Determination

Today's gift is determination.

Today was a gorgeous day!  The morning air had a crisp feeling to it and you could tell fall is coming soon.  I love the fall season!  Our family went to church this morning and we had a wonderful morning thanking God for all our blessings.  Little did I know he would be giving me a gift through my daughter when I walked out of church this morning.

After the service, my husband and daughter with Rett Syndrome walked outside to wait, while I went to get our other two children out of their Sunday School classes....I think he really wanted to enjoy the beautiful day.  I went to get my son first, as I could see my middle daughter's class was still meeting.  When I got my son, he saw his dad and sister sitting outside and wanted to go with them....so he ran along.  I was still waiting for my other daughter's class to finish.   As soon as her class was done, she saw me and we walked out front to meet the rest of our family.

However, they were not sitting where I saw them last.  I assumed they had already starting walking to the car, so we proceeded to walk in the direction where we parked.  As we were walking my middle daughter, said, "there they are"...pointing to the direction of the new playground.  She started running over to them as she wanted to enjoy the fun too.

As I walking to meet them, I noticed my son was up in the top of the playground equipment and my daughter with Rett Syndrome was at the bottom of the rock wall trying to get up.   My husband was right there with her, guiding her and waiting to see if she could do it.  It was a challenge for her for sure....but she was determined to get up to the same level as her brother.  She didn't get frustrated, but kept trying.  When she figured out she was not going to be able to get to the top via the rock wall, she walked around to the other side to the tiered steps....and walked up herself....with dad right behind her.   She was determined to have the same fun her brother was having (and sister too) and wasn't going to give up.  She kept walking until she got to the very top....and she was so proud of herself....as were her brother and sister for her.

The only way down was to turn around and walk back to where she started or to go down the slide....what do you think she chose?  She chose the slide....however, she has never really been a slide lover.....she prefers swings to slides.  But today...she not only went down the slide....she went down the slide by herself!  Of course, I was right by her side....holding her hand all the way down, as I did not know what she was going to think of this experience.   She loved it!

I was so excited to see how determined she was today to want to join in the fun with her brother, but what impressed me the most, was the fact she didn't give up when she knew "plan A" wasn't going to work.  Instead, she went to "plan B" on her own.....and reached the top!

Here are some quotes for today....

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination- Tommy Lasorda

When the world says, "Give up", Hope whispers, "Try it one more time"- Author Unknown

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try- Author Unknown