Perserverance

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Last week Maggie was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. I've been waiting to write about it because I had to be ready- had to get to a point where I could talk about it. Obviously this is a pretty serious diagnosis and one that will bring trials for quite awhile or longer I'm sure. I took Maggie to her 6 month follow-up with the neurologist and wasn't expecting anything more than him tracking any progress she's had the last 6 months and any issues/concerns we may have. We expected CP when we took Maggie to the neuro doc last summer and were surprised when he specifically said it wasn't, so I was equally surprised when he changed things up this time. Why did he? I asked the reason for the change-up time and he replied that he knew she didn't have classic CP and sometimes tone issues like Maggie's are more difficult to see in younger babies but present themselves in such a way as they get a little older.
I'm not going to go into my feelings on why I think his response and reasoning was absurd because it really doesn't change anything. CP doesn't change who Maggie is-- how bright and beautiful she is (and her therapists say this so I'm not entirely biased here:)) or what she's accomplished up to this point. Daniel and I talked about this shortly after the appointment and the truth is Maggie's future is in God's hand, not the neurologist's. He doesn't expect her to walk-- at least not without a walker or other assistance and that may be the case but it may not be. We've heard plenty of true stories where doctors didn't expect much and patient's surprised them. And since her diagnosis, we've heard several accounts of adults with CP living "normal" lives- husbands, wives, kids, college, etc. Again, this may not be the case with Maggie, but it may. Our job as her parents is to love her and nurture her and help her and raise her in the Word no matter what difficulties she may have. She will be the person God has made her to be and our number one prayer is her salvation and that she'll be a light for God's kindgdom despite her disabilities- and maybe she'll have a greater testimony because of them.
Now, I mean everything I just said but that doesn't mean I won't have hard days or haven't had hard days. It is difficult to watch my daughter struggle and it is difficult to have to hold her up so she can stand and play or feed her meals instead of walking away while she takes care of things herself. And the thought that she may never run or climb with other kids is a tough pill to swallow. But when I told Marliese what the neurologist said, she told me to get that out of the back of my mind because walking will always be a goal and always something we're working toward. I'm going to go ahead and apply that to all areas of her development because I can't limit her based on what I think she may not be able to do.
Please continue to pray with us, for our perserverance and Maggie's, and still for her healing. Jesus healed many adults with illnesses and disabilities so I don't see anything wrong with keeping hope and faith alive if that's what his plan is for Maggie.