Not An Island Podcast
Not An Island Podcast
Ep 2. Understanding Autism: A Day In The Life
In this episode, we invite you to join us on an intimate journey through our daily life, navigating the good and the bad, the daily structures and routines, and how we navigate it all. We'll share tips on transitions, being present through activities, and managing sensory inputs.
We'll share our discoveries about breaking down communication walls, and how we've learnt to speak our son's language. We wrap up our candid discussion by emphasizing the profound importance of acceptance, in-home therapy, and fostering special interests. So, buckle up and get ready to embark on a ride that will change your perspective on autism forever.
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Hello and welcome to Not an Island podcast, the podcast series where faith, family and autism meet. We are your hosts.
Speaker 2:Amanda.
Speaker 1:And Todd Johnson, and we have a very, very special episode for you today. So there is a phrase that is often heard in the autism spectrum disorder community, the ASD community, and what is that phrase, amanda?
Speaker 2:That if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism, and it's so true.
Speaker 1:It is true, and for the longest time I did not know what that meant at all. Like people said it and I was like, oh, okay, cool, I didn't know what that meant, but through the years I've really learned what that means. Everyone's unique in life in general, so why would we expect children with autism or people with autism to be any different? So I am learning what that means, and so in today's episode, we will be discussing just that. What does it look like in our family? So some of what we discuss may relate to you, or you might relate to some of it, you might not, but we wanted to go ahead and lay it out. As to what our family looks like, it might be a little different than yours, might be the same. So, without further ado, amanda, what does daily life look like?
Speaker 2:So I feel like this is a little bit hard, but I'll just break down what it looks like now, because it's looked different in every different season. But currently our son is in school, and so that public school, which that's a whole story in itself, yeah that's wild.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's for another episode because there's a lot to unpack there of how God really led us to public school. But anyways, he, as we're, really really thrives in routine and so it's critical, Like in the morning we have pretty much the same thing that goes down every single morning. We do the same thing because it just helps keep him on task and it helps keep him aware of what's going to happen next. But outside of the routine we really try to meet his sensory needs. Right now he's currently not in any therapies, which we've done tons of therapies in the past. We're just in a little kind of break season but we try to get as much sensory input in there as possible.
Speaker 2:Right now he loves to paint and draw and he's doing incredible things. Like for a child with a severe fine motor delay, what we're seeing come out of him is just like mind blowing, honestly. But so I try as soon as he gets home to get him outside in some way. So if he's desperate to draw or paint, I bring the paint and stuff outside. The sensory experience of running in the grass and playing in the dirt and spinning and swinging and sliding, and he has these ride on bouncy balls like anybody who knows our family like Ezra has probably rolled out.
Speaker 1:Shout out, if you know us personally, you know we have a small. Well, we have a large collection for a small army of bouncy balls. And we have the handles that looks like someone ate too much bubblegum.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it looks like a bubble out there, yeah it looks like a bubble out the bomb, so he is obsessed with those and it really, I mean it stimulates him in a way that like it's bringing really life to him because he's been having a sit still and behave and stay in routine and he's able to get out there and bounce and if he could he would bounce everywhere. He literally bounced out the beach this summer.
Speaker 1:I didn't think he was on the beach. And yeah, we were. Like man, this kid's going to be misunderstood with this giant bouncy ball rolling around running.
Speaker 2:I didn't think, we. I didn't think, we thought he could do it in the sand, but we we really underestimate his muscles.
Speaker 2:Yes, like his core and see, and these are things that in therapy like this was super important for Ezra and all came in the form of a really down bouncy ball like who knew. But anyways, we are, the biggest thing in day to day life with autism with Ezra is is making sure he gets that time outside. It's hard when there's rainy days. You know we bounce around the house or, you know, do things in the house.
Speaker 1:But we try, we try to avoid technology with him as much as possible. But he's not make a big deal about it.
Speaker 2:No, he's not the hugest, like he's not addicted to his tablet, which I I know, like this current generation, and I know also a lot of children on the spectrum. It's like they're saving grace that they're safe streets and it helps them. So no shame whatsoever. Like I am so thankful we live in this day and age and we have that technology, um tech. Speaking of technology helps Ezra so insanely much when we're out and he's overwhelmed or when we're transitioning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good little yeah. I don't know thing to have in your back pocket, literally.
