The Bible talks of entertaining angels unaware... I may have entertained a few angels in my time...I don't know for sure. It is more likely that I have had some human angels come to my rescue from time to time and last week was no exception. Time and time again, I have been taught just how much God uses his people to be his hands and feet to me. It reminds me that I need to call or send flowers, or just pop in and see the people that I have been thinking about. It may be that I am supposed to be the answer to their prayers that day. I know that the "body" of Christ, his church, has litterally been God's hand to me in various places at various times.
Take Maddison Bugeja for instance, a fourteen year old girl who loves Scarlet, who takes her during church and helps her to integrate into her woods program so that I can have a break during church. Jessica Schaale, Amanda Enz, and Nancy Alves have also said, let me take her for a while...and they do it with happiness... Sometimes they fight over who gets to be with Scarlet. That is a very unheard of situation!!! Most churches can't accomodate people with needs like Scarlet.
Last week I was in the grocery store. I had to have a few items to get supper and breakfast done the next day. I could not leave without the items I needed. It was at this store that Scarlet began tantruming in the frozen foods aisle of the health food section. Let me describe a Scarlet freak-out. It always involves yelling, rather loudly. She throws herself down on the floor and tries to bang her head on anthing in sight, she bites herself and anyone else within biting distance, she hits herself on her head and face with the palm of her hands, she kicks and thrashes. As you can imagine I felt a bit conspicuous as I was trying to keep her from injuring herself and keep from getting injured myself. It is rather humorous now looking back at the situation. I had Skye in the buggy too. She thought that this was something fun that we should do in the grocery store, so she started to scream at the top of her lungs too! I don't think there was a person in that store who didn't know we were there.
Usually I can calm Scarlet after a few minutes, but she was inconsolable. After what seemed like several minutes a brave stranger ventured down our aisle and asked if she could help. What a refreshing person she was. She tried to distract Skye who was managing to wriggle out of her seat belt in the buggy. After a bit she left and Scarlet started again. After a few moments more of insanity, I removed Scarlet's shoes. She was wearing a new pair and it was the only other thing I could think of that might be causing her tantrum. She stopped as soon as I took her shoes off. Obviously she didn't like that pair (I found out later this week it was because they were size 9 when in actuality she wears an 11 1/2...not my finest mommy moment)
Now when an autistic child has had a tantrum of that magnitude, another one can be just under the surface at any moment. I was practically running to the eggs aisle with a Scarlet in her sock feet and a Skye still trying to stand in the buggy. When I we made our way to check out it was one of those dreadful situations in which all the aisle were lined up and I didn't know how to avert the inevitable next tantrum as Scarlet hates standing in line almost as much as she hates those shoes I forced on her feet. I sort of felt like waving at everyone because I felt like people were saying, O that's the noisy family... I wanted to take out my beauty pageant wave, but I had to hold Scarlet's hand while pushing the buggy with a very shift two-year old balanced precariously inside. It was at this moment that I almost heard angels singing... and no, it wasn't a Celine Dion song... it was the face of Donna Rauws coming toward me with purpose in her step.
It seems that Donna had heard us in the store as she was checking out....she must have amazingly keen ears:-) She took her groceries to her car and came back in to find me. She came at just the right time! I almost cried tears of relief, because I was also running late to pick up Brynn at school, but another trip to the store was not possible that day. Donna took Scarlet for a walk up and down the aisles, they looked at the puppy dogs and kittens on the toilet paper, Scarlet was as happy as a lark. She knows Donna from church programs in which Donna has been her teacher and was just happy to be walking with her. At times like these I know that God doesn't have to, but often he does, send people to me just to let me know that he sees me. He may not change my circumstances, but he lets me know that he is standing inside of the fire with me so that I don't get burned....and Donna was that message to me. So once again, like so many other times, I was divinely startled. Thank you, Donna for listening! I guess it is time for me to be calling those people I have been thinking about this week.
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