Autism meetup, maybe a new church for us
Zora is still clingy, but not sick any more. Zane seems to be better too. Hopefully everybody will stay healthy so we can enjoy Easter this year. We plan to go out to the farm, probably to church too. Zane and Zach might spend most of that time out on the playstructure outside, but we will give it a shot. Then to Mom & Dad’s for dinner and an afternoon of hunting for eggs and playing on the farm. My grandma is planning on being out there too, which just makes me even more excited to go out there. Not sure if Joy and Steve will be there though…they might be going to her family. (I think they celebrate Easter, and if so, it is the only holiday they celebrate. They are some variation of Christian, but they don’t celebrate a lot of the holidays)
Tonight I went to the Autism parents meet up and got into a conversation with somebody I have talked to online sometimes. She has invited us to meet up with them on playdates before, but we haven’t been able to go. We set a date for this Tues to get together. (she insisted we set a date and I was glad because I am having a tough time with depression and would have probably kept putting it off) It was one of those weird moments when I felt like God knocked me on the back of the head saying “LISTEN ALREADY, WILL YA?” when I was talking to her. She goes to the Mennonite Brethren Church on the west side, which I think I heard her say at one point at an earlier get together, but it didn’t really sink in because our car wasn’t going to make it to the other side of town reliably, so I wasn’t even going to the “regular GC” Mennonite Church that I kind of liked. Going to the MB church didn’t really hit my radar, which is really stupid when you realize I am going to a Methodist Church now. lol.
Anyway, she has an NT son Zane’s age, and autistic twins a year younger. (and a toddler younger than Zora). I would guess her to be around my age basically. She also homeschools. Now, we have been together on several occasions, so why I didn’t really let all this sink in before is beyond me.
There is a person at her church that recently returned to this area and is teaching her autistic boys in Sunday School class. She has been doing research and working on educational strategies for autistic kids for 20ish years and is back in this area to teach at 5 of the KCAC colleges (the league of private Christian Colleges, my alma mater being one of them) to teach the upcoming generation how to educate kids with autism. She has been talking about developing a curriculum for homeschooling autistic kids too. Since my son is about the same age, the mom friend thinks it would be no problem at all for my son to join hers in the Sunday School class. So, a small class size with a teacher that is invested heavily in teaching autistic kids in a Mennonite (ok, MB, but who’s counting here 
) church, with other kids that are homeschooled. Yeah….don’t ya hate the feeling that God has been trying to get through to you for months and you haven’t been listening. lol. *sigh*
So, we will give it a try. I still like the Methodist church, and so far, the situation for Zane is a lot better than anything else we have run across, but the class sizes are still huge and I am not sure how much he is really getting from it. It is sure a lot closer than the MB church, but our car can handle it now, and even though it is MB, it is probably a closer fit to our belief system. (although the Methodist church really isn’t too far off). It is worth giving it a shot. After Easter, of course. We are going to my home church on Easter I think. The Methodist church doesn’t have Sunday School or Children’s Church that day, just 3 worship services and there is NO WAY I will walk into a new church on Easter. Unlike most families, Easter and Christmas are the days I am least likely to go to church because it is so much more crowded, off routine, and more difficult for Zane. At least at my parent’s church there is a quiet outside (rural church), with a play structure that he can go to if it is too energetic inside. That, and people there know us, and know him, and therefore aren’t shooting us disapproving looks.
You just weren’t ready to hear the message before–no crime in that. God is forgiving, after all! But yes, I do get what you’re saying, about kicking yourself because you weren’t hearing before. Sometimes I really long for those old burning bushes, or other things that are fairly unmissable, KWIM?
Harder by far are those messages that poke at you, but that you would just as soon run away from, rather than listen to. I still haven’t found a way to integrate those into my life!
Take care, dear. Hope things are going well.