Rest... and Relaxation...

Last Friday I had planned to upload photos from various stages of my son David's life. He's had numerous challenges in life - these pictures show him having fun, making faces, working hard, and goofing off - all through the stages of his life. Things didn't go exactly according to plan... but I did get started on the scanning process, and those photos will appear on the blog EVENTUALLY. : )

However, THIS WEEK is time for resting... for Mom and Dad, and also for David. He is attending camp for adults with special needs at a wonderful site in Alabama. You can check on the web for photos of the camp and campers this week on their website... Camp ASCCA. What a great group of campers, counselors and staff!!! Thanks, Camp ASCCA, for the fun the campers will experience, and for the respite for parents and families.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

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CAR TROUBLE...

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I drive a minivan.

There... I've said it. It's not your most bragged-about vehicle, but I probably would brag about mine except that people would think I'm crazy. After all, what would make a woman who is "50-something" ever WANT to drive a minivan? You see... my days of carting youngsters to baseball and soccer fields, and teens to driver's ed. and band practices are over! My three sons are all grown-ups now.

However, my youngest son has special needs, lives at home with us, and is dependent upon me for his transportation. The minivan fits my son's abilities and his accessibility requirements. So... I drive the minivan, thankful that one of life's hurdles to my son's independence is made easier.

This morning on the way to David's day hab program, I felt the car engine "knocking" (or so I thought) and sighed, thinking that I needed to set up an appointment at the dealer. I don't have a lot of extra time, and none that I'd want to spend it a the dealer's repair shop. But I'd already envisioned myself there. Then I turned to glance into the back seat where David rides, and this is where I burst into laughter. : )

As it turned out, the "lags" in my van's engine were being caused by my son - not really an engine problem at all. You see, David was keeping time to the music on the radio, leaning forward and backwards with what resembles rocking motions. This is his method of keeping time with the music, and he is very precise with this "nodding" to the beat.

But today he was "really into it", swaying forward almost to his knees then swaying to the back of his captain's chair before swaying forward again. Listening to the radio, David was worshipping along with his all-time favorite artist, Michael W. Smith, to the song "A New Hallelujah". David's friend Clayton also loves worship songs from "Michael W.", and is probably worshipping along with him this week... and so are many others of us, including his mother.

Indeed, "Let the song arise"!

"Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth."

Psalm 96:1

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Room Redo...

We did a bit of rearranging in David's room today.

There was an unintentional spilling of his CDs from the tower near his bed this week during a seizure. So, we moved that whole set-up away from his bed. The CDs were handy there, close to his tall dresser where his switch-activated stereo and switch are. But we'll get used to the new arrangement.

Since David has somewhat-limited functioning of his arms and hands, he uses a switch to turn his stereo on and off. He listens to a local Christian radio station most of the time lately, but we still keep one of his favorite CD's in the stereo in case he wants to play it instead. (Music is it's own world of communication, isn't it?)

Anyway, David doesn't really use the CD's much anymore - he's moved on to mp3's. Now he has a switch-activated mp3-player that he's trying to learn to use. It's pretty cool in that it's tiny, and he can "wear"it. It's also easy to sync with his iTunes playlist. This particular player is special as it has two switch adaptors - giving him the option of being able to toggle the mp3-player on/off, OR... to skip through the songs until he gets to the one he REALLY wants to listen to. We're still working on it, but he's getting the hang of it pretty well.

You can check out the little mp3-player at my friend RJ Cooper's website. You'll find a lot of very interesting items for those who need just a bit (or a lot) of adaptation to make the neatest little things accessible. We've been ordering from them for years. I'll be sharing more of the items (plus pictures) next week.

Back to the room redo... you know how one thing always seems to lead to another? We moved several pieces of furniture in there today. : )

"Shout for joy, O heavens;rejoice, O earth;burst into song, O mountains!
For the LORD comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."

Isaiah 49:13

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