When you hear the word grateful what do you think of?

When you think of things that you are grateful for, do you find it easy or hard to name them?

When I used to hear the word “autism,” it felt like a curse had come over our family. I associated the word with pain, suffering, stress, anxiety - just to name a few.

It took me many long years to learn to be grateful for autism. There was much soul-searching, in between all of the appointments, therapies, and endless nights of hardly sleeping. I wanted to hide from the world for so long. I wanted to just crawl up in a ball and never leave my house. I had so many emotions and I felt up and down like a yo-yo for so long – years in fact.

I had to come to terms with all of the things that took over our lives and I had to do a lot of soul-searching to figure out what God wanted me to discover all along. I learned to be grateful for autism. Once I accepted that fact, I have never looked back. I never think about what it would be like if our children were not on the spectrum. I am truly grateful because it has changed and enhanced our lives in so many positive ways.

God works in very mysterious ways and this has been one of them.

I can’t even begin to explain how much autism has enriched our lives. First of all, I would not be writing this blog. I wouldn’t have such amazing people in my life whom I have learned to love and count on and I perhaps wouldn’t be able to appreciate all of the uniqueness in both of our children.

So, I am grateful each and every day for everything – big or small. I am grateful for the closeness of the little unit of people that I have around me that I can totally trust and I am even more grateful for the amazing children that God has blessed me with. I am grateful for what each of them teaches me each and every single day!

God is amazing! He blesses us and he teaches us all of the time and I am so grateful that God knows me and what I need better than myself.

I love this verse,

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

No matter what your circumstances are today, God knows. Be grateful and follow God’s promises and He will protect you and be a force to be reckoned with in your life.

Shelly Wedge

Exceptional Family Ministry Coordinator

Amberlea Church