{The Twelve Days of Christmas} Day10

{This post is part of a series on celebrating The Twelve Days of Christmas.}

Being a parent means that your days seldom go “as planned.” There’s always the potential for chaos on a scale ranging from large to small. And that’s o.k. That’s part of the package. That’s the fine print.

And then there’s the addendum at the bottom of the contract we parents of special needs kids are issued– the line that promises that there are no average days, that there is just about a zero chance for routine as we once knew it.

Days that take wild turns are, around here, nothing to really get too distressed about. Not only do we have a large number of people whose personalities and moods and needs and interests and immune systems aren’t always in sync, we also have Phin. And that means working around a little but of unknown every day.

Phin’s needs aren’t easily defined or put into a box. There’s no one-size-fits-all label– if there’s really one for any person, neuro typical or not. I could rattle off a dozen “symptoms” and “behaviors,” but not one would sum up who he is as a person. It’s one reason I loathe filling in new acquaintances and visitors to our home on what to expect in their time with Phin. It’s a long list of grim stuff and guidelines that misses out on the heart of the joy that is a sweet little boy.

Which is, honestly, what The Ten Commandments often seem to feel like.

I get the list. I appreciate the base standards. Don’t lie? Got it. Don’t kill anyone? Sure thing. No God but Yahweh? Absolutely.

But for those of us who follow Christ, our experience of faith is so much deeper, so much richer. A set of rules, an outline, a diagnosis … it is a starting place. But the relationship? It comes in the daily walk. Like someone who has had the introduction (“He’s seven, but he’s really two and a half or three.”) and thinks they know how to approach my son, it’s the same with anyone who hears the ten laws and feels like they have a handle on faith. The minute you sit down and interact, the minute he turns his smile on you, well– you realize you were skimming the surface.

There is more to God than laws we can not keep. There is Jesus.

Merry Christmas!