How the Government Became God post #3

I did not post this second post the next day as I had planned. You know why? Solomon had 6 seizures every day for 4 days in a row. That is my life. I am not complaining. It is the most important sacred part of my life, to comfort and care for my children. But it is my life. It is why my book is not done being edited. It is why I do not always get phone calls made. It is also why children like mine are easy to forget...

That's right. I know that children like mine are not naturally at the front of your mind. You have soccer practice, grocery shopping and work to do. Everyone is busy.

Our version of busy is a bit different. It looks something like this:

Getting up from dinner to comfort Sollie during a seizure;

Jump up again to keep Aaron from falling off of his chair when he has an absence seizure;

all the while helping my 16 year old to get ready for homecoming;

doing homework with Frannie while discussing with the nurse how to best keep Malachi from hurting himself;

Talking to a family about adopting a little boy that I would love to adopt myself, but we know we cannot.

We are tired. We are struggling with making decisions for Sollie and Malachi. Services are getting cut. We cannot keep this pace up.

We just do not go to church sometimes because we are too tired and the kids are sick.

I'm ashamed to say that church is not a priority. It just can't be. We logistically can't keep the kids safe and healthy and get them to church.

Self care is not a priority either. I hate to admit that. But it is just not possible. When people tell us to take care of ourselves, it actually hurts. Yes it would be great if that could happen. But it can't. We can't "reorganize our priorities". What shall we give up or rearrange? Giving seizure meds at midnight? Turning Malachi and Sollie every 2 hours so they don't get bedsores? Going to appointments? Doing laundry and dishes? Cooking? Cleaning? We don't volunteer. Our kids don't play sports. We don't go out. So what shall we give up? So unless you are willing to help, please do not tell a parent of s special needs child to take care of themselves.

I'm afraid through my blog, in illustrating how blessed and sacred our calling is, I have made it out to be something it is not. And as government services and funding is slashed, things are getting more difficult around here. People need to know. It's tiring to beg for help. It's the last thing we want to do. I loathe asking people if they plan on showing up. Doug now has said to not call or check because he does not want anyone around the kids that does not want to be here. The kids know and feel when we have had people not show up, come late, leave early and make up excuses to leave. They feel when they are viewed as a burden, and we do not want that in our home. Our children demand a lot of attention. It is just the nature of their various disabilities.

So as you watch the election campaigns rage on. You can no longer wonder how God is being systemically removed from our government. I can bet that anyone living a sacrificial lifestyle can tell you, not just us. A void creates a vacuum. It has to be filled. Now the government is filling the void once inhabited by Christians. The government pays for Homecare (barely). The government sends help. The government operates hospitals and orphanages (group and nursing homes for children). The government feeds the hungry. The government takes care of the sick, elderly and dying. The government also does it poorly, inadequately, while taking the basic human dignity of these people. They do not adequately fund interventions in order to keep people well or aide in a quality of life. The government does not value life as Christians do, or at least should. Afterall, the more quickly we let these people die, or let them kill themselves, or let their mothers kill them, the less cost they will be. **GASP***

Did I just type that?!?

Yes I did. We are living it. It's true. And even though we are tired and our faith is worn and ugly right now, we are not going to let people forget about our children and the kids just like them. They are disappearing. They are going into institutions. They are not leaving their homes. Their families are falling apart and going bankrupt. We may be headed there too. I am not ignorant enough to believe that we possess some magic power that excludes us from any of it. But we will go down yelling and kicking at least. And maybe, just maybe, when you notice no more kids in wheelchairs, autistic kids or children with walkers, you will remember us and feel the void left by the pure Christ like joy that these children bring to a hurting world. They are the closest representation to Christ like love you will ever glimpse on earth. Don't let them disappear into the void. What they will be replaced with is more of what we already have, selfishness, distraction and greed. No thank you.