Can I Be Your Hero?

Levi letting his littlest sister, Gemmie, give him a kiss. He adores her!

 Levi's playroom is almost completely finished! We're far enough along that we've been working in there with him for about 2 weeks. Although we have only been in there a couple hours each day up to this point, Rebekah has worked with him the most. She has been doing a FABULOUS job!! Rebekah and Levi have a really special connection and it is so special to sit at the observation window and watch him interact with her. <3

 Last night, we were having a feedback pow-wow and hashing over the Son Rise principles and how to better implement them, not only in the playroom, but also in our daily living. I'm really glad that we decided to go ahead with our two-way mirror, especially right now, since Foscam sent us the wrong camera's. So even though we're a bit behind on having our camera's installed, we still have the benefit of observing each other working with Levi, through the window. This is also helpful because it enables us to give each other training and feedback.

 As we talked about Levi's program and the different strategies and games we could use in the playroom, and watched several Son Rise YouTube video's, Trevor had a sudden brainstorm!

To give you a little background, our family has a business that utilizes several web-based shops to sell our products. I happen to "man" one of those shops. When I opened this shop, we we're surprised at how well it did fairly quickly. This shops brings in roughly, about one-quarter of our monthly income, and as a result, it takes up WAY more than one-quarter of my time.

So the brainstorm...Trevor looks at me and says, "Angela, shut your shop down and dedicate all of your time to Levi in the playroom. We can trust the Lord with the income that won't be coming in from your shop. Levi is more important.". That's what he said...very matter of factly.

I froze. Just shut it down? We really do need the money coming in from this shop. But Trevor knows me. He knows I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to help in any area where I'm needed. But, he also knows my heart. This was all I needed to hear. And a burden was lifted, because I wanted to be with Levi and was trying to figure out how to schedule my time properly so that I could do it "ALL". And it wasn't working.

I made short order of the whole thing and before I went to bed last night, I had the entire shop closed down. :)

 Levi and I playing a game in the playroom, taken from the observation window.

My first session in the "playroom" today with Levi was awesome. I wrote a new friend of mine, who is also a Son Rise Mamma, an email today, and I told her,"It was amazing spending time together like that, in our own world. It's like time stops, and all that matter's is building relationship." I've heard other mamma's describe their time in the playroom with their beautiful children feeling somewhat "magical". Now I understand. There's something about being in a place that totally shuts out the world around you, and allows the focus to be on what is most important at that moment.

Holding Levi's hands to give deep pressure between his fingers.

 As I got ready to go into the playroom this afternoon, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror putting my hair up. I was excited but I also felt a determined, seriousness about myself. And then a thought crossed my conscience. I loved the thought so much, that I looked at myself in the mirror and spoke it outloud.

"I want to be Levi's hero."

 I can't help but LOVE the way that sounds, but I think what I love so much about it is the reality of what it means! I want Levi to trust me. To trust me so, that he knows I'm not going to push him too fast. To trust me so, that he knows I'm not soley looking for performance, but that having a relationship and deep connection with him is what I want more than anything...while all along, hand-in-hand, we'll be slowly inching across the bridge that connects his world to ours.

 If you're an Autism Daddy or Mamma and you need some encouragement today...YOU ARE AWESOME AND HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO NURTURE A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CHILD AND TO BEGIN BUILDING THE BRIDGE TO YOUR CHILDS FULL POTENTIAL AND HAPPINESS! AND not only that, but our children let us know exactly what they are capable of and just the right direction they need to go. No matter what the level of recovery is for our children, we have an amazing opportunity to make all the difference in the world for them.

GO FOR IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!

Be determined.
We have what it takes.
Deep and unwavering love.
We have the kind of faith that can move mountains.
We can go as HARD and as LONG as we need to, because when we are weak, our God is strong!

And, we have a goal...

We're going to be our children's hero!

Thank you so much for coming to see how things are going with our new Son Rise Program. It means so much to have so many friends who care about our progress and give us such loving support!

<3 Angela, Levi's Mommy