Winding in the Road

In this journey of seven, we’re making a bit of a turn in the road. Not as far as life plans/career/etc., but recently our middlest kiddo was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. It’s just a crazy thing- no one knows what causes it, and there’s no cure. It generally gets worse through the early teen years and slowly starts to lessen in their later teens. The medications available don’t generally work very well, so basically it’s just something we live with day by day. It’s characterized by various “tics” that come and go and change. Elijah’s started as a sort of humming a little over a year ago. Right now it’s involuntary jerking of his head and sometimes whole body. It also includes a little OCD behavior regarding night time routine and not wanting to drop a subject until he has closure (Uncle Andy made the mistake of telling him about a Star Wars game that he couldn’t play right away- now every time Elijah sees him he won’t move on… :) ) So far, he's pretty oblivious to the fact that he's a little different from other kids, and that's fine! :) Anyway, here are a couple links that I found very helpful- one is a youtube video that shows some range of tics and kids talking about TS in their own words- honestly, it was hard for me to watch, but good. The other is an article from another home school mom with a kid with TS- very encouraging.

Kids with Tourette's Video

Home schooling with Tourette's Article 

As parents, I think so far... all this is still sinking in. I think we still kinda think deep down that this is just a phase that won't last. But so far it doesn't look that way. Can God heal him? Absolutely. But will he? What if his plan is for us to go through this for the next 12 or 20 years or more? We do know that He is good and will use this for something. If nothing else, to develop more patience and compassion in our family. And that would be worth it.