The Payoff--Snugglebug Walks!!!

On Tuesday, we had our regular visit from our physical therapist through Early Child Intervention. She comes to our house twice a month to work with Snugglebug's gross motor skills and sometimes his fine motor skills. For the most part, we work on walking. She teaches me how to teach him. She is like a coach who wants to see Snugglebug succeed almost as much as I do.

Tuesday, Snugglebug took an extra long nap. After sleeping for almost 2 1/2 hours, I actually had to wake him for his PT appointment. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and drinking some water from his sippy cup, he was ready to go. It didn't take much coaxing to get him to get him to show off the last week's accomplishment! I set him in front of a chair, and once he had his balance he walked the five or six steps from the chair to me. He grabbed on to me, I turned him around, and he walked back to the chair. He did this once, then twice, then three times!

But, on the fourth lap, he bypassed me, turned the corner, walked around the sofa, and another ten or twelve steps before reaching his favorite push cart.

The therapist and I leaped to our feet at the same time! We each pointed at Snugglebug as if the other had missed the great feat! And we stood in shocked silence so as not to disturb the concentration now going into walking. His steps were shaky, but he was determined. Once stabilized by his cart, a round of applause rang out from both of us. We cheered for his determination, his accomplishment. And I cheered for ours!

Finally, the big payoff! After 8 therapy sessions in four months, he had gone from not even being able to crawl to walking by himself across the room! I rejoiced! I couldn't stop smiling or hopping up and down!

Finally, the big payoff! After 12 months of crying (me that is) everyday, 6 months of hardwork, and 26 doctor's appointments, lab appointments, and therapy evaluations, we had reached the big payoff! He was walking!

Six months ago, I had watched a two-year old playing with a train set and wondered if my son would ever be able to walk around a table and push a train. Six months ago, I had no clue what was wrong. I just knew something was wrong. On that day, I blinked back the tears, as the fears raced through my mind. We have come so far in six months. God has definitely heard our prayers and answered them!

I am reminded of a "conversation" my pastor and I had via Facebook. He commented that it looked like it was going to rain. I replied and said probably not since the radar showed the clouds moving away from us. He replied that he, being an optimist, believed in prayer even for rain clouds. Yes, I wrote, I forgot that prayer works for rain clouds, too. It didn't rain that day, but it did rain a week later.

Sometimes, God doesn't answer our prayers that day. Sometimes it takes time. What we see is only the starting point for God. It is not the ending point. The payoff for God is the amount our faith has grown through the challenge. I think my faith has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 18 months.