Speaker 2:I don't have the phone, but whatever has flavor of the week is currently, and sometimes it's just like oh, I want to watch something on YouTube that is very specific, because Ezra is very specific in all of it.
Speaker 1:He's currently to the point of making up titles that aren't easy. Oh yeah, they're they're not a.
Speaker 2:Thing. He thinks you can watch anything on the internet but he's, he's not, he's mostly right. Yeah, he's not too far off, but like he wants to watch a video of a doorbell because he's obsessed with doorbells at the moment, or of all things, tornado sirens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's yeah, he, they did a tornado drill at school and a fire drill at school and it started like a whole obsession. Every place we go into we have to find where their fire alarms are. They got to be safe, you know, yeah, yeah, ezra has such in imaginary world. He also has a lot of obsessiveness and that can be really difficult to deal with because he gets really stuck on things and he'll repeat, like he repeats, stems and repeats things over and over and over again. What do they call that when they repeat it? No, but anyways, maybe it'll come to me later. I'm sure it will. I know what it is, it's just blank.
Speaker 2:But yeah, he repeats things a lot, um, and he says things and sometimes it's hard to break into his world. So how does autism affect our daily life? Communication is a huge thing. Um, that we're still working on with Ezra and there was a point in time, a long point in time, where Ezra was completely nonverbal and, uh, we got a lot of letters and sounds and some numbers and some shapes and then, all of a sudden, we had, I would say, around four and a half. We had an absolute explosion of language and, uh, he's never stopped talking ever since.
Speaker 1:But literally this kid wakes up and his brother God bless his brother, his little brother is trying to sleep. You know, it beats like, literally.
Speaker 2:I don't know about that. His little brothers are waking him up, yeah.
Speaker 1:But most of the time Ezra will just wake up yelling fire truck or whatever he decides to yell. Whatever's going on up there.
Speaker 2:He's going to let the whole house know.
Speaker 1:It's so funny he starts his repeating things very early in the morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, but sometimes that can be a barrier that's hard to break through because he's got so much going on in his mind and he's overstimulated by different environments and different things. So really making sure we have his eyes and his attention, and sometimes still it's it's difficult communicating with Ezra, but we've come a really long way.
Speaker 1:So we have, and I'll say this, like you know, ezra, his, his language is not like you, yours and mine would be it's. It's not like, I'll say, a neurotypical person's language. He is developed by repeating words and then kind of learning the meaning of the one where they fit in society. Yeah, uh, which makes it hard, because to him, uh, he, he, he's not, it's not, my name is Ezra, it's.
Speaker 1:he'll say your he'll speak in third person. He'll say your name because, uh, and any, I'm tripping over my words. He'll say your name is Ezra and that that is because of that type of processing which is called gestalt processing. Um, but yeah, needless to say, it hasn't been easy, but at the same time he's come a very, very long way.
Speaker 2:It hasn't always been like that, so uh, we didn't mean to, but we kind of touched on. Yeah, we did Uh.
Speaker 1:so through the years, you know he's he had almost, like she said, almost a total lack of communication. There goes our clock in the background.
Speaker 2:No, not the clock. He forgot to turn it off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did. Uh, almost a total lack of communication. I hope you don't mind our background music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wonderful, like elevator music, it's fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but uh, he's had almost a total lack of communication uh for years. Uh, he had a regression in 18 months, he actually, before then, uh, he was pretty, uh pretty on standard with with like answering when you called or coming to you, he was still crawling. There were a few different delays, you know we knew okay, sometimes different, but at the same time like he seemed to meet a lot of those. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Ezra had 10 plus words at a year old. Um, he was meeting everything and he did walk slightly late, but still within the normal um, realm of things. What's going on forever? It is going on forever. I would say one of the biggest indicators before which, which you know, before the regression, was he never, ever hardly slept. Uh, he had a lot of GI issues, which I know a lot of children on the spectrum have. Um, he had a lot of allergies like milk and everything.
