It is in the light of the above that Icame to view the developments in the life of our 10-year oldson David. Indeed, when he arrived in this world in August1996 bubbling with energy and vitality (so good-looking thatsome of the medical staff present as well as myself initiallytook him for a girl), nothing pointed to any medical abnormality.In truth, hardly could we imagine that more than tenyears on he would be impaired in speech and also incontinentregarding stool and urine, displaying the condition medicalscience calls autism. Our awareness of this dawned on uswhen he was about three and failed to display the ability tospeak like his peers.
Now imagine a situation, dear reader, when, one evening,you have given the fine-looking lad a good shower, creamedand combed him, put on his nappy and then his best nightwearto get him ready to go to bed…Just then it occurs to you that you need to rush downstairsto attend to something urgent.On your return a few minutes later you are confrontedwith a scene that makes you think you probably are livingthrough a nightmare rather than reality, the reality of a worldthat at times can indeed be very cruel.
Yes, the bitter reality you have to deal with is the following:during the short time you were away, the lad who bubbleswith so much energy, who is on his feet for the most part ofthe day and who is not short of creating unexpected situationsto baffle his environment, has had a bowel movement! If onlythe story would end there!But no—he has not only had a normal ‘business’ done,but has gone a step further and smeared the best proportion ofwhat was quite a considerable amount of waste products fromthe food you gave him in the course of the day, on the walls ofhis room—the room that was given a fresh coat of paint onlya couple of weeks before! Revolted by the offensive stenchfilling your home, you go through the task of washing him toprepare him for bed all over again.
Having done that you arethen faced not only with the trouble of getting the walls of hisroom free from human excrement, but also of freeing yourhome from the stench emanating from it.We have had to go through the situation just described noton one occasion only, but on many occasions. Several othertimes, in fact, we have had to relive an almost identical stateof affairs.The story, of course, does not end there. Indeed, itwill require volumes to write down our experiences withour beloved David over the last decade.
Dear reader, it is my heartfelt desire that as you go thoughthese lines and the inspirational pieces that follow you maybe encouraged in the Mighty Name of our Master Jesus.Yes, it is my prayer that this book will inspire you toovercome your fight against fear, your depression, your lowself-esteem, as well as all the negative thoughts that might beweighing you down, sapping your energy and diverting yourattention from the Source of all energy and strength—not foranyone’s glory but for the glory of our Everlasting Father,the Lord our Righteousness, the Light of the World. Amen.
