear them. I am so thankful to God for
this milestone, as some places are unavoidable and we needed a way to help him
when he is having these episodes. Doesn’t he look so cute in those Spiderman
headphones? I sure think so!
So Christmas wasn’t the easiest this
year. The twinkling lights on the
Christmas tree have always made me feel very nostalgic, I love winter and
Christmas, but Christmas time is very different with autism. Now, those glimmering lights remind me to be
careful about where I place them because Jacob will want to grab at them and
play with the plug to turn them on. The
once game filled, super fun Christmas Eve party at my family’s house is now my
husband and I deciding who will take turns chasing Jacob around the house as he
tries to open the front door, jump in the fish tank, and climb on top of
furniture. Staying until game time is definitely out of the question. Christmas Eve service at
church is not an option with Jacob, so he must go into the nursery with the
little kids and with one of us.
Christmas time is even more of a reminder of Jacob’s limitations. As I am sure it is for the many parents who
have children with autism at home, away from school for the holidays. What was once a carefree, or mostly carefree
holiday, is now a time of careful consideration of each moment...where we go and what we will
do and how we will get Jacob through it.
It isn't all bad, there are wonderful moments, but it can certainly be very difficult at times.
So how do you get through it? How can you remain positive with so many
challenges and changes? My Pastor was
describing the door knocker parable from the Bible in Luke 11:5-13 in which a
person went next door in the middle of the night to knock on the neighbors’
door for food because they had an unexpected guest that was hungry. The neighbor only answered after he continued
to knock without ceasing. My Pastor
explained that we must pray in this way.
We must pray without ceasing, not for ourselves or desires, but to pursue
God and to know Him. He said that wisdom
is not a commodity. Wisdom is a person (GOD).
When we pray to know Him more, we will get what we need: peace, wisdom,
hope, patience, understanding, and help.
The wisdom of God can give us peace
and calm amidst trials and struggles.
God doesn’t promise that we will not endure pain, but that with GOD, we
can have REAL TRUE peace and joy. I was
reminded again throughout his sermon that the answer for how I can get through
this time is right there in the Bible, the answers are always right there. Seek and pursue God without ceasing. Know HIM, love HIM, seek to honor and glorify
HIM and he will give you rest and peace.
Christmas isn’t the tree or lights or
parties, but a celebration of the one true king, our savior, Jesus, who was
sent to us by God to reconcile us to God.
God is perfect. The Bible calls God holy. Because He is holy sin cannot exist in His
presence.
We (man) are not perfect. We all sin. I have lied you have lied, I have lusted you have lusted, etc. God says in
the Bible that the punishment for sin is death or separation from God for all of
eternity. So there lies the dilemma between
God and man. He is perfect and we are sinful so therefore we are cutoff from
God for this life and all of eternity.
But God didn’t leave us there.
God loves us so much that He sent Jesus, his only son, to us to live a perfect (sinless) life so
that all of our sins could be placed on him at the cross. Jesus took the punishment for us that he did not
deserve, and through his death on the cross, burial and resurrection, He conquered sin and
death forever and paid the penalty for our sins in full in order to reconcile us to the Father if we believe and trust in Jesus.
We are in desperate need of savior to
reconcile us to God. The Bible says that if we repent and surrender our lives and heart
to Jesus and make Him the Lord of our lives, that we will be completely forgiven of all our sins by God, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ did for us on the cross. Have you made this decision? I urge you to surrender to the one true
king. Open your Bible and read through
John. See why we celebrate Christmas and Easter and
why Jesus is so amazing. Pursue God and you will have peace and joy.
I have said these things to you, that in me
you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I
have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Romans 3:23
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9
...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
