Archive for December, 2008

December 25, 2008

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Merry Christmas from the House of Krause!

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Wow, what a year it’s been! This time last year we just started seeking help for Luke. We sought help from a family friend who works with children. We had just started teaching him sign language. From there we started talking to his Doctor. Actually we had been talking to the Dr. all along but he usually dismissed our concerns. Always remember mother knows best! We called Inland regional Center, Luke begun play therapy to encourage any vocalization. We saw more doctors and had more test to rule out any hearing problems. Luke had more evaluations, then started working with a wonderful occupational therapist. More testing for speech services. Finally Inland regional came through with speech therapy, so then the process began of finding the right clinic. We needed a place who knew about speech Apraxia. My husband got right down to it. He’s good with things like that. He called Nancy Kaufman directly and talked to her. She was so kind, she spoke with my husband for half an hour. Nancy Kaufman is an expert in her specialized field of Apraxia of Speech. She told Paul about Lucid Speech and Language in Murrieta. So we took the plunge and decided to drive an hour each way to take Luke for therapy! Nancy was right, they are awesome! So yeah, looking back…… let me catch my breath!

Well, Christmas is the time of year for Miracles. God has blessed us this year with so many! I’ve seen reconciliation among my family members. I’ve reconnected with good friends from my past. I heard from long lost distant relatives. I got to sit and watch my three children dance around the living room with their Dad. I heard Christmas carols sung by the loveliest little voices! I can’t wait to hear my Lukey join in next year… He has blessed us and continues to amaze us. Luke stopped drooling almost completely. Luke learned to smile. Luke started making many new sounds. And finally, he has begun to form his very first words, all by himself! Miracles, I’d say! (Check out Luke’s new video under video page)

Dear God,
Thank you for changing my heart forever…Thank you for changing the way I look at things…Thank you for bending me and molding me… Thank you for making me realize what’s important… But most of all God, I want to thank you for holding my hand as I walked through this past year, sorry sometimes I tried to let go! Love, Jen

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Lessons from a child

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Children truly are a gift from God, and certainly my greatest inspiration! I never realized how many toddlers have jobs. Week after week we head down to speech therapy and see the same little faces and bright eyes. They wait for their turn to go to work. They don’t complain as their mama’s push them in the door and say “Work hard for your teacher!” And that’s exactly what they do—WORK HARD! But see that is the amazing thing about children, they see it all differently.  I’ve heard it many times kids who face challenges grow up to be extremely compassionate people.  They understand early on what it is to struggle, they know about never giving up, they keep faith and hope alive. Is that what I wish for my kids?…….Of course! Speech apraxia affects our whole family because we are a team. When one player is down we all have to help. Luke is blessed to have so many people who support and love him.  Cousin Maddie teaches me all kinds of lesson’s and she doesn’t even know it. I always watch her try to learn Luke’s signs. She wants to know what’s on his mind. She wants to find a friend,  and be a friend.  Maddie has reached out her arms to Luke a thousand times,  only to be rejected. She does not lose faith. Luke is quite a mama’s boy. I’m know because I baby him, but also because for him,  if I’m gone…… well,  it’s like being in a foreign land and losing your translator! Maddie though,  she gets it.  And not because she knows all his signs or jumbled words, but because she understands his heart. She sees what’s going on in the inside. Wow! Isn’t that so Christ like- He knows our hearts.  He understands us from the inside! He watches our struggles and reaches out his arms to help us!  Well, Last week Luke and I walked up to get the kids from school. Maddie came up as she usually does and said “Hi Luke!” Then she dropped her back pack and reached out her arms to him. Guess what?? He let go of my neck and reached back for her!  The two of them headed off. I happily followed behind and thought, Wow, she never gave up on him… he learned he could trust her…she became a translator!

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Matthew 19:14

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