Speaker 1:So shout out. If you have the same clock we have, you know what that life's about.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's another thing Ezra loves is that specific clock, and there's one song he'll like cycle through the button to make sure it gets to his song and he knows he'll like, and it hits that one song, that's another thing. So it's kind of a useful um distraction.
Speaker 2:Honestly, this was like a loaded point because I feel like we could talk forever about uh day to day life, autism. It is it is our life, and so there's a lot facets to it.
Speaker 1:And so he, like you said, he is adventurous, he's sensory seeking.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So if those of you don't may not know what that means, it means he looks for or he looks forward to specific sensory inputs. They like holding, like slime. Like you see a lot of kids obsessed with slime.
Speaker 2:Oh, he loves mud.
Speaker 1:He loves mud, loves water, and thank the Lord, we have a lot of mud.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And a lot of yard, but he also has aversion. So, uh, you know, we were trying to potty train him about a year and a half ago and, yes, that was when he was four or five. You know he was a little late. Well, yeah, Uh, he's almost seven.
Speaker 2:I hope he's seven.
Speaker 1:Yeah, It'll be. It'll be seven soon.
Speaker 2:He potty trained after. Uh, he was six and a half almost, I guess.
Speaker 1:Five and a half. It's been almost a year Anyway.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:He, uh, he has a version.
Speaker 2:No, it was after he was six, after he had his tonsils out. Yeah, six and a couple months, yep, anyways regardless.
Speaker 1:We realized he had a version, a century version, and this will be very helpful for a lot of you. Um, just to think about, one of the biggest aversions he had was going to the bathroom and we're like, why? What is this thing about the bathroom? It was the flusher. It was the sound, the abrupt and loud sound of a flusher. To this day when we go into a public bathroom. Uh, if I take him into the restroom, he'll cover his ears and I have the flush to toilet for him or hell, I'll have a year.
Speaker 2:No, those, those hand dryers. Oh yeah, that's a no go.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we'll just walk out of the bathroom with wet hands from the sink and that's just.
Speaker 2:It is what's something a little different with Ezra, though, is it's not just loud, abrupt sounds. It like we have some sounds around here that just just anything Like a brod, and it doesn't even have to be loud, but it just like it really overwhelms him. I think sound in general really overwhelms him, like going into a big spaces, like going into restaurants, um, where there's that big open space before you're kind of tucked away in a booth. It's always been very overwhelming for him. He does better now than he ever has, but that sometimes he'd lose it before we'd ever even get fully into the restaurant.
Speaker 1:So and and that's, you know, hitting on. We did say that's that we're going to talk about what that looks, what life looks like for us as a family. You know we've talked a lot about Ezra, but you can imagine how that affects the family. You know, a lot of times we're misunderstood in public or he's misunderstood in public. We have to do explaining or there's a lot that goes into that. But, um, I'll let you just fill in the blanks with your imagination as to how that looks. Um, trust me, you have to have a lot of patients, a lot of love, and just understand that. You know what's most people don't understand.
Speaker 2:So, uh, and that I think that can be harder for Todd, just because you're the pop of bear, oh yeah. You know you are, are covering or a home. You're the man of the house, you know you, you really are a protector, and so I think for me it's like I don't, I don't really care, but for you it's like don't you cross my, you know it's it's one of those things of like, of respect and love and a lot of people.
Speaker 2:there are so many people unexpectedly who do understand and are so kind and generous and so helpful.
Speaker 1:Like I have a story, I'll share it on another episode.
Speaker 2:but yeah, oh yeah. We've had some of the most unsuspecting people who have blown our minds with the kindness and love towards our child and us. Um, and then we've had people who you would think would be the people to understand. Who are can be ugly, you know yeah.
Speaker 1:For sure that's a part of it. Um, that's, that's a little bit in the day, in the day to day life. Uh, let's get more into, like his communication, his communication and, uh, really, how we as a family have learned to work around that. I think one of the biggest things I want to talk about is that we learned his language, which changes literally every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Neuricons do only have an electric.
Speaker 1:But we learn his language. And what does that mean?
Speaker 2:Um, you know, there was a kid that came up to me and it's like I, just I don't want to stop and say this Uh, no one knows your child and how to communicate with your child better than you do as a parent.
