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'No way, God,' I said.  'There is no way I can do what You're asking of me.'

His voice boomed like thunder.  'Yes, you can, and you will.'

'But, but --,' I began, before I was ... hushed.  And when God tells you to hush, you obey.  Quickly.

He repeated, 'Yes, you can, and you will.'

And that was how I became the Mama to a child with special needs.

Significant special needs.  My son can't walk.  Sit up without support.  He is deaf.  He has seizures, but not like he did when he was small.

Born this way?  No.  He's like this because his mother's boyfriend shook him.  Ten days old.  For crying.

What kind of person shakes a ten day old infant?

After he was discharged from the hospital, I was asked to foster him.  I said, 'No.'

And God basically told me to shut up.

He overruled my objections.  When I told him I couldn't do this, He said, 'With Me, all things are possible.'  When I told Him I couldn't afford the medical bills, He said, 'I will supply all your needs according to My riches in Christ Jesus.'

I believe I heard a chuckle in His voice.

So!  Here we are:  God, Isaac, and me.

Jehovah Jireh:  the Lord will provide.  Isaac:  laughter.  And unworthy me.

Isaac was given up on by the doctors.  God didn't give up on him.

I was told Isaac would die.  Thirteen years later, he is thriving.

They told me he was profoundly retarded.  That he was incapable of learning.

My boy is in the top five percent of his class:  he gets A's and B's.

My son:  I adopted him when he was three years old.  Isaac is the biggest blessing ever to come into my world. 

Can't hear?  That doesn't stop him:  He learned to read lips early on.  He doesn't miss a thing.  His Signing is a little slow, but gets his point across.  So he can't walk.  He gets around just fine in his electric wheelchair (what he calls his 'Cadillac'), thank you very much.

Once in a while, he has a seizure, but they're not as big and bad and scary as they used to be.

Kids used to pick on him, but not any more.  Isaac is one of the most popular kids at his school.  

He loves baseball.  He's on a special league.  He loves to bowl.  Pretty sad when he beats his Mama.  He loves to read.  He loves church.  He loves life.

And the bills?  God has always provided a way to pay them and to keep us from losing everything we have.

Unworthy?  No.  God didn't think so.  Together, we can handle anything ...  thank You, Lord, for Isaac.  For believing in me.  For always being there.

And for telling me to hush.