Nathan Made An Important Decision In His Life With #Autism

     Almost two weeks ago, Vincent and I worked together as volunteers at the Vacation Bible School which eleven year old Nate attended. This particular VBS is open to children from preschool up to those entering sixth grade. Because Vincent will be a seventh grader this fall, he had two choices: joining the youth group which he still considered himself an outsider, or volunteering alongside me as a transporter to help groups of children make it through the daily schedule of VBS. I would have liked it if he had chosen to join the youth group but, Vincent chose to be a role model for those children in which we maneuvered through the halls of the church for VBS as a team. I have to admit that I witnessed an older and mature Vincent than the one that attended VBS last year.

     As you can see, I love talking about my children. At VBS last year, Nate was close to making the decision to accept Jesus but, he was still trying to process what it all meant. I wasn't about to pressure him before he was ready. He needed to make that commitment on his own. Vincent had made the decision a few years earlier, has been a very patient, older brother to Nate and made countless compromises in order to help his younger brother. It was during the Bible Study portion of last Wednesday's VBS rotation that our eleven year old Nate chose to stand up and follow through on what he started last summer. 

     I immediately followed Nate to the hallway, where I asked him if he wanted me to accompany him, letting him know he was not alone if he was looking for someone to advocate for him. He told me that he wanted me to go with him to make sure he understood everything. I pushed back the tears which filled my eyes and gladly followed him and the man from the church to a room to confirm my son's decision. I found out later that he is the Minister of Missions for the church where Nate attended VBS. 

     His father, myself, the rest of our family and close friends are proud of the decision that Nathan has made to put Christ first in his life. Our family has been a member of one church for over ten years. The only reason that we are visiting this church is to give the boys an opportunity to fellowship with peers their age. It is regrettable that our home church does not have any children, especially boys, their age. Our primary goal is for them to find friendship among other young gentlemen in a church which we can call our home.  

     Nathan is scheduled to be baptised this coming Sunday during the morning church service. By the time most of you read this post, he will have recorded that in the front of his new Bible that I took him to pick out just after his decision almost two weeks ago. Both him and his older brother are old enough to know what to look for in a Bible and what is easiest for them to understand. I am so proud to know that even with their challenges, they have been able to comprehend everything that they have been taught over the last ten years. These two young men are continuously making significant and consistent progress in everything they have before them. Their father and I know that both Nathan and his brother will be able to accomplish anything they put their mind to!