Speaker 1:They just, they just can't, they can't know that.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, I know you're he's about to explain this, but it's so many people think they know a better way to do things and I just want you to know, like, as a parent, you were doing everything that you can do, and I know that you know them, you're with them 24, seven, like you're their person. So, anyway, it's just how to say that.
Speaker 1:Um, so yeah there was this child right? We were at a doctor's office waiting area and this child came up to Ezra and wanted to play, and Ezra played in his way, which is, I would say, socially not the norm.
Speaker 2:Um he wants to play with, but it's almost like beside yeah.
Speaker 1:He'll. He'll play with other children, but he's not big on being social with them, unless it's on a bouncy ball. There's bouncy balls, it's over or it's inappropriate.
Speaker 2:It's not appropriate.
Speaker 1:It's getting too close in their face and smile my name's Ezra, or he'll say your name's Ezra.
Speaker 2:You know parents get out of my child's face. You know they don't understand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so learning to speak Ezra's language. Anyway, this child is like I, really like Ezra. I said that's cool. Literally just met this kid and his parents and, uh, he said he said, um, he's different though. I said, yeah, he speaks a different language. He said what really speaks a different language? I said, yeah. He said, well, what do you mean? I said, okay, how can I put this? I said, okay, ezra is really fun to be around, but he speaks in codes, yeah, and this kid was like what.
Speaker 1:I said if you want to be Ezra's friend, you have to know the secret code. Yeah, yeah, secret code. And he said this kid looked at me and said I want to know the secret code. And I was like, yeah, of course you do. And so you know, yeah, there were good friends for that five minutes that we were, that we were at them, you know. Um, but, yeah, learning to speak their language, that's what this is getting to learn to speak your child's language. Learn what they mean. Don't worry about what they say as much as what they mean. You can work on how to make that into. Uh, I'll say a more socially acceptable sentence.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, but really learn what they're trying to tell you. You know, uh, we just went to a seminar for autism and someone, someone at the front who was giving this the seminar. She said this is so good. She said all what was it? Pretty much everything is communication.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, that these children are trying to communicate, that there is some way they're trying to communicate. Yeah, um.
Speaker 2:Oh, I think we got so good at learning what Ezra was saying because for so long there were no words. You know, we only were able to get communication out of behavior or, you know, out of certain things he did or the way he moved. You know, we knew they had different cries.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean there was different pitches and different things and other people may not.
Speaker 2:Oh, why is he? You know he's flipping out about that and it's like, oh, he just wants that down from there, you know he just wants the fire truck off the top of the fridge or you know whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so learning to speak their language is very important. Also, using visuals.
Speaker 2:We have started to use visual charts like brushing in the past year and a half and man they made a big difference. I really was like I don't think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we kind of whatever. Yeah, we did it and I'm telling you it works.
Speaker 2:Some of y'all are like y'all are late to the game.
Speaker 1:You don't have a nearly seven year old.
Speaker 2:You want to start using that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, it's a big deal. It works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really does help.
Speaker 1:Also, what we'll do is we don't say Ezra, what do you want to eat? We'll, we'll give him a short list. We'll say we know what he loves, uh, and give him two options.
Speaker 1:We'll give him two or three options. Max, we'll give him first. We'll give him two options. We'll say hey, this is a very healthy thing, like we're talking health food right now. We'd say do you want McDonald's or do you want Burger King? And he'll say you want McDonald's. And he'll say well, do you want McDonald's or do you want Wendy's? You want Wendy's. I said and we'll say it again Okay, do you want McDonald's or Wendy's? You want Wendy's? That's how we do it. Yeah, I'm telling you it works.
Speaker 1:It works because it helps them to break down what they really want. Yeah, what they really want. Um, so that also communication barriers therapy. You were here for every therapy that he's had. So, I'll leave that to you.
Speaker 2:I feel like therapy could be an entire episode, but I'll try to be brief for this one and I'll probably repeat myself in the future. But oh my gosh, I was the biggest skeptic. I think when therapy first started for Ezra, we had a program called opportunities in our area. I don't know, that's just a Texas state thing.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure, and Ezra started therapy before he was ever diagnosed and so I was still in denial that he had autism when it started. So it was hard to hear it from them, because they see it every day and they knew what they were dealing with and I was like so if you've ever gone through a phase of denial, you're not alone in that either.
