Maybe I just need to listen.

I attend what I guess is considered a megachurch. I lead the Special Needs ministry. It is a pretty amazing ministry, really...we hook kids up with a one on one volunteer to hang with them back in the children's part of the church. I serve some really great kids and their parents. In addition, I attend church almost every Sunday. I listen to the pastor speak and try to apply it to my life. I pray.

But it is so much more than that.

For the first couple of years after Will was born, my husband and I struggled greatly with the ups and downs of life with a child with special needs. There were days when I felt like we'd never make it through. Then slowly, things started to improve and life didn't seem quite so difficult.

Today as I was reflecting on some of the major turning points, I realized something. There was a common thread among them all.

First, we met the feeding therapist who had a daughter in C's classroom at church. She is the reason that the child who people thought would never eat by mouth is now weaned from his feeding tube.

Then, what about the mom in my small group who told me about our wonderful speech therapist who lives around the corner from me? She is the reason that I can now hold a conversation with my four year old.

I can't forget the teacher who volunteers with me and works at an ABA school nearby. I plan to enlist the school's help to get Will past some of his behaviors that are currently stressing his mother out.

And what about those who prayed for us? Or told us about adoption when we said we wouldn't have any more bio kids? They cheered us on as we brought N home from Vietnam last December.

Or what about the naturopath who has treated Will off and on? She's the reason I started looking into alternative treatment and discovered Will's metabolic crisis...his abnormally low carnitine. Guess where she attends?

I can't forget Will's first OT. The one who gave me hope and told me never to give up on my child, even if others had. Because of her, I made it through some dark times. And in her presence and with her guidance, Will learned to sit. And crawl. And walk. I volunteered with her at church too.

There are those who might say this was a coincidence. Or that we go to a pretty awesome church. (We do!) But I'm thinking that God has been trying to tell me something for a very long time. Maybe I just need to listen.