It was with this sort of awareness that I decided to help Levi wrap his Secret Sibling gifts tonight. This is his seventh year of "shopping" for the sibling whose name is on his drawn piece of paper. Up to this point I have done all of his shopping and wrapping myself. While I still shopped for him this time, I decided to see how he'd do with the wrapping portion. I settled us down in the basement with a mixture of nervous excitement, hoping that I wasn't setting myself up for disappointment. There, away from the curious eyes of his sisters, we laid out the wrapping paper, scissors, and tape.
I didn't realize until after we'd begun that gift wrapping could be such a great exercise in fine motor development. Think about it - cutting the paper (which thankfully had dotted lines to follow), folding the ends up (with fumbling fingers), correctly placing the tape on each spot (with the sticky part of the tape facing down.) Would you just look at all of that tape?!!! Putting the tape on was definitely the hardest part for him. It sometimes took him three or four tries before he got the tape in the general area that it was supposed to be in. My little guy amazed me with his determination.
I'm not sure that he even comprehends the whole gift thing yet, but this was a way for us to share in the celebration of it all. The celebration of Christmas... togetherness... progress... accomplishment... learning... and hope. As news trickles in that the shooter may have been developmentally disabled, my mother's heart is intruded upon by that unwelcome friend, Fear. No parent wants to hear news like we heard today, but it stings a bit more when your own child has special needs. I, for one, have to firmly place my trust once again in the living, loving God I serve. He will never leave me or forsake me. His grace will always be sufficient for me no matter what comes my way. He has my future in His hands. And He is the reason that I, and all of us, can have hope.
