by Eileen Norman

Created on: June 09, 2010   Last Updated: June 10, 2010

                                                The Presence of God

In Advent praying “Come, Lord Jesus,” I wait eagerly for a special moment that helps me recognize his presence. About eight years ago, shortly before Christmas, my four year old granddaughter, who was diagnosed with Autism at two years of age, spent the night with me.  As usual, I asked God to somehow bless our time together.

She is a beautiful little girl with curly dark hair, green eyes with long lashes and a smile that melts my heart.  But, at that time, most words had no meaning for her.  When we spoke to her, she either echoed what we said or resorted to a sort of meaningless chatter to herself that parodied conversation.  She could only express simple requests, most often just in sign language.

This evening she set up her tea set on our kitchen table and to my surprise said clearly, “Have a tea party.”

So, she and I took turns pouring imaginary tea and saying “Thank you” to one another.

To break the long silences, I mentioned her little sister.  She responded by chattering incomprehensively to her image in the window, but then turned to look at me and said,

“Cats go meow, dogs go woof-woof, cows go moo and birds go cheep-cheep.”

I was both startled and touched, because she was describing the communication of others without language skills. Also, this was the longest understandable communication I had ever heard from her.

Then she yawned and a moment later smiled at me and said, “We go nighty-night” and led me to bed.  There she snuggled close and gently patted me, saying, “Nighty-night.”

This amount of understandable verbal communication, direct eye contact, and her initiation of a physical show of affection and sustained physical closeness were completely out of the ordinary.

I thought of the Scripture in 2nd Corinthians where Paul quotes the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

And quietly, I wept with joy at the presence of God and His grace within us. And my heart overflowed with love and hope for my wonderful little granddaughter.

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