I Can Do All Things

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:13

As you all know, Hannah was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Many of you may not be aware of the long road of speech therapy our girl has ahead of her.  We are talking years of therapy, folks.  This is not a developmental delay that can be overcome in 6 months of twice a month sessions.  No.  This is going to require intense, focused intervention over a long period of time.

In the start of September we finally (hallelujah!!!!) secured Hannah's spot for speech therapy at our local University Hospital.  We had been waiting for a long, long time.  Finally, as I was about to despair, God provided yet again--the perfect time slot and a great day of the week for us. 

During our initial meeting, it really hit me.  Hard.  I knew this speech road was going to be long.  I knew it in my heart and my head, but something about that first session and watching the therapist try to coax Hannah to make various sounds and hearing them all come out of her mouth sounding all the same....it just rattled me a bit.  The road ahead is long.  Really long.  With no end really looming or remotely visible.  But I know several things that keep me grounded.  First, I know my God and I know He's totally into doing big and insurmountable, seemingly impossible things, especially in this little dynamo named Hannah.  He loves her and has so many great things planned for her.  He most certainly won't abandon her as she struggles to find her words.  Second, I know my daughter.  She is a force to be reckoned with and fights with a level of ferocity that can only be borne in a life of struggle.  She has overcome so much, yet still, she finds joy.  She can overcome this.  Last, I know God has equipped me especially to be her mama, to work on finding those sounds at home between sessions, and to advocate for her needs during her sessions.  She.....can....do....this.....through Christ who will give her strength.

Ready to roll!  Let's do this speech thing!

Now comes the part where you get to be involved in this.  Would you join us in praying for Hannah to find her words and the sounds necessary to say them?  Hannah has lived two and a half years without a palate.  Suddenly she now has one and has no clue how to use it.  Would you join us in praying she would leave us in awe in how quickly she realizes that palate is there to be used to make these sounds?  She's got all the equipment necessary to make a chorus of gorgeous English language sounds.  She just didn't get an instruction manual to go along with it, so now we have to teach her how to use it.  Pray for Hannah to have a good connection with her therapist and for their sessions to prove fruitful!  There are also some details I know God is aware of with regard to our current speech therapist that really need fervent prayers.  Would you please pray in earnest that we would know specifically how to navigate this situation?  Pray that I would have the ability to strongly, yet compassionately, advocate for Hannah's specific needs and that we'd stop seeing regression from Hannah as the result of these sessions.  I want so desperately for us to have a healthy and thriving working relationship and be 100% certain my goals are the same as the goals of the therapist.

Phew!  Speech is hard work, folks!

Hannah talks and communicates so much and while I can understand her, I am ever so eager to start hearing words flowing from her mouth that can also be understood by others!  I know the day will come that the words will tumble forth and I know I will rejoice yet again over the work God has done.  Getting there will be hard, but not without the fingerprints of God throughout.