“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭118:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I am so grateful God allowed me to be a mom, because it has given me a much deeper understanding of His love and care for me.

I have two daughters, ages 34 and 28. If either of them truly has a need, there’s nothing, within my power, I wouldn’t do to provide encouragement and support.

Me and My Girls

While Allison is a fully independent adult, autism has kept Morgan my forever child. She requires a full time caregiver. Two of the biggest challenges for Morgan, and many others on the autism spectrum, are communication and social skills.

When you are providing care for someone who isn’t always able to communicate their needs, and doesn’t have the social skills to respond appropriately to disappointment, it can be very daunting at times. I am always walking that tightrope of challenging Morgan to be her best, and giving her grace for behaviors that I believe are beyond her ability to control. On most days, she rises above the challenges.  On her hardest days, regardless of my best human efforts to meet her needs, anxiety and OCD can bring on panic and a meltdown.

On my hardest days, when I catch myself dwelling on the negatives, the what ifs, and my heart starts to pound out of my chest with fear of tomorrow’s unknowns, I don’t have the words to speak in my prayers. But the beauty of God being my caregiver, is that He knows me inside out. He is able to interpret my cries. He knows my every need. He reminds me that He Has given me the ability to control my thoughts. He challenges me, corrects me, and gives me grace just when I need it most. He calms me and gives me hope.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I am so amazed that we can simply speak to God anytime we wish, that He is there to listen and meet the deepest needs of our hearts. The song below was written by John Swaim and myself. Hope it brings you the joy and strength you need for this day.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2yl1kDsjkRv0epKyokLJeb?si=16aoggFqSHaDIm2mu8Et2Q

Ordinary Day on Youtube

To sum it all up, as hard as some days can be, the best days outweigh them by far. I’ll say it again. I’m grateful to be a mom, and a caregiver. And I am eternally grateful for my Caregiver.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with a smile from Morgan & Mom on one of our daily drives.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 11:15 NKJV

Recent Car Navigation Conversation: Morgan and I use Siri to deliver meals on wheels. Part of her job is to call out the street number to Siri, then I call out the street. I decided to challenge her this week to start saying the street names. Turns out Siri was the one who was challenged.

Me, pointing to S. Valley Rd. - “Say South Valley Road”
Morgan - “Salley Valley Road”
Siri - “I could be a little off…”
Me, pointing again - “Say South Valley Road”
Morgan - “Salley Vath Road”
Siri - spinning, no reply
Me - laughing hard and writing the word “South”
Morgan, getting it perfect “South Valley Road”
Me- still laughing in the background.
Siri - “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
Morgan - “Mom’s fault” 

Know The Hope!

Tammy

**Disclaimer: **The views and opinions expressed in this blog are the those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views or opinions of Autism Tennessee. The author and the blog are not be held responsible for any misuse, reuse, recycled and cited and/or uncited copies of content within this blog by others.