Reading, Riding, and Rhythmatic

When I received the referral for Diamond and Florence, I was given a picture and some information (which you can read in one of my early July 07 posts) about the children's background and education levels. In Florence's information she was reportedly "mentally slow" and only at a "nursery" level. I felt quite strongly that these were the children for me, but I was really taken aback by this information. I started crying uncontrollably, and, of course, called my mother right away. I told her that I understand that you never know what challenges you might face before you give birth to a baby. However, you don't get a choice, you deal with it. But do you willingly and knowingly sign up to make your life more challenging? If you are given a choice to have a child like this, do you agree to it? She gave me her typical answer without answering, "Pray about it, I have no doubt you'll do the right thing."

I was so overwhelmed by what this would mean in my life having seven children, one who was special needs, and a husband going to Iraq in the imminent future. I really questioned my strength. Someone else had already turned Florence down because of this information. I spent the day shaking with anxiety. I prayed so hard to know if these were my children. I remember exactly where I was sitting when the answer came to me--watching Shamu at Sea World, of all places. The words came clearly into my head that these were indeed my children and they needed to come home soon. I went home and officially accepted our referral. Later that evening as I prayed to Heavenly Father for strength to face whatever challenges lay ahead with Florence, again, very clear words came into my mind: "There is nothing wrong with Florence, she just needs a mother to love her." All of the anxiety and the apprehension fled from my mind immediately.

Over the next few months, I received various reports from families traveling, some seemingly hopeful, some warning me of potential challenges with Florence. When I visited the AFAA house, I, too became concerned with what I was observing with her. Often, she would zone out and become vacant. She couldn't seem to retain anything and she was far behind in her schoolwork. The foster mothers told me she was "slow" and that she couldn't learn well. But, I felt surprisingly calm. I just accepted the fact that I would have to work a little more persistently with her.

So here we are two months after my children arrived in America. Miracles have happened. Florence is not the child that was in the AFAA house. As it turns out, those words spoken to my mind and my heart were true--there is nothing wrong with Florence at all. We have been working the alphabet and numbers extensively. She now can write, count and identify all numbers up to 9. But more impressively, she is mastering the sounds of the alphabet faster than I am teaching them. She started sounding out basic words and is in the beginning stages of reading. Technically, she is only supposed to be in Kindergarten because her birthday is just shy of the cut off date. So at this pace, I will have no problem catching her up to first grade by the end of the summer. I am amazed. I'd love to think that it is because I am such an awesome teacher, but I really think it is due to the healing power of a family's love. Perhaps it is true that love can heal anything?

The wonders don't stop with reading. Florence has finally figured out how to ride her bike (with training wheels, mind you:). I watched her out the window practicing and practicing until she finally could keep up with the rest of the longer-legged children. She is also the star of her dance and gymnastic classes. She was the first one to get her cartwheel and she is the only one that can remember all of the choreography--on beat--the girl's got rhythm. I would say that she also knows all the words to the song because she sings along as she dances. However, some of the words have been lost in translation. They are dancing to Mary Poppins song about the children's advertisement for a nanny. I can't think of the exact title, but you probably know what I am talking about. She sings something to the effect of "Have a cheery preposition", something about a Christmas tree, and "rosy teeth, no wars". The real words are rosy cheeks, no warts, and when others put their fingers to their cheeks, she puts her finger to her front tooth. I would say that that would be a mistake in choreography, but technically if she thinks that she is supposed to be acting out the words in the song, by her standard she's doing it right. She is much, much smarter than people have given her credit for--that's for sure!

I am very proud of her and I think that she is going to accomplish great things in this life. I now shake thinking that way back when I even questioned whether I should take this child into my home. Silly me. The thing is, even if Florence had been special needs after all, I would have missed out on the opportunity of a life time. I have realized it is a privilege to raise special needs children, it's a privilge to raise an orphan, it's a privilege to raise any child for that matter. I think it is scary to take it on, but the blessings definitely outweigh the costs. Besides, its the challenges that make life more interesting.