ac-cept-ance

–noun

1. the act of taking or receiving something offered.

3. the act of assenting or believing.

What we’ve learned about Sofija in the past couple of weeks deserves to be documented.  I’ve hesitated because I have not wanted to step into acceptance.  I think I’m there now.

From the moment we knew we were called to be her parents, we knew there would be challenges.  We knew what it meant to live with a child who falls on the autism spectrum.  We talked to people who’ve lived with and overcome attachment disorders and the host of other issues that are attached to children coming from Eastern European institutional settings.  The day we met her was the same day we learned of her birth mother’s mental illness.  We educated ourselves and felt as prepared as possible to tackle that one too.  We studied the spiritual side of her background and began reclaiming her spiritual heritage.

Then came last week.  Monday September the 12th, to be exact.

In July our daughter was sedated and underwent an MRI and EEG.  She was sedated with an anti-seizure medication.  Last Monday we were finally able to sit down with a pediatric neurologist and go over the results of those tests.

Her brain is not normal.  Inside her right temporal lobe, the hippocampus and temporal horn are incorrectly proportioned.  Her EEG showed frequent abnormal brain waves in that same area.

All the love, affection, attention and security in the world cannot fix that.

But you know what?  God can.  Faith can.  Prayer can.

This is the acceptance that I’ve had to step into.  In April of last year I saw lymph nodes in my neck that appeared to be cancerous.  In June they were gone.  That’s what faith can do!

This Thursday I will spend my day (and possibly night) at Walter Reed as Sofija undergoes another EEG.  I will spend the day in prayer and fasting and claiming wholeness and healing for my daughter.

John 14:14 “Ask anything in my name and I WILL DO IT.”

That’s a promise that I choose to accept!