Sunday, January 13, 2013

I Believe in Miracles

     In fall 2005 through the summer of 2007 I was privileged to work with a very special little boy. I'm going to call him Cameron. Cameron had a rare neurological disorder called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS). This caused Cameron to lose his ability to speak and communicate easily or clearly, he also suffered from seizures because of it. To learn more about LKS click here. Because of his numerous seizures and loss of his speech he needed a lot of help while at school. I first met Cameron when he was in second grade, about a year after he was first affected by LKS, at the time I was working with another child. It wasn't until Cameron was in third grade that I was able to work with him. I would arrive midday and stay with Cameron until the end of the school day. He had another helper that stayed with him in the mornings until I arrived. Working with Cameron was the best job I ever had. I learned so much from this little boy in the short time I was able to work with him. Working with Cameron could be a little stressful at times. There were days when he would have eight to twelve seizures. Some days could be sad, seeing Cameron struggle to write and read or attempt to fit in and play like the other children. Other times I truly felt like I was in the presence of an angel.
     One of Cameron's greatest talents was his ability to love, unquestioningly and unconditionally. There wasn't a day that went by when Cameron wouldn't give me a big hug and tell me that he loved me. Something else that set Cameron apart from others was his incredible faith. When Cameron was taught something he truly believed it. He knew of his Heavenly Father's love for him and he knew he could pray to Heavenly Father whenever he needed or wanted. He demonstrated this over and over in the time that I got to spend with him. Cameron was not afraid of what others may think of him if he was seen praying, what he cared about was the love and feelings he had for his father in heaven and for Jesus Christ.

     There was one time in particular when Cameron's demonstration of faith and prayer completely blew me away. Cameron's class was currently learning about plants and seeds. This particular day they were taking seeds and placing them on wet paper towels inside of a little plastic bag. Cameron was very excited about this and looked forward to each day when he got to check on the growth of his little seed. One day however, when we checked on his sprouts we found them covered in mold. It broke my heart to tell him his new little plants would probably die. Cameron was sad about it. He hung his head and was quiet for period of time. I  suddenly felt desperate to save his plants. I took him with his little baggie in hand to the back of the classroom. I told him we were going to try and help his plants, but to not get his hopes up because they still might die. Cameron nodded in understanding. We took out the tiny sprouts, doing our best not to break the fragile roots and rinsed them off gently in the sink. We then placed them on a clean paper towel and returned the little bag to its place. It wasn't until days later when we checked on his seeds again, but when we saw them I was amazed. The tiny nearly dead plants we saw before were now the biggest and most robust looking plants of the whole class. When Cameron saw them he was overjoyed. We took them back to his desk to examine them closer. I told him how amazed and happy I was that his plants had survived. Cameron smiled and nodded and told me he knew they would. "Oh ya?" I asked him, wondering why he had been so certain. He nodded again and told me that when I had said the plants might die he had said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to save his little plants. His faith had been sure and he knew his plants would make it.
     This may seem like a silly story, it may even seem unimportant, but for me it served to be an amazing lesson. Not only did I witness the power of one little boy's faith but gained a truer understanding of Heavenly Father's love for each of us. Our Heavenly Father knows us, He knows our hearts and our desires. Most importantly He cares about even the little things in our lives, even tiny little seeds.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing that special experience. Sometimes I feel like children teach us so much more about the important things in life than we teach them!!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails