God's innocent, purehearted kids and how they experience His presence.
Story Time!
Did you know that autistic and other special needs kids can experience the power, presence, and love of God, too? I'd always pray over my son to feel God's love and presence but never actually knew what he was experiencing himself. I'd also pray for angels to guard him over his room at night when he was sleeping. I always wondered how his mental differences would affect him in knowing or experiencing God one day. One night, when he was about 2 years old and still almost completely nonverbal, I prayed a bedtime prayer and asked for God to send his angels to protect him. That little boy looked up at the ceiling and started giggling with joy and bliss on his little face. He pointed up at the ceiling and said, "angel". That's when I realized autism is no barrier or match against the power of God working in my son's life.
Fast forward about 3 years, and suddenly the Asbury Revival breaks out in Wilmore, KY and we're hearing of stories of people from all over the world traveling to see this event: stories of peopled getting saved, healed, Christians experiencing God, and how they could barely fit the people in their chapel because it was bursting at the seams. With our family living only a couple hours away, we determined we had to go! I really wasn't sure how my son was going to take it and really just hoped he could handle to loud noises and crowds but, hey-- it's worth a try, right?! Not only did this kiddo do good, he was loving it! The entire experience made him overjoyed. The presence of God was tangible in the room- I had never felt anything quite like this and couldn't help but to think my son has to be feeling something here. During this incredible once-in-a-lifetime worship, my son stands up and starts raising his arms in worship like everyone else around him. We thought it was sooo sweet and so we took a picture. However, I still wondered how much God was actually getting to him or he was simply copying the other worshipers.
One night, a few months later, I'm helping him get ready for bed and had worship music on. I couldn't help but really feel God's presence in that moment. I looked at my son and said, " Hey, do you feel God?" He said "feel God....... yes". Right when he said yes he raised his little arm up just like he did months before when he was at Asbury. As a mama, this got to me and tears were in my eyes. He didn't see many worship services beforehand so I knew that was his response to God. Just to simply know that God is working in my son's life and autism cannot stop or slow down God coming to him is awesome.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8
^This is just one of the verses I think of when I think about my son and other kids similar to him.
Aren't autistic kids God's natural worshipers? Really, let's think about it-- they could spend hours a day watching the same favorite TV show, putting together the alphabet for the millionth time, obsessing over certain details being just right with their toys, listening to the same 3 songs for a billionth time, and so why do they do this? For us, maybe the repetitive nature of autism is new to us who are not autistic but we do understand human condition of having obsessive tendencies. Obsessions come into our lives because we desire a fulfilled life. We as human beings naturally have a hole in our heart that we feel needs to be filled through whatever our obsessions can bring us. Human beings are naturally fleshly, sinful people who have been intentionally created to worship an all fulfilling God. Which is why obsessions can become idols really fast- they typically aren't rooted in Christ's love. Autistic kids just get right to the very human need faster: they just need God's fulfillment in their lives just as we all do. I am not saying all their repetitive behaviors are their idols but how sad would it be if all their obsessions in their whole life had absolutely nothing to do with the God that fulfills our souls? They are just as much as His Kingdom's kids as we all are!
Be Uplifted! You were Created for this Parenting Ministry.
I know it is exhausting to parent an autistic child at times, but let's please keep being "...patient, bearing with one another in love"(Ephesians 4:2) because we will ".. at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"(Galations 6:9). That way we live out what scripture says when he said to"....Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."(1 Corinthians 15:58). He wastes nothing! God will always bring for efforts for these kids to eternal worth that lasts from this life to the next. Even if our kiddo gives us no eye contact while we read a Bible story to them, even if they seem annoyed by the kid's Bible stories on YouTube, or they don't like the kid's worship songs we introduce to them. Repetition is key with these kiddos, if they are introduced to a Bible story enough times, they will eventually grow to like it and may even start requesting that story, or that worship song, or wanting to pray on their own. When they see that God does visually satisfying miracles (for example, Moses parting the red sea) because of LOVE for His people, they flip that worship switch on really fast! If you were my son, you would be jumping and flapping your hands with the biggest smile of excitement over the sea being parted, people being saved, and bad guys floating away slowly. Let's bear with them in love and foster that worshipful heart God put inside them.
Resources that Helped my Autistic Son Understand God:
Downloading the Bible App for Kids -- It has the words on the side and reads the story to your kiddo with cute well-down animation and is not too wordy and easy to understand. What kept him interested was that when you touch characters in the pictures they would move around and make noise. He would be so visually satisfied with the movements and sounds that he would go back to each story sometime just to touch the characters at the end of each page's reading. They also have puzzles, questions and games on the app. https://bibleappforkids.com/
YouTube channel "Bible Adventures " Between ages 2-5 years is best. They use animation from the Bible App for Kids YouTube stories for the story and then use fun characters and their own animation to further explain how to apply ideas from the Bible to your life practically in a way a young child could understand. They also have a kids worship playlist on their channel with animated characters that do dance moves and my son thought that was amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9Iu55tS3zIxRg52JBWkh5pcatiV1Stn9
Reading Bible picture books to him and pointing to explain further.
SuperBook YouTube channel - Now that my son is more kid than toddler, he really likes SuperBook episodes. They also have short devotionals for kids on there as well. The episodes are extremely visually stimulating but what I love the most about this one is how they really highlight GOD'S POWER. They also have a catchy theme song my son loves. https://www.youtube.com/@SuperbookTV
More from Asbury University Revival just because it was awesome.
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