God's Garden

It was time for me to do my "Dollar Store" run which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox. I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that appeared to be about sixteen-years old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I waited for the boy to realize that I was there. This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here!"

It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged, and also startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him, waiting to squeeze by. His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, "Hey, Buddy, what's your name?"

"My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly.

"How old am I now, Mommy?" he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle.

"You"re fifteen-years-old, Denny. Now be a good boy and let the man pass by."

I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention. He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section. Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son.

She told me that most people won't even look at him, much less talk to him. I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something. I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however, "Blue Roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness.

You see, Denny is a "Blue Rose" and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.

She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, "Who are you?"

Without thinking I said, "oh, I'm probably just a "daffodil or maybe even a dandelion," but I sure love living in God's garden!

This story reminded me of my son. I know I've mentioned before; but maybe everyone doesn't know. My 11 yr. old son Sam has Tourettes Syndrome. He is a very smart and very sweet boy. His Tourettes at times is quite severe and very noticeable. He makes noises, repeats things and makes faces and jerks his whole back forwards and backwards..also his neck to the point that by evening he is in quite a bit of pain. As you know children can be quite cruel and if they're not being cruel then they ignore him and don't want much to do with him. Adults can sometimes, sadly be just as bad. On top of the ticcing being so bad, the last medicine he was on put more than 20 pounds on him. He also now gets made fun of for being chubby.

When I was out yesterday, driving in the van; I happened to have looked over and noticed the lady in a car next to ours staring and laughing at him. Sam didn't even notice because he was ticcing too bad to even be looking out the window. I however, did notice...I couldn't help it...I started to cry. I know people do this a lot when we're out, but it never ceases to cause me pain.

We found out yesterday that a 36 yr. old friend of ours was found dead off the side of a country road. He had wrecked his motorcycle and was wearing a helmet. They think he may have been there for a few days. I guess you could say..I was a little overwhelmed. He leaves behind a little 5 yr. old son. He had some problems in his life and I think he was trying to overcome them so that he could be a better Dad. His wife had left him a couple of yrs. ago, and his weekend visits with his son were the highlights of his life..He was really a nice guy and wasn't one to talk bad about people. Always very kind to me and my family. Please keep his family in your prayers.

I chalked my crying up to his passing away when Sam noticed. It's really hard for me as a Mom...his having this and that I can't fix it. I SO wish it was me and not him!! He has just a few close friends that we can trust with him. He does horse therapy during the warm months twice a week, weather permitting. The children there all have some sort of disability. That seems to be the only place that he is accepted for being himself and not made fun of...(Other than church of course.)

I guess you could say Sam is MY blue rose. He is just so kind and tenderhearted..not a mean bone in him. I just wish the other kids could see that. He will start 6th grade next yr. We started homeschooling him in 2nd grade. I had started to notice something wasn't right the yr. before. He did do one year of church school, but the kids there were quite mean to him and he was very sick from all the medicines they were trying him on. So we brought him back home again. There's not a day that goes by that I feel badly about this. With his feeling badly all the time and kids being so cruel; I feel that this is best for him. (My 17 yr. old daughter homeschools with him.) About 4 months ago, we made the decision to take him off the medicines. This wasn't an easy decision, but the medicines make him SO sick. (He tics so bad that he falls off his bike and can't even hold a fishing rod still in the water at times.) I guess I came to the conclusion that God is in control and I'm just praying for God to help him with this. At least to help the tics not be as painful at least. If you could remember Sam in your prayers it would mean so much to me. He really is special. Most adults that meet him always tell me how lucky I am to have such a well-behaved and intelligent little boy. I'm just glad that God blessed me with a Blue Rose!! ;) Love, Jerelene