Recent News
Fall 2011 News
Selah
When Sarah and I decided to adopt, we did not envision bringing a special needs child into our family. We specifically asked for a healthy child or at least a child who did not have known special needs. But we did give up to God the possibility that the child placed with us might turn out to have special needs. And that is what God chose for us.
Our adopted daughter, Selah, was recently diagnosed with cerebral palsy. When we brought her home at the age of seven months, she could not even hold her head up, let alone turn over, crawl or reach for objects. Therapists said that she would catch up quickly. After some months, it became clear that she was not improving. We took her to a neurologist, got an MRI, and learned that she had suffered brain damage from a lack of oxygen in utero.
In spite of her condition, we know that God created Selah— without a doubt—and brought her into our family. He did so in a fearful and wonderful way. We can testify that He has sustained us through each step of this journey. The road has not been easy, but we have learned and grown a lot (I hope!) in our trust and knowledge of Him as a Father.
The brain is an amazing creation. Just watch a newborn grow and develop. A baby learns how to “coo”, roll over, sit up, babble, crawl, stand up, walk and talk, without specific training. At least a normal baby does. Selah, however, has to be shown, literally, how to do each of these very complicated biological functions. For example, Sarah and I had to crouch on the floor, one of us in front of Selah and the other behind, and “walk” her through the crawling motion, one leg and one arm at a time. We did this over and over to help her brain learn the crawling action. Amazingly, she eventually learned, and now is able to crawl!
How often, I wonder, does God have to “walk” us through various facets of the Christian life, placing one foot in front of the other, teaching us step-by-step how to trust in Him, to keep His commandments or to bear fruit? Currently, Selah is learning to walk with the help of a walker and feet braces. How often, does our merciful Father give us a “faith walker” or “charity braces” because we are unable to learn any other way? Truly, He is longsuffering and tender-hearted! And yet, just as we need to push Selah through tears and tantrums in order to teach her the next function, our Father will also push us (I’m afraid!) to perfection and to maturity.
The Essence of Christmas
Every year as Christmas approaches we wonder how we will make the current season more than just a rush of checklists and events. How can we capture the essence and importance of Christ coming to earth as an infant? We search for elaborate traditions and new ideas; fancy ways to make the message of the season sink in. However, the longer our family works at Gateway Woods, the more we realize the answer to capturing the essence of Christmas – keep it simple.
Working with at-risk teenagers has brought us face to face with the reality of how many people really know nothing about the true story of Christmas.
Every year Gateway Woods sets up a life-size wooden nativity scene at the entrance of our campus. When it is not on display, it gets stored in our shop building. Early on in our Houseparenting, one of our residents saw the figures in the shop and asked what they were. I told her they were the pieces to the nativity scene, to which she questioned, “What’s that?” I was then able to explain the Christmas story to this young lady and share that the nativity scene was a depiction of Christ’s birth. It was a teachable moment—an opportunity to share the truth behind Christmas to a young girl who had never heard the wonderful story.
There are also opportunities to provide a loving atmosphere where kids can experience the joy of giving and receiving with no strings attached. We have seen young men with hardened hearts find joy in singing Christmas carols with exuberance to nursing home shut-ins. We have seen self-centered girls become excited while brainstorming and using their creativity to make or purchase gifts for every person in the house with just their meager earnings. The awe on the faces of underprivileged teenagers as they look at a candlelit table decorated for a Christmas meal causes us to reflect.
The essence of Christmas is simple. It is about sharing the story of Christ’s humble birth with those who have never heard it. It is about bringing joy to those who rarely experience joy in its purest form. It is about giving to those who may believe are not worthy to receiving anything. Sometimes we feel like simple is too easy— there has to be more we should do in order for this Christmas to “top” the Christmases past. However, for those who have never heard the story, have never experienced the joy or have never felt loved, their plea is simple. Tell me the truth of Christmas. Share Jesus’ joy. Love me for me. This, we are discovering, is the essence of Christmas.
P.S. We wish you all a blessed holiday season as we celebrate the reason we know a loving Father.
A Steady Rock
Devin was a resident at Gateway Woods for over a year and attended Gateway Woods School during his whole stay, as opposed to spending part of his time at public school. He was a very intelligent boy with a photographic memory. However, before coming to Gateway, he was failing his classes.
You see, among many other things, Devin had an anger issue. He resisted authority, especially when those in control imposed their will upon him. He only wanted to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.
This attitude led to many problems. When Devin was asked to leave a classroom due to his disruptive behavior, he wanted to make sure that everyone knew he wasn’t happy about it. Thus chairs and desks would be shoved, grumblings were uttered under his breath, doors were slammed and pens and papers were thrown, just to name a few ways he responded to the teacher’s demand.
Almost every day was a battle with Devin, both behaviorally and academically. However, as the months passed, Devin began to change. He began to perform academically and the amount of daily battles began decreasing. He began opening up and allowing the Staff into his life. Why was this happening? Our expectations and rules didn’t change. Our proclamation of our faith in God didn’t falter. What was causing it? Devin was changing because we were not. We were becoming a steady rock in his life that he could rely on.
Fast forward one year. Devin has a 96% A in my science class and he is being discharged from GW to live with a foster family. That was 3 years ago and I am still praying for him even though I haven’t seen him since. I don’t know where he is or what he is doing. All I know is that while he attended Gateway Woods School he experienced guidance, accountability, unwavering expectations, academic success and above all, God’s love.