Speaker 1:No, it's part of the grieving process and we'll cover that in another episode that you literally do grieve and I know it sounds selfish, but you grieve the child that you thought you're going to have, Um but therapy therapy therapy can be fun and it can also be painful.
Speaker 2:It can be painful to, you know, have to watch your kid, not them, not maybe fully understand him, or you know him be upset because they're changing things that aren't comfortable for him. But you know he needs to be stretched and you know that he needs to grow. And so when I'm, when I'm saying therapy, predominantly the therapies as or has had our speech occupational occupational and physical therapy we have.
Speaker 2:We've been on a wait list for a long time to try for a B a. We're open to anything. I know some people are completely against a B a, so don't come for us, but it's for us. It's just like if it's something yeah, if it's something that he loves or it clicks for him and it brings more communication into his life. Why?
Speaker 1:would we not? Well, and I think a lot of that comes down to and we're not getting into this, but it's going- to leave it a little. A lot of it comes down to like who is a therapist, who is your child, and how do they click? Do they click, or is it just kind of a rough situation? But yeah, we'll leave that.
Speaker 2:I will say this as well On the topic of therapy If you've only ever been to a therapy center and it's not working for you and it's overwhelming, and it's overwhelming for your child and it's just like a pain, look out, look resource out and see if there's any in home. Therapist.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, that was such a huge game changer for Ezra because he felt safe in his own space. You know he could bring his own toys up into therapy or leave it, but he he learned a routine in his safe space, where he was more calm and therapy was so much more effective in our home.
Speaker 1:You didn't like it because we had to have the house clean and the candles going by 9am.
Speaker 2:Hey, now it was work, because you know it's a lot of work. For me like no one's coming in here and most of it's like spotless, which is like honestly crazy when you have two children like it's never spotless. Two tornadoes, two tornadoes yeah, but I was. I was dedicated because I wanted the best for Ezra and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat because I know that prepared him for worries at today, absolutely so, yeah, and so we're going to cover the last topic.
Speaker 1:We're going to burn right through this thing, but acceptance.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think that's like probably one of the biggest things for us on a day to day life is accepting him.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So not that it's hard to accept him. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:That's like one of the biggest parts, one of the biggest aspects of like yeah what makes our family work is that we accept him where he is now, developmentally or socially, or language or or just the day he's having. Yeah, he could be having a terrible day, but we accept him for where he's at, hoping and believing for him to accomplish so much in his life and seeing the vision for him and seeing the things that God has really placed in in our hearts to pray for him and pray over him, but accepting where he is now and knowing that it's okay.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:It's okay, also, daily, not putting him in a box and not putting limitations on him. I think you're going to test to this a minute that, like man, these kids, if you do not let, if you don't, if you don't put them in a box and you let them lead, you will find just so much that there's capable of so much more than you ever gave them credit for.
Speaker 1:And it's nothing against you not saying you're a bad parent. You don't give a good credit, no, no, it's just like these kids are capable of so much more.
Speaker 2:And honestly he's saying that Sometimes we need to hear that.
Speaker 1:Cause I think.
Speaker 2:I don't think. I know we are level 10 helicopter parents.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, if you know us and you know the school, that, if you are on staff at the school, that as it goes to sorry if you're on the top. Amanda's gonna apologize and I will too, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm bad Because it's we're so invested in Azure being the most successful version of himself, so we don't allow.
Speaker 1:We don't allow him to be put in a box.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:We push the envelope every time and we're big, as also we're big in this on the day to day, and that is exposure therapy. I know that's not, probably not an official term, but exposing him to things, exposing him to environments, maybe taking him to the park when our inner self is just like I don't know, it's kind of a rough day, but no, take him, take him.
Speaker 2:If it's a meltdown, it's a meltdown. It'll end at some point. And I know that's easier said than done and there's some days where your tank is on me and you can't do it, and I fully get that. But just know that just holding up and their meltdown is gonna happen. At home too, you can't keep them 100% satisfied and just in their little space it's just. It's worth it to get out and yeah, you might meet some other too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you might meet people. We have met people we've become close with. There's some friends we met down in Panama City at Gulf World of our places that we love.
