God Gave You the Special Needs Child for a Purpose
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God led me to write a book not only about what I’ve learned in taking care of a special needs child, but in sharing it to help many others as I have done in person as well. My son, Brave, was born with multiple special needs. The only issue is that when you have any child, nobody tells you about all of the little quirks and things that will happen to help you understand the child. God also doesn’t give you a piece of paper with his birth certificate that says what the issues are, what he will need help with, what you will struggle with, and what parts of his body or mind will need extra help. I know raising children is very difficult. But raising a child takes even more effort to keep up with the game and coordinate all of the people this child would need. I can’t tell you the number of hours I spent on the computer, talking with teachers, doctors, and other people about the special plans that my child needed. I remember days where I cry because I know my son still struggles in certain areas and I don’t know how to help him. I spent hours trying to figure out why he did certain things or what was the definition of a diagnosis. Some of the doctor’s words were way over my head and I had to look them up. I would pray and ask God to help me because it seemed like I was going down an unknown road. So many times I felt like I was falling down a hole and couldn’t find my way out. I know there are many other people who struggle with this too.
His dad and I agreed that I would take time off from my part-time job to stay at home when he was starting fifth grade. I really felt God was leading me to write a book to help others with special needs children. You see, I used to write instructions for a living. I have found that having a special needs child requires a lot of documentation and coordination of many people to help the child perform daily activities and be successful in life. So, I obeyed God and combined my love for writing and my life with my special needs child to write this book. I was making progress, though not as much as I would have liked, when God added more to my life. I knew for years that God gave me this special needs child for a purpose. Little did I know that it would end up helping me as well. About six months into writing, I began having health issues as well. I was having seizures due to a small growth in my own brain. God now showed me how to use the skills on myself that I had already learned by tracking my child, Brave’s, progress. Now I realized that God not only wanted me to write a book for parents with special needs, but realized this could be helpful for anyone who cares for a person with a medical condition(s). Little did I know that some of the same techniques would eventually help me with my other son. I really felt God gave me the first child to help with the second one and myself as well. I think God uses special things to teach us slowly. Thankfully, all of our health issues did not start at the same time. If God shot everything at us at the same time, we would be completely and utterly overwhelmed. Even David says to be patient with what God has for us, “Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalms 27: 13-14. I am so grateful to Brave who needed the most help. He had so many medical issues early on in life that he gave me a great perspective on how to deal with medical issues. I would have to face medical issues as an adult later on in life myself and with Timber, his younger brother. Not only that, I would come to appreciate what a wonderful helper Brave would become when I needed his help as I went through some serious medical and emotional issues that came along with it. We would grow closer together as we shared some of the same feelings as people point others out when someone is not a basic, normal person. Going through difficulties help people find who truly cares for you like God loves you, no matter what. God has a purpose for everyone; it just takes trust and time to find out what it is.
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About the Book
Although Brave was a surprise four-week premature baby, he weighed way more than many of the full-time babies. Thankfully, he was in great shape and was able to come home like a normal baby. He was a happy boy hitting time lines until he hit age one. At that point, the Pediatrician referred Brave to a program where Kalee finally realized how behind he was in many parts of the body. From that time until he went to kindergarten, she would soon learn so many different procedures and different types of doctors, specialists, therapists, tests, and diagnoses; many times the hard way. Insurance wouldn’t help her, they would just put off paying for a procedure. Helping get Brave the most assistance and diagnosis was only the beginning. Kalee would have some of the same procedures to keep track of her own serious medical issues and her other son, Timber’s, diagnosis. Having God lead her each day and provide her with hope, love, and grace truly kept her going. Without the Lord at her side, she may not have seen that God selected her to have two special needs kids. It’s a blessing she doesn’t deserve and just prays that God shows her each day what she needs to be doing for Him.
About the Author
Kalee Miles began writing this book in the fall of 2010 after taking time out of substitute teaching. In January 2011, she began having seizures due to a cyst found in her brain that was causing them. She ended up having brain surgery and a stroke during the surgery in 2012 to remove the cyst. After 2 years of years of hard recovery, the doctor said he was impressed at how well she had recovered. Since she was now healthy, Kalee got God’s confirmation to stand up and get out of her abusive marriage. It was just as tough, if not harder than brain surgery, to recover from the abusive divorce. But it gave Kalee the chance to finish writing the book and teaching again, two of her favorite loves. She is so happy to be safe and free to start her day reading the Bible, praising and worshipping, praying, and spending time with the Lord. You can tell by the smiles on her face.