This is the way...

Isaiah 30:21

About a year and a half ago, B.J and I started walking down a path that we really didn't want to walk down. When our youngest child Caleb was born, Joel started stuttering. At first, we thought it was just the changes at home or his huge increase in vocabulary at such a young age, so we ignored it thinking it would go away. And, at times it did. But, then he began to really struggle to get his words out. It was extremely difficult to watch our son try to speak to us and not be able to get his words to come out. He began to get frustrated to the point of crying and throwing tantrums just because he could not make his words come out. It got so bad that he refused to talk at all. At this point, we truly felt like we needed to get him some help. That is where we came to a fork in the road. When it comes to stuttering there are two schools of thought: 1. Ignore it and it will go away. If you say anything about it, the stuttering will get worse. 2. The earlier you seek therapy the better hope of full speech recovery you have.

Obviously, these are two very different schools of thought. We had a very tough decision to make and if we were wrong, it could have lasting consequences on our child. We had been seeking God in this situation for months, literally begging God to remove this obstacle from our child's life. God continued to say 'no' to that prayer. So, we began to seek His guidance in what we were to do. We prayed and read research and prayed some more. We finally made the decision to take him to be evaluated.

Joel was evaluated by a speech therapist who diagnosed him with a fluency disorder. This means that aside from miraculous intervention, he will need therapy to overcome this obstacle in his life. He started seeing the head of speech pathology at Children's Hospital. Amazingly, within the first 30 minute session he was already learning techniques that would help him get his words out. He left therapy so excited and with his head held just a little higher. On my way home that day I was praying. I was still unsure about our decision, but as I was praying the Holy Spirit brought today's scripture to my mind:

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

I realized that He was on the road with us. He was behind us telling us the way and beside us to give us strength for the journey. He is also at the end of the road, meaning He knows how it all will play out in the story of our lives. It is such a comfort to me to know that nothing comes into our lives that hasn't passed through the sovereign hand of my merciful God.

Joel has improved, but still struggles. Recently, when he was seriously struggling B.J. and I entered into a period of fasting to seek the heart of God over what we needed to do. God never ceases to amaze me. The first day of our fast, I arose to spend time with Him. I opened my devotion for that day and there is was: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Praise be to God! He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Whatever you are struggling with today, seek His face. He will not lead you astray.