Speaker 1:They're amazing people and so, yeah, and the last thing we wanna talk about as far as acceptance is knowing this, that he is not and will not ever be like other children around him, but that is the best thing about him, that is the best thing about autism is that they aren't like others. I can't remember if we said it in this episode or last, but the greatest minds on planet Earth. Okay, I'm just gonna name a few names, a few of them you might know, in fact, you'll probably know all of them Steve Jobs, all right. Elon Musk mentioned it as well. Albert Einstein who else? Thomas Jefferson there's a huge list of people. If you just go and look it up type in celebrities who have autism or people who have autism that are well known, you will find the greatest minds and the top, probably the top 10 people on Forbes list. Most of them have autism. So understand this that your kid may not be like other children. That's not a bad thing.
Speaker 2:Right and at the same time, it doesn't mean their child's a savant or a braniac or anything either. There's very real in real life. There's children who they're four grade levels behind and they're just struggling, and it's a part of it. But foster the things that they love. I would say that Invest in the things that they love we talked about earlier, as well as find motor delay and he's now just becoming a little artist. Whatever it is that they're finding interest in, and you know.
Speaker 2:if they're on the spectrum, they've got a special interest for the most part. That's something I've never known a child with autism that does not have fixations and special interests. I just haven't, but maybe they're out there. But foster and commit yourself to those things, whatever it may be, and it may only be for a season, but let them explore that to its full potential, because maybe three grade levels behind, but they may be, you know, they may slay a piano like who knows. Whatever it is Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. What we talked about today is what life looks like for us as a family. We talked about communication. We talked about a couple of tips we threw some tips out there for you guys just to chew on and see if it's something that maybe you could pick up and we talked about acceptance. We talked about accepting our children for who they are, because God genuinely made them with great fear.
Speaker 1:And it's crazy to think this that the verse it says you were fearfully and wonderfully made Like. Who is the God of the universe that created all these things that are around us? He created the breath we're breathing and who we are. Who is he that he would fear anything? But he took great fear in making you and he took great fear in making your child, who may or may not have autism. I think it's important for us to strip the labels here and just understand that God made them who they are, period. So yeah, I just wanna leave y'all with that little snippet there. Listen, you might have some tips for us.
Speaker 2:For real, please. We just up here rambling yeah, you know, you might have some tips for us.
Speaker 1:If you do, or if you just wanna reach out to us, talk to us, reach out to us at NotAnIslandPodcast at gmailcom. That is the title of our podcast at gmailcom. Yep, so please, please, please, please, share this with your friends, share this episode, share this podcast with your friends. You're trying to get the word out and really share the message of hope and acceptance for families who are affected by autism and families who are just trying to figure this thing out.
Speaker 2:And today was much more practical. But I think it's always helpful to hear yeah, it was a very practical episode.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, make sure you share this, make sure you put it on your social media, whatever. Yeah, also, make sure you rate, review, subscribe, follow, whatever you do on your podcast app. Please, please, please, just do that, like, yeah.
Speaker 2:Just do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just do it. Follow us, subscribe Anywhere you get your podcasts. That's the best way to put it. That's what I was trying to think of how to say.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just yeah, wherever you get your podcasts, be sure to leave a review. Subscribe rate review us.
Speaker 2:You want to pray?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll pray.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Father, god, we just thank you for these families who are listening and we thank you for the lives that they are fostering and stewarding. And, lord, we just ask you to give them the strength and the peace and the understanding and, lord, the patience just to ride this thing out. Lord, we just ask for you to reveal yourself through these families. Reveal yourself in their day to day lives. Just remind them that you are with them and that you're not leaving them. Lord, just show them and remind them also just the visions and the dreams you have over them and their children, lord, that you don't ever just say something, you don't just say things to say them. Lord, you have a purpose in that. So we thank you once again for all of these families and we thank you for the honor and the blessing to be able to reach them. And, lord, it's just in your son's precious and holy name. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:All right, we are Todd and Amanda, dj Mandy Johnson, and thanks for listening and we'll see you on the next one, dj Mandy out.
