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I most certainly felt a God Nudge last night.
It was opening night of Vacation Bible School. I was an “extra” volunteer, which mostly meant I stayed available to take kids to the potty all night.
I was standing in the back of our sanctuary during the closing gathering time. Parents were invited to come share in the worship songs. The area was getting pretty crowded as a mom I didn’t recognize came in with her son. He was screaming and holding his ears, legs crumbling. She knelt and held her hands over his ears, scanning the crowd to observe her other child participating in the worship songs. Her boy screamed and screamed, trying to wriggle away. Parents stepped aside and gave her a little extra room and I thought, “Oh – someone should offer to show him to the cry room.” Not because he was such a disruption (he wasn’t) but because he was clearly uncomfortable.
Then it hit me. Why not me? (That was God nudging me.)
I approached and sandwiched him in between us and asked the mom if I could take him for a walk. She looked at me and said, “He’s has autism. I don’t know if he’ll go with you. And if he does, he might run.” I told her I was willing to try if she thought it would help him. She asked him if he wanted to stay with her or leave with me, and he took my hand.
We sat together in the silent cry room in the back of our sanctuary holding hands. He calmed down instantly and watched the whole proceedings. And I prayed a prayer of thanks.
A note from Karen Mulder: Thank you Sara for responding to God’s Nudge and in the process you blessed everyone: the mother, the boy, others who were worshipping, and most of all, you were blessed.
PS: Sara, it might serve your mama’s heart to know he’s been there every night since, dancing along to the (loud) music. We all have bad days now and again, don’t we?
I am a nurse & care for the elderly in a Nursing Home caleld Harmonee House. There is a very unique reason for the name but, I won’t go into detail as it is very lengthy. My husband was a victim of the dreaded Alzheimer’s Disease along with vascular dementia. He was a very strong, determined man, very set in his ways. He was just a little this side of brilliant as a building contractor in the construction of any kind of medical facilities IE; Hospitals, clinics, etc. Also built chemical laboratories. He loved traveling in RV’s after retiring. He was diagnosed with this disease quite awhile after I had suspected his problem because I could not get him to see his Doctor even though he had always been one for regular check ups, he was always told he was as healthy as anyone could be at his age. This was stamped in his mind & one thing he never forgot as long as he any bit of memory left . Over two years his doctor & I came up with every reason we could think of to get him into the clinic for tests. He had a traffic accident which warranted the need to be hospitalized (after walking away from many other traffic mishaps, driving without a DL, since it had been taken away from him, another huge fine, but fortunately, out of all the accidents (apprx. 20) no one else was hurt or, more importantly, killed) he was diagnosed & put on medication. He was so far advanced in the disease, the medication used for onset of the disease, did not help him. He had no hospital insurance, only medicare. At that time alot of procedures that were required, were not covered my medicare & our savings were depleted very rapidly. This is not the end of a very tragic story but, I will stop here. I have written this so people will be aware of the costs, mentally & financially, associated with this disease, that they maybe prepared should it ever, suddenly, pop up in their family. Make yourself aware of the signs & symptoms & get checked as quickly as possible if & when a sign is suspected. The medication for Alzheimer will help if it is started in early stages. It will make life so much easier for the unfortunate one & the care giver. Believe me, you will need all the help you can receive. I am a nurse & have taken care of patients with dementia & it is heartbreaking but, when it becomes a family member & you have to watch a mind deteriorate of a loved one, I can’t express enough how terrible this can be. Alzheimer’s Associations need all the help they can get, especially,financial.