Today marks my 100th Post-it Note.  It’s a milestone.  I had no idea where this blog would go when I started, but now that we’ve made it this far, I’ve debated what to write about for #100.  It only seems fitting to go back to the reason I started writing this blog in the first place.  If you’re new to the blog or never read it, you can take a look at Post-it Note #1 to review how this blog was born.

The bottom line for me in writing, is to always to offer hope and grace in a broken world.  I’m convinced that without God’s grace we would make a mess of most everything we touch, but with the gift of His grace amazing things happen in our lives.  Beautiful things.  Miraculous things.

Since I started this blog journey because of my autistic daughter, Cadence, I want to dedicate #100 to her and to all the parents, caregivers, teachers and professionals who devote themselves to the magnificent group we call “special needs”.

When Cadence turned 10 she aged out of a great amount of therapy and services provided to her and she was in a very difficult stage at the time.  I remember thinking “this is it….this is far as she will go in progress and development. This is how it will always be.” At the time she was really struggling and so I was discouraged and saddened that there wasn’t more to be done.  I figured it was time to resign myself to how it is.  I am a realist after all. She was in such a tough place that we began to look at other options for her future, outside the home. Something I had promised myself when she was young (and much smaller and manageable) that I would NEVER do. (Side note: Do not say never about things you really have no knowledge of). But at age 10 she had grown so tall and so strong and so aggressive, I was afraid I would be unable to continue to provide what she needed and keep my younger children safe. That was about a year and a half ago.

Last week she had a check-up with her behavioral pediatrician. Although she has many challenges and some days are hard, she has actually come off some of her meds. She is much calmer. She’s about 6 inches taller (5’9” and rapidly heading to 6 feet tall) but much more manageable. She’s listening well, following instructions, drawing conclusions, talking more and has stopped the self-injurious behaviors. I was relating all this to the pediatrician who shook her head and said, “At her age and this stage of development, we don’t really see progress like this.”

So for Post-it Note #100 I just want to say: It’s NOT over until it’s over. And it’s never over while God is still on the throne. Nobody holds Cadence’s destiny but God. And I’m counting on Him to do great things with and for my girl. I am a realist after all.