“Salvation is of the Lord”

Here's a special guest post from the boy's Papa, Bob La Tour.

Bob's spiritual leadership to the family was especially meaningful after Josiah's diagnosis when we were grappling with the question of salvation and Autism. The Bible says that to be saved from Hell one must confess with his mouth the authority and sacrifice of Jesus, but what if you can't speak? Our theological instinct was to view Josiah (and later Jalen) through the same Scriptural lens as newborns that die and find grace despite their inability. Bob, in his poem (which is below and which hangs on our wall at home), points to the even greater truth of God's complete sovereignty in every persons deliverance from Hell. The bottom line is that we ought not think a person has an advantage in coming to Christ because of their own ability, and likewise we ought not consider a person spiritually disadvantaged because of their disability. Bob's post follows:

Any condition that hinders their loved one’s ability to comprehend information naturally heightens Christian grandparents’ concern that their grandchild with special needs might not understand the gospel and flee to Christ. Most evangelical Christians embrace the clear teaching that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone. We mouth those words, often without meditating upon the reality of how pervasive the grace of God is in the salvation of any person, no matter how “normal” he or she may be? A careful and prayerful reading of Ephesians 1 and 2; I Corinthians 1:18-25 and 2:1-16 reveals a desperate dependency upon the Holy Spirit to make alive those who are “dead in trespass and in sin” and to grant unto them “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 11:18; 20:21).  It is out of our firm conviction that salvation is of the Lord whose grace is both compassionate and comprehensive that my wife and I pray that God will bring all of our grandchildren to Christ. While sharing the gospel with them through our lips, and we trust by our lives, we ask for God’s amazing grace and mercy to grant unto them repentant faith for His glory.

 
“Salvation is of the Lord”

There is no fortress of the mind,
No dungeon of the heart so black,
That light and life can be repelled,
The call of Truth e’er be brushed back.
Nor is there rebel bulwark made
Where Sovereign grace cannot invade--
No ‘heartland’ distant, cold and dark
Where Love’s sure Word cannot persuade
The arrogant or ignorant
Who will not, or who cannot see
Their desp’rate need of saving grace
That beckons them to bow the knee.

A soldier of the hosts of light,
Mine is the herald’s humble role.   
Christ leads me to engage the hosts
Of darkness that enslave the soul.
I must not fail to press the fight,
Full knowing it is God’s to win.
No matter that I doubt myself--
To doubt my God is grievous sin!
“All souls are mine!” Jehovah cries,
And draws my focus to His pow’r
That reassures my fainting heart
Amidst doubt’s dark, oppressive hour.

Though oft’ rebuffed, I persevere,
And bravely lift God’s two-edged Sword.
N’er trusting in my own resolve,
I gain new hope through Christ the Lord.
God hears the often wordless prayers
That from my burdened heart ascend
As love compels me to press on,
And plead for grace time and again.
Strengthen my faith, Almighty God,
As I recall that saving grace
Quickened my own dead heart to life,
And drew me to Thy resting place.
                   

Bob LaTour

Jalen Speaks

- from Christy

Dateline Graham - Late September

The boys had sat through hours and hours of speech therapy, and still there was no speech. I had resigned myself to this non-verbal state. After all, the neurologist told us that if Josiah and Jalen were not talking by the age of three, then they would likely never talk. Josiah was now five years old, and Jalen three and a half. Josiah had no language – not a word. Jalen would occasionally say an approximation of “mama,” but it was very infrequent and rarely upon request. Our friends at TEACCH encouraged us to hold out hope, that there is so much unknown about this disorder. Our focus changed. Yes, we would continue speech therapy, but we resolved that, if God wanted the boys to talk, they would. If He didn’t, then they wouldn’t. We chose to focus on resting in God’s sovereignty.

Towards the end of September, Jalen began what seemed like babbling. He always made noises, but the sounds he now made were almost like a conversation. He began to cue in like never before, taking interest in the facial expressions of others. He also started saying the letter “d” when we would recite the alphabet to him, and he would repeat most of the word “eat” when we would say that it was time to eat. All of this was great, but we remained guarded. We had seen what appeared to be development before, but it went away as soon as it showed up.

On October 10th, I was standing in the kitchen when I heard singing. Olivia and Jack were at school and Judah was playing. I knew instantly that it was Jalen. I turned around and found him in the swing. He was singing, Behold. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hear my voice, and will open, open, open the door, I will come in. He sounded like a deaf child – the melody of the song was perfect and some of the words were recognizable. Jalen was singing!

The speech therapists that we work with believe that Jalen has something called Apraxia. It is a disorder that causes problems with oral motor planning. This is why Jalen sounds deaf and is hard to understand. It is something that can improve with therapy. Normally it takes years of therapy to overcome, but it can improve.

In the weeks that have followed, Jalen has added several new songs to his repertoire: B-I-N-G-O, Deep and Wide, Jesus Loves Me, and The Wheels on the Bus. He has started saying the alphabet from A-Z when I use sign language to finger spell it. The sounds are very hard to understand, but given the melody of the songs and the order of the alphabet, there’s no mistaking what he’s trying to do.

What are we learning? That God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think” (Eph.3:20), that we can rejoice that God’s mercies are new every morning and He is faithful (Lam. 3:23), and that God knows the plans He has for us (Jer. 29:11). God created Jalen, and placed him in our family. God sustains Jalen’s life, and has given him a voice. We are rejoicing!

A little something from the personal archive

- from Jeremy

A journal entry from June 20, 2011

"What a terrible day. Not that anything terrible happened - just that nothing happened. A day spent working on nothing of significance. An evening spent playing at nothing of significance. And yet I feel as though there is something to say. Not just the normal draw that I feel to a blank page, or a nice pen or this expensive keyboard. More than the typical supposed writer in me trying to get out. More than the stories I’ve wanted to and now promised to tell. More like an unanswered question lingering in the air. An expectation that there is some reasoning, some intellectual or emotional beauty to be drawn out of this common disappointment. Some yearning for a final thought that keeps me sitting here when fatigue and common sense would plead with me to submit to my pillow.

I think part of it is held over from the camping trip. It was tough. Josiah struggling with us and us struggling back. The night’s broken rest, and the morning’s sputtering and wheezing to get started. The dirt and the bugs, and the smelly diapers and humidity. The feeling that everyone is tolerating and no one is exulting. Or maybe that’s just me. Camping in our situation is everything I hate about my life except my job, and nothing I love about my life except my family. I told Christy exactly that as we sat in the sprinkling rain late in the last night of the trip. Rather than have a moment of understanding where I’m coming from, I think she just heard it as negativity. Who can blame her for that?

It's like I’m all out of anger, and now just feel deflated and sad. Joe is only becoming more frustrated with us, and Jay is only becoming more strange and disturbing. Today Jay took his poop from his diaper and rubbed it all over his face. Now, Autistic or not, shouldn’t some things just not be done? Not be appealing? Does everything have to be upside-down and backwards with these kids? Awake during the night. Turning down nearly everything offered from the kitchen and then eating rocks and mud. Never quiet and yet never communicating. Grabbing my hand every other moment in the house and then refusing it in public and running away as fast as they can."

Is it okay to have a terrible day? Is it wrong to reach out into the darkness of the future with a quaking candle of question? Is it just negativity? Or worry? Am I selfish to seek the least degrees of disturbance? Is there a Stoicism that will help me accept the fact of random poop on the bookcase? Am I lazy or spoiled to wish sometimes that it was just a little easier to live in my own house? I want to live a life of blessing and joy and meaning and service. How do I rise above the fray and show my precious babies that they are delights and gifts and special creations of God? Very special creations.