Support Group is on a roll!

This past week we held the third Support Group meeting at my church for families of children with special needs.  We had SIX families and a staff member attend!  We would have had EIGHT, but one house was full of sickos and another tired mommy accidentally fell asleep.  Considering that this group was thrown together in August, those are really exciting numbers.  Although I would have been excited by TWO.  And everyone seems to really be connecting.

The parents have all said, “Oh I needed this so much, thank you for starting this group!” And I smile, because one of the main reasons I asked if we could form the group was to help ME!  I couldn’t find a Christian support group nearby, so I started one! But I also have a heart to help people (on my good days), and all these pent-up ministry inclinations just waiting to be used.  Funny how God works… recently I was pretty upset that things didn’t work out the way I planned with another ministry that I wanted to be a bigger part of.  I was not given the opportunity to be in the leadership role I thought I wanted and I couldn’t understand why.  I have gone to seminary for goodness sake!  I got skillz!  But now I see that God had at least 2 reasons for holding me back on that ministry: 1. to humble me and give me more of a SERVANT’S heart, and 2. if I had become a part of the leadership of that other ministry there is no way I could have helped start the support group!  So I didn’t get what I thought I wanted because God had something better in mind, even though I had to wait over a year to see what God had planned.  Think about THAT sometime.

The group is intended to be for all special needs, from mild developmental delays to medically fragile children and everything in between.  Guess what?  All eight families are affected by Autism.  Why is that?  Well, one is word of mouth, we seem to have networked with other parents in similar situations and have told our friends.  But is it also because Autism is also one of the most prevalent developmental delays? (I don’t know)  It is possibly one of the most misunderstood.  When our child acts out in public, for example, other people can’t tell by looking that there is a reason why.  They might assume we have raised a brat.  It can make for a tough family outing.  By the way, 7 out of the 8 families have BOYS. 

I have been touched by the excitement I have seen in the church about the beginnings of this special needs ministry.  A few have stepped up and offered to help.  But not enough.  And now we are having lots of new children come, children who need unique accommodations.  We have sent out a request in the church for many more buddies and helpers.  If we have opened our doors to these families we also have to be ready to accommodate and include their children!

We are at a loss trying to think up a name for the group.  “Support Group for families of children with special needs” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.  Plus some parents are made uncomfortable by the phrase “special needs”.  I want something that denotes love, positive thinking, shelter, support, and that we are the parents of extraordinary children.   I saw one blog called, “Unique but not alone“.  I LOVE that!!  But it’s taken.  Any suggestions for a group name would be greatly appreciated. 

Another thing we are going to do is start a closed discussion board on the Internet.  We only meet once a month and there is NO way that we can discuss all our questions, struggles, & victories in one short hour.  This way we can better keep in touch with and support each other.  Any suggestions on which free forum host works the best?  I seem to recall that some of you have experience with that kinda thing- *wink*.  I have no clue where to start.

So, things are good.  Thought you would like to know.