“Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!”
Psalm 34:3

I stood in the kitchen prepping for dinner with friends, mixer whirling and veggies waiting to be chopped. In came little feet, padding over to the mixer. Kash stood close to it and stopped, staring hesitantly. A couple months ago he began to be wary of it, a fear that came out of nowhere. Even now he can’t stand it, but his curiosity got the best of him. I picked him up and showed him how to turn it on and off, and he adjusted the switch while whimpering and hiding his face in my hair. After a couple minutes, I set him back down and off he ran to the living room.

Another day not long ago, he started making his fearful whimper at the dark in his room, and the dark outside at night. He hasn’t ever seemed to care about the dark until now, which I found puzzling but thanked God that it meant better sleep!

These little things have been huge things for our boy. They are signs to us that his brain is developing and catching up. They are developmental markers that he should have hit years ago but didn’t. We have learned that his left brain is very developed, while his right brain has been very underdeveloped. The discrepancy has had him walking into walls, not talking, spinning but never dizzy, missing all facial and body cues, obsessing over the same toys for months…the list goes on and on. But as time has passed, he has improved in all of these areas. His brain isn’t broken, it is unbalanced and needs help evening out.

This week I am especially thankful for the progress we have seen and the things we have learned. It brings me to tears when I step back and think about it. Just the other day, he asked me to spin him around for the umpteenth time - but this time, I set him down and he was clearly dizzy. He wasn’t sure what to do with it! I don’t know all the scientific terms behind it, but I know that the dizziness means his ears and brain are on their way to functioning properly. Praise God!

Kash’s progress has been a family effort. Our older boys get onto his level and pull him out of his little world; they take him along in their adventures and he loves being a part of their shenanigans. Josh and I are so proud of them and grateful for the compassion they have learned. They ask questions and try to understand as much as they can, and they jump right in with Kash’s exercises and “school” work. All of us work hard and gosh, what a gift it is to see the fruit of our labors. God is so good!