A Sweet Circus Story

Another cool provision during our furlough in 2003 was for Debbie. One of our motives for staying in Cleveland that year was to get a diagnosis and start treatment for our 4-year-old who was still not speaking intelligibly.

After extensive evaluation, the official conclusion was that Debbie has Apraxia (click for more information on Childhood Apraxia of Speech - CAS). Although she could understand both English and Spanish, something in her brain prohibited the neural connection to her mouth. She required speech therapy to help her form individual sounds, syllables, words, and eventually phrases.

During that time, I continued reading aloud to Debbie and taking her to the zoo and science museums and anywhere that might give her a desire to communicate verbally. Whereas most people only need to say a new vocabulary word three or four times before "owning" it, children with Apraxia sometimes repeat a new word fifty to a hundred times before they can effectively retrieve it from their brain.

With that in mind, I looked wishfully at an ad in the newspaper announcing that the Ringling Brothers were coming to town. Surely a circus would provide a unique experience for language development. Debbie could learn about clowns, acrobats, elephants, lion tamers, cotton candy, and so many other things.

Knowing our schedule and finances were equally tight, I realized it was impossible to take Debbie to the circus. I sighed and accepted reality without even thinking to pray about it. That afternoon, however, I received a phone call from a total stranger, the mother of a little girl in Debbie's Sunday School class at Grace church.

With God's intervention, they "happened" to have an extra ticket to the circus, and when they asked Jordan who she would like to invite, she chose Debbie! Surprise, surprise. The mom felt a bit uncomfortable calling, since we didn't really know each other except for casual acquaintance at church. Normally I would have felt uneasy sending a non-verbal child to spend the day with people I didn't know, but this time I knew beyond any doubt that this was a special provision for my daughter.

Debbie did go to the circus with her new little friends, Jordan and Elizabeth, and their families. Jordan's dad made up a CD of photos from their outing, and occasionally Debbie still enjoys the slide show of her special day. As she grows, I want her to remember who is responsible for blessings like that. Only God could have orchestrated such a sweet surprise. He is not limited by time or finances.

Sidebar: I do wish I had thought to actually pray about this need. Nonetheless, God still loves Debbie and meets her needs with or without her mother's prayer.

"When you pray, go into your room. Close the door and pray to your Father, who can't be seen. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly....Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him." Matthew 5:6-7 (New International Reader's Version)