The Plan: After you fight off the panic and plant your feet on the rock of faith, you will need a plan. Someone once said if you want to make God smile, tell him your plans. As hard as it is to believe God has a plan for your life. My daily prayers always include the words: tell me your will. The sooner you discern Gods will for your life the more life will make sense. Get into the word (your Bible)( Check out Bible gateway.com ) Meet with a Bible study group and find a good pastor. Whatever you do pray to know his will.
10 This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29: 10-12
In this part of the Bible God's promise is to deliver his people from suffering. When Andrew was first diagnosed things were very difficult for us. Years later things are better. We all have to do our time in Babylon, then God will deliver. Connect with God. Don't suffer alone. Isolation is your enemy.
Plan 1: Plan for your faith life: If your Church will not or can not help you, find one that can. Isolation is your enemy.
Plan 2: Plan to keep the lines of communication open: Keep them open with your spouse, kids, parents, pastor, friends, ect. Isolation is your enemy.
Plan 3: Assemble your team: (More about this in part 3) Gather together all those who will help you battle the giant that is autism. Your spouse, parents, pastor, friends, doctors, teachers, ect. Remember: not everyone will help you and some will oppose you. You will have to learn how to deal with it and keep your team strong. Isolation is your enemy.
Plan 4: Construct a financial plan based on needs and projected costs. Geography needs to be considered. Some states offer most services (Such as ABA therapy) at no cost. In other states only the wealthy can afford the top shelf services. moving to an autism friendly state and/ or locality must be your first consideration. Beyond that, understanding your projected expenses versus your projected earnings is crucial. Some go into debt to provide services for their child but that can be a disastrous route. Divorce is like an atom bomb of financial destruction. Avoid it. Isolation is your enemy.
Plan 5: Plan to change the plans. Life will come at you fast. You have to be able to work with your team to make changes quickly and out of the box. Pray daily to understand God's plan for your life.
Peace and Love,
Andrew
Romans 8:28
No comments:
Post